Not in hurling anyway. I doubt theyâve even won a Leinster at either level. Iâve some recollection of Fingal Ravens and Castleknock advancing far in the football. @Spidey might confirm.
Junior semi final v Kenmare. 3 game epic.
Ravens got to the intermediate final under Mick Deegan I think but lost out.
Plenty of club matches being shown from Sept 21/22 - RTE getting in on the action.
Whatâs the story with the club in Bagenalstown? I saw mention of an amalgamation?
Where does the Myshall parish lines merge with Rathana and Ballymurphy? That land all around the foot of mount leinster all merges into one for me. Is there much of a cross over or mixing into the MLR team or fairly distinct where the boundaries are?
The hurling club in Bagenalstown was known as Erins Own and the football club as St Andrews. They now both now go as Bagenalstown Gaels. Theyâre in the intermediate final and Bagenalstown should be hurling senior. They have plenty of hurlers. Theyâre a powerhouse at underage but like a lot of townie clubs can never seem to translate it to senior.
Myshall would be on one side of the mountain and Rathanna and the parish of Borris on the other side. Ballymurphy is further south heading towards St Mullins. There wouldnât be much of a blurring of the lines as thereâs just mountain and empty terrain in between. The Nine Stones is the parish dividing line. Bagenalstown parish runs a long way south from Bagenalstown as well and Killoughternane in the lower reaches of the Blackstairs would be within the Ballinkillen end of the Blackstairs.
Myshall and Ballinkillen would be more fractious as there would be a feeling in Ballinkillen that historically they lost players to Myshall. Paddy Quirke probably Carlowâs Greatest ever hurlers home place is literally where the three parishes of Borris, Myshall and Bagenalstown meet but heâd have been just about inside what would be seen as Ballinkillen area but hurled with Myshall. And all the brothers as well.
3 Likes
Didnt realise St Andrews was the name of the football end of things in Bagenalstown, just always assumed they went as Erins own for hurling and football.
Was out around the Rathana direction over the weekend and saw a few with MLR and Myshall club gear around so was just wondering where it started and ended as you say, its a lot of bleak mountainous area around there. Mid 80s or so when the MLR trio combined was it? Would seem off for a county as small as Carlow to have such small teams from the one parish being separate. Although wouldnt be the first either. Plenty other smaller areas with 2 or more teams and could be great if they combined.
Were you in Osborneâs when you were in Rathanna? Great spot.
There was some sort of Hill Farming Showcase in Rathanna over the weekend.
Mount Leinster Rangers were formed in 1988. In the parish of Borris prior to that, Borris and Ballymuphy had hurling teams and Rathanna a football team. Borris were never up to much, Ballymurphy would have been stronger. Lost four county finals in the early 1980âs.
1 Like
How many hurling clubs are there overall in Carlow?
Loads of small clubs could join but too much history between many of them.
Probably 10-11 all in but that would include primarily football clubs fielding junior teams.
Four senior clubs: Ballinkillen (exclusively a hurling club), St Mullins (field football teams but take football about as serious as Kilkenny). Mount Leinster Rangers & Myshall (dual both more than decent at football but a huge overlap of players and hurling is very much priority).
At intermediate you have Naomh Brid (Leighlin parish), Bagenalstown both really should be senior. Carlow Town working their way back up after 20 years of civil war and @Fitzy crew Clonegal/Kildavin.
The four senior clubs would field at intermediate and junior as well. Football clubs Palatine and Tullow field junior hurling teams. Setanta are a recent product of the Civil War in Carlow Town and I think are operating at Junior.
1 Like
Is the senior grade set at 4 or do second teams of the better clubs just keep winning the intermediate?
I know Naomh Brid won intermediate two years ago but elected not to be promoted. They reckon with the club being an amalgamation of football clubs, it makes it impossible to arrange training so donât have a stable footing starting each year
2 Likes
There were 6 senior teams as recently as three years ago. The arse just fell out of Naomh Brid and they conceded walkovers in every single game in 2016 I think it was and dropped back to intermediate. @Gman possibly I think it was that was talking to me about this here before and would have a better handle on what went on there. Think a lot of their young players were in Canada and Australia en masse, so that was a factor too. Bagenalstown were initally in last years senior championship and opted to drop back to intermediate last minute as they were struggling with numbers too. Bagenalstown were in county senior final as recently as 2012 with a young enough team. They should really still be senior.
In my own playing days, late 80âs to early 00âs (on and off), there were 8 teams senior, which was probably two too many. There was two teams in the Leighlin parish then, before the Naomh Brid amalgamation in the early 90âs - Parnells (Leighlinbridge/Old Leighlin) and St Fintans (Ballinabranagh). Carlow Town were still strong back then as well and a lot of the Eire Og football team of the 90âs were very good hurlers too. The saddest thing in Carlow hurling over the last 20 years is whatâs happened to hurling in Carlow Town. Historically a very strong hurling town. There was civil war in the club there for a long time, it even ended up in the Courts. Lot of good people walked away, underage died there for a long time. Theyâre on the way back now at underage level but will take time.
2 Likes
Probably makes sense that. Naomh Brid really should be senior though. They won senior in 1996, 2004 & 08. They had Johnny Nevin though, who was still their main man into his 40âs. Hurling would have been the priority there for a long time and none of the football clubs were that strong historically.
Old Leighlin won their first senior football completely out of the blue in 1997. It was a one off but they came again with a very good young crop of footballers that won three county championships at the start of this decade and lost three more finals as well.
1 Like
Judes are a team in decline. They have not really added any young players to the team that came close a few years ago. Their under age structures are patchy considering their pick.
Ballyfin through to their first ever Laois SFC Semi Final after defeating OâDempseys last night in Portlaoise. More impressive still as last night was their first ever quarter final and OâDempseys were beaten finalists last year. Theyâre a nice little team, with a whippet in the corner in Sean Moore. Fair achievement given theyâd generally be seen as a hurling club, and came up out of Junior ranks only 5 or 6 years ago.
Portlaoise look vulnerable this year, lots of stuff going on in the background there it seems. Brody isnât playing with them this year, seems to have been a fall out with the new manager, Niall Rigney, who took over from Malachy McNulty earlier this year. Few other rumours tipping around the place too, Iâm sure itâll all come out in the end. Either way, St Josephs were level in injury time only for Portlaoise to hit 3 to win it at the death.
Ballyfin will play Killeshin in the semi final, Killeshin are another new face at this end of the Championship. They only came out of Junior about 6 or 7 years ago, actually featured on Celebrity Bainisteoir the year they won the junior, I think they had Tony Cascarinio âmanagingâ them. They beat Ballylinan and forum favourite Gary Psycho Walsh. Killeshin have a nice tidy young team, lead by Laois captain and alright sort Stephen Attride. So one of Ballyfin or Killeshin will definitely make the final, which is great for them.
Portarlington and Graigue drew in the other quarter final last night. Both look well equipped to take down Portlaoise in the other semi final, but sadly both are townie sides on the borders of Offaly and Graigue respectively and are notoriously flaky as a result of this. Portâs main man would be redhead assassin Colm Murphy, but they also have the pest Robbie Piggott in their ranks, the man who irked Brendan Murphy of Carlow so much that he went ballistic on twitter the night after their Leinster semi final last year. Graigue are decent enough outfit, and also have a thoroughly alright sort in their ranks in Mark Timmons.
Portlaoise v Graigue/Port
Ballyfin v Killeshin
4 Likes
Local clubs like those mentioned and others all over the country who strive to push our national games ahead need financial help end of, otherwise the smaller ones will disappear, instead of Dublin etc getting huge slices of the pie
Clubs in South Kerry and all over rural Ireland really in trouble. Donât know can money help, just donât have the population.
1 Like
I get ya but was really on about clubs with enough bodies but need help with coaches etc is my own neck of the woods for a long time Derry city ( one hurling club promoting hurling since the early 80s