Roscrea celebrates its sporting champions
Roscrea Community Tourism & Leisure Centre (RCTLC) celebrated a special birthday last Friday night at the Racket Hall Hotel with its 21st annual Sports Awards.
Over 170 people were in attendance to celebrate the sporting achievements of sixteen award winners with outgoing Golf Union of Ireland President John McLoughney on hand as the special guest who said he was “humbled” to be in the presence of so many fine sportspeople from so many disciplines.
“All champions in their own right, but above all, participants, who in the first instance, started out as competitors and enthusiasts, accepting sport as a means to exercise, integrate, and be part of something special,” he said.
Chief among them was the induction of Offaly hurling great Pat Delaney into the Hall of Fame. The Kinnitty man who won 2 All Ireland's in 1981 and 1985 said sport has been very good to him.
“The old people really got some kick out of our success in 1981. They thought they would never see it coming and I was so privileged to be with those people and they really made you very welcome in the wonderful rural Ireland I grew up in,” he said.
2018 Award winners: Hall of Fame - Pat Delaney; Contribution to Sport - Ray Dempsey; Special Recognition - St Cronan's Camogie Club; Sports Personality - Seamus Hennessy; Team of the Year - Coolderry Senior Hurling team; Athletics - Templemore A.C. Ladies Sprint Relay team Sandra Gillick, Orla McDonald, Evelyn Maher, Rosita Callinan & Genevieve Roland; Camogie - St Rynagh's Camogie Club Senior team; Dart - Shane O'Hara; Gaelic Football - Inane Rovers; Golf - Fabian Jones; Handball - Jerome Cahill; Hurling - Kevin Connolly; Pitch & Putt - Sean Minogue; Soccer - Killavilla United junior team; Special Olympics - Damien Breslin; Youth - Coláiste Phobal Roscrea Junior Camogie team.
To read more and see 2 page spread, pick up a copy of this weeks Nenagh Guardian locally or subscribe to our e-paper to access it online each Wednesday.