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| Thursday, June 26, 2008 |
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Clonmany Shamrocks
By Thomas Doherty @ 7:50 PM :: 57 Views
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Clonmany Shamrocks.
Football was played in the parish in the 1930's. Known then as the Garrison game, attributed to the soldiers in Leenen Fort, it grew in popularity and many teams sprung up representing different areas or districts.We were formed in 1951 by Jim Clafferty, others may dissagree on this and I would love to hear from you,but we did’nt have a constitution until 1975 with our Chairman at that time Neil O’Donnell. Emigration in the early days hit us hard, one week we’d have a fair good team and the following week half of the lads would be gone, it must have been a nightmare for managers. Times have changed and we’ve made big progress both on and off the pitch. Shamrock Park, known locally as the Pond Field but was more of a Pond than a Field,is now a great example of what can be achieved by hard work and the dedication of many Committee’s through the years. This is our home thanks to the invaluable contributions made by all the volunteers and club members past and present. The burden and workload on this pitch is massive and our priority is to get a second pitch which is proving far from easy.An all-weather facility would also be of immence benefit but again the hold-up is the site.
The season 07/08 has just finished and we've exceeded all expectations. The Shamrocks have won the League, Ulster Junior Cup, The Credit Union Cup, The North West Champions League and the Club of the year. This is the first time in the history of the Inishowen League that the Champions have also won the club of the year, a trophy given to the team with the best disciplinary record in the league. The Reserves won the Reserve League, The Top Four Cup, and were Runners-up in the Fr. O'Gara and the League Shield. We had an excellent panel of players who showed great commitment and dedication to training and they were out nights you wouldn’t put your dog out. Our trainer Michael Bradley did a superb job and deserves a mention as do two of our younger players, Paddy Doherty and Stephen McLaughlin. These lads won't be with us for long if they keep progressing. All at the Club wish them the best of luck. We've applied for Club of the Month Award [May] which the F.A.I. run we await the results of the judging panel.
Club Format/Activities
Clonmany Shamrocks S. @ A. Limited have a membership of 79. The exploits of our senior team are well documented. Last year they won the Buncrana Credit Union Cup, The West End League Cup and were R/up in the league. Our Reserve team won the Shield and the League and were R/up in the Top Four Cup. One of our brightest up and coming stars, Patrick Doherty, Glebe, captained this team and also represented Ireland in the under 16 development squad in the Foyle Cup. He has been promoted to the senior team for the 07 / 08 season and we have great expectations for this young man., In conjunction with our parish neighbours, Rashenny F.C., who also compete in the Inishowen League, we run nine underage teams and a ladies team under the St. Marys Banner, 2 under 10 teams,2 under 12 teams, 2 under 14 teams, 1 under 16 team, 1 under 18 team and our ladies team. Our ladies team is currently suspended from the league because they failed to field a team on three occasions. Situated 3/4 of a mile from Clonmany is another village called Ballyliffin. This village has five hotels and the majority of our ladies team work in one or the other. Unfortunately, the high season for the hotels coincides with the ladies season and the failure of opposing teams to re-arrange fixtures resulted in our suspension. We are trying to resolve this anomaly.
The St. Marys set up enables both clubs to carry out essential pitch maintainance over the summer, as we can alternate matches when necessary, it also reduces in half the number of managers needed and also the expense.
Our Facilities, predominantly the floodlight running track, is used by all the local clubs and is also used for the annual community games. We also run a league and cup competition for the four national schools of the parish, Clonmany, Rashenny, Cloontagh and Urris and have done so since 1980. Two additional small national schools, Drumfries and Glassalts, which are near our borders, take part from time to time when they can field a team.
Additional Information.
All team managers/coaches have to do a Child Protection in Sport Awareness Workshop.The club has appointed Mr Sean McDaid as our Child Protection Officer. Our Code of Ethics and the Health and Safety Policy are backed up the F.A.I’s Code of Ethics for underage soccer and a thirty seven page Safety Manual. We also have policies on Intimidation/Bullying and Sexual Harassment and Equal Opportunity and Discrimination.
Our Tax Registration Number is 6386031T and our Charitable Status Number is 1680.
Seamus McDaid & Co. Linsfort Buncrana is our Auditor.
P.J O’Doherty Bridge Street, Carndonagh is our solicitor and our principal bankers are Bank of Ireland PLC, Carndonagh, Co. Donegal
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