Ned Keane

On behalf of all in the club we would like to extend our sympathies to the family and wide circle of friends of Ned Keane who passed away last week.

Ned’s name will be eternally etched in the folklore of Abbeyside / Ballinacourty as he was at the helm as Chairman for two of the most momentous occasions in our history. Of course, he will forever be associated with the breakthrough year of 1978 when the 1st Senior title was annexed but probably more importantly, he was the man who signed the cheque for £60,000 to purchase our current home in 1979.

For many years now Ned had been Club President, a fitting honour for a man who gave a lifetime of service as a player, team mentor and officer.

Following retirement from the committee he of course remained a great supporter of all our teams and was a regular attendee at our matches wherever they were played, taking great delight whenever a County title was won.

Along with GAA Ned had a great interest in Irish music and culture. He would attend many music sessions in the area including the ones in the local bars in Abbeyside.

There can surely be no greater testament to a man’s character than the fact that it would be nigh on impossible to find anyone with a bad word to say about them. This was certainly true of Ned, one of life's true gentlemen he always had time for others and his amiable personality meant any time spent in his company was never wasted as you always left in better form.

In the aftermath of the 1978 Senior football victory Dom Enright composed a celebratory ode which included the following line, “In the highest esteem we have Chairman Ned Keane” Words as fitting today as the day they were written and certainly sums up how we will remember a great man.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

AGM

A reminder that our AGM be held online via Microsoft Teams on Friday 05th February at 7.30pm.

Any member wishing to attend will need to email the Chairman or Secretary to register in advance.

Nominations for officer positions and motions for discussion at the AGM to be with the secretary, in writing or via email, on or before this Friday, 22nd January 2021.

Team Managers 2021

Anyone interested in being considered for the position of team manager for any of our adult teams from U20 to Senior must submit their name, in writing or via email, to the secretary on or before Friday, 29th January 2021.

All Stars 2020

On behalf of all in our club we would like to congratulate Conor Prunty on being nominated for the GAA Hurling All Star Team for 2020. A tremendous honour not alone for Conor, but also for our club.

We wish Conor and all the other Waterford nominees the very best of luck.

National Draw

Word came from Croke Park during the week that this draw has been postponed until May at the earliest. Tickets continue to be available from any committee member. Please if you can purchase a ticket as 100% of the funds earned will go to the club.

Jack The Joker

The ever-popular Jack The Joker draw took place on Monday night last. Frank Sweeney was drawn and picked number 17. When turned this was not the The Joker, but he did win €50. T Kiely and Michael O Halloran won €25 each. The jackpot next week will be €2,000.

Sympathy

This week we also extend our sympathies to the family and friends of Chrissie Terry, Ballinacourty who passed last week. Chrissie’s family have of course had a long and distinguished association with our Club. Her husband Mossie was a member of the first Ballinacourty team to play championship in 1947, whilst her brothers Johnny and Pakie Hogan were mainstays of club teams in the 60’s and to this day her grandson Patrick Lynch continues to wear the jersey with distinction. Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this difficult time.

Also, in our thoughts this week are the family and friends of Joe Murray and Breda Moore both of whom families have been involved with the club for many years. Our thoughts and prayers are with both families.

Online Bingo

To fill the void left by the current cancellation of our regular Sunday night games we will be running online Bingo commencing on Saturday February 6th. This will be run on the Zoom platform and we will have more details on prize money etc. next week. Books can be purchased online from the end of this week and will be available up to 12 noon each Saturday. Those who can’t access online books will be catered for. All details can be found on Facebook or via the Abbeyside Ballinacourty ClubZap.