Nenagh aiming for an anniversary to remember
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Nenagh Eire Og - County Senior Hurling champions 1995. Back row: Robbie Foley, Donie O’Brien, Derek Conroy, Shane Connolly, Con Howard, John Heffernan, Paul Kennedy, Noel Coffey, Christy McLoughlin, Eddie Tucker, Frank Moran, Dennis Finnerty, Joe O’Donoghue, Declan O’Meara, Hugh Flannery.Front row: Donach O’Donnell, Liam O’Gara, Gearoid Cleary, Phil Hennessy, Chris Bonar, Michael Cleary, Darragh Quinn, Conor O’Donovan (captain), Robbie Tomlinson, Kevin Tucker, John Kennedy, Ronan Burns, Tom Conroy.Image 2 of 2
Nenagh’s Philip Hickey and Loughmore’s Brian McGrath in the 2024 clash. Photo: Bridget Delaney BRIDGET DELANEYBy Shane Brophy
If Nenagh Eire Og were to win just a second Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship title on Sunday, it would be a fitting way to mark their one and only success which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.
Nenagh Eire Og’s 1995 County Senior Hurling Championship success was honoured on county final day three years ago, two years after it should have been as Covid prevented the jubilee teams from being honoured in 2020 and 2021.
1995 saw Nenagh win the North Senior Hurling League, which proved vital as a surprise third-round exit in the North Championship to Borris-Ileigh, meant Nenagh required a playoff to stay in the hunt for the county title, and as divisional league champions they were entitled to a playoff against the North Championship runners-up, who turned out to be Borris-Ileigh, whom they beat after a replay.
From there, Nenagh went into the county quarter finals where they defeated South champions Mullinahone 2-16 to 3-9, before accounting for an experienced Cashel King Cormacs by one point in the semi-final.
Then came the famous day on October 21st 1995 when Eire Og defeated Boherlahan-Dualla, 2-25 to 2-8, in front of an attendance of a crowd of 14,137, at Semple Stadium.
Inspired by man of the match Eddie Tucker, Nenagh led 0-12 to 1-5 at half time but there was never a semblance of a comeback as an experienced Eire Og team pulled away from a youthful Boherlahan side who would have their day in the sun the following year.
Final quarter goals from John Heffernan and Robbie Tomlinson completed Nenagh’s impressive seventeen-point win. From there, captain Conor O’Donovan became the first Nenagh Eire Og clubman to lift the Dan Breen Cup.
The team was managed by Birr man Pat Joe Whelehan whom Eddie Tucker paid particular tribute for the victory, recounted in PJ Maxwell’s ‘Gaelic Sport in Nenagh Volume 3’.
“Pat Joe put huge belief into the side. Two years ago, we came here to play in a county final but today we came here to win it.”
Michael Cleary added: “Pat Joe made some important changes, like moving John Kennedy to wing back, and he brought a common-sense approach to training.”
Pat Joe Whelehan admitted he was reluctant to get involved as he was training three other teams at the time, including his native Birr, but urgings from the late Ger Gavin and captain Conor O’Donovan saw him change his mind.
“I worked on Nenagh’s pace and speed, and we always trained for the last ten minutes in games,” Whelehan said.
“When I left Toomevara two years ago (after beating Nenagh in the county final) I told the chairman there (Fr. Casey) that if I was to come back to Tipperary to train a team that the only one team I would think of and what was Nenagh.”
What prophetic words they were.
This years jubilee team on Sunday will be the all-conquering Toomevara team who won a four in a row of county titles between 1998 and 2001.