Progressive Templederry aiming for new heights

By Thomas Conway

Templederry rests at a higher altitude than most other parishes across Tipperary.

Their GAA pitch, Fr. Kenyon Park, is a carefully-manicured, flat plateau with sweeping views of the surrounding landscape. Whether its location up in the heights of the Silvermines mountain gives Templederry hurlers an extra aerobic edge is a matter of dispute. Training at altitude seems to work for Kenyan long-distance runners, but the mountains of east Africa are a different animal to the hills of North Tipperary.

From a hurling perspective, this year’s Templederry Kenyons senior hurling team seems to be a different animal to the teams of recent years. Their form has been unpredictable, but steadily improving. A rollercoaster North Championship opener saw them come from behind to topple Roscrea before they were thumped by an understrength Borris-Ileigh in the quarter-final. Convincing Ó Riain Cup victories over Newport and Clonakenny cemented their place at the top of Group 2, though Silvermines would later cause their group campaign to end on a sour note. A comprehensive win over Gortnahoe-Glengoole, a Hallowe’en humbling of Cashel King Cormacs, and suddenly Templederry are contesting their first senior county-final since making the jump from intermediate level in 2008. It may not be the senior final they’ve always dreamed of winning, but it still represents a significant step forward for the club.

community

There’s a streak of innovation about Philip Ryan, current chairperson of Templederry Kenyons. It's a quality he shares with his fellow club committee members, which blend youth with experience and work in-synch with one another. As Philip explains, a variety of factors have contributed to the development of the club over the past number of years. From a playing perspective, their combination with Ballinahinch at underage level has yielded huge benefits, helping to sustain competitiveness despite a reduction in numbers.

“Numbers would be relatively low,” he revealed.

“But I suppose we’re lucky enough that we have a very good combination with Ballinahinch at juvenile level. From under-15 up to under-21 or under-20, we’ve been joined with Ballinahinch over the last number of years, and that has proven very fruitful. We actually won an under-21 county-final in our first year together, and we’ve been in a couple of other finals since then, and also got to an under-19 county semi-final this year. So, as I said, that has proven very fruitful, and it has probably kept us afloat - because the numbers just wouldn’t have been there.”

Amalgamation teams don't always produce guaranteed success stories. The relationship between both clubs is essential, and in this instance, the strong bonds between Templederry and Ballinahinch have made the project both enjoyable and beneficial. Is it any wonder the Templederry seniors are currently managed by Cormac McGrath, a Ballinahinch man?

The playing side of things is of obvious importance, but the 2021 version of Templederry Kenyons GAA club has a broader dimension to it. The committee has worked to promote and develop a community-based model which many rural clubs are now seeking to pursue. Crucial to that has been the development of a walking-track around the grounds - a piece of simple infrastructure which has worked the charm in neighbouring clubs such as Borris-Ileigh and Silvermines.

As Philip outlines, the track has transformed the club into a focal point for locals, creating a social scene with real benefits for health and wellbeing.

“We developed a walking-track in 2019, but we only got it lit in July of last year. Now obviously all GAA grounds were closed throughout Covid, but we started to see that people who might have had nothing to do with the GAA, they were getting some value from it. And that was really what we were aiming for, as a development committee. It’s all very well have smashing hurling facilities, but when kids were being dropped down to training at say, 7.00pm on a Wednesday evening, parents had nowhere to go. At least now they have the walking track, rather than having to go out on the roads in the dark. So that was our way of making the club more community-based, rather than just all-in GAA.”

Encyclopaedic knowledge

Of course, to many members of the Templederry community, GAA has always been central. Take Richard Gleeson, a man with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the club, honed by decades of involvement and dedication. He’s contributed to numerous Templederry teams in numerous different ways, so he’s perfectly placed to detail the club’s recent history. As Richard outlines, it hasn’t always been plain sailing, with many ups and downs, so reaching a senior county-final is a significant step forward for the club.

“Back in the seventies we would have had two junior teams - the Mitchums and the Kenyons,” he recalls.

“The Kenyons were sort of the second team, the younger lads, but the Mitchums were actually knocked out and the Kenyons went all the way to the North final. Nobody was expecting it, but they went on and won it. A lot of that team then would have won the North Intermediate in 1979, but it wasn’t until 2000 that we won our first county.

“We were relegated again in 2005 and obviously came back up senior after we won the county again in ‘08. We’ve had a couple of good underage teams as well though - our under-21s won two County ‘B’ titles in the early and mid-2000s. That would have fed into the 2008 team. And then we had a few successes in Minor during the nineties, before winning that county in 2000.”

Reaching a senior county final is one thing; winning it is another. Locals are quietly confident that this will be their year, but Killenaule are a sweet-striking, well-organised team, and they’ll pose a serious challenge. Many of this current Templederry side have featured for Tipperary at some level, making them polished and experienced hurlers, but they’re also no strangers to disappointment.

“This team has had its fair share of heartache down through the years,” Gleeson added.

“They’ve had a couple of near-misses, losing in finals, semi-finals, so they really do deserve one to go their way. We were beaten by Kiladangan in that North Final back in 2015 and look at what they’ve achieved since.”

Should Templederry follow the same trajectory as Kiladangan, then the defeats of recent years won’t seem so painful. For now, however, the focus is on their showdown with Killenaule next Sunday. Reaching new heights is never easy, even for a club on higher ground.