On Saturday July 22, Newry Shamrocks GAC will welcome and reunite the footballers and camogs who played for the club during a successful 33-year period, between 1956 and 1989.
The informal evening in their newly refurbished club rooms at Pairc Esler will bring together the Down Senior Football Championship winning teams of 1956 and 1961, along with many other sides who wore the green jersey over those years.
Also, the camogie team that made history when they became the first club from Down to win the Senior Ulster Club Championship, will be reunited. They won the title by defeating Swatragh in the final in 1975.
A selection of photographs depicting the various teams will be on display and hopefully will help all the players reminisce, rekindle bygone friendships, and enjoy the craic.
Camogie
The Newry Shamrocks camogie history makers excelled in all departments. They didn’t give the Derry team time to settle with their first-time tacking and forward play which had their opponents in a trance for long periods in the match.
Collette Lambe had very little to do in goal; Mary McKeown cleared everything that came her way; Mary McCoy put in a great display, as did Sheila Turley and Monica McParland; The midfield trio of Carmel Courtney, Ursula Carey, Marie Finnegan were superb, as were Marian McGarvey and Lily Scullion.
Football
On Sunday November 18, 1956, Newry Shamrocks Defeated Kilwarlin in the Down SFC final with a squad that included names such as TP Murphy, Tim McCoy, Liam Walsh and Sean Gorman.
Their success continued in 1961, when in the famous local derby, Shamrocks defeated Newry Mitchel’s in the final. Owing to the Down inter-county team winning the All-Ireland in 1961, the county final was not played until Sunday April 30, 1962.
On that team were four members of the 1956 team – Tony Hadden, Edmund Burns, Tom Gorman and the late Donal Quinn.
The Shamrocks footballers had tremendous success at Minor grade during the 1960’s and 1970’s with names such as John Murphy, Eamon Trainor, Eamon Haughey, Larry Powell, Danny Doran, Ronnie and Oliver Mathews, and Dermot McGovern.
In the 1980’s, the Shamrocks won three more Down Minor Championships, beginning in 1981, with a team captained by Dominic O’Hanlon which won the county title by beating local rivals Newry Mitchel’s in a pulsating final, with the star players on that team being Brian Doran, Derek Kearney, Paul Woods and Pat White.
Five years later, the Shamrocks claimed their second Down Minor Championship of the eighties when they defeated Drumaness, with Connor Burns, Barry Forshaw, Tony Mc Mahon, Collie Burns and Ronan Gorman starring.
Finally, in 1989, under the management of the late Owen Quinn, Shamrocks were crowned Down Minor champions again with players such as Conor Burns, Richie Cushanan and team captain Martin O’Hanlon.
The club hopes that next weekend’s reunion will help ex-players connect with their roots, celebrate their accomplishments, and feel bonded with those they played with on the field.
The night also represents a chance for club members to honour their fellow Shamrock Gaels, who are sadly no longer with us.
