2014

Officers for 2014

President – Very Rev Fr. William Hennessy PP

Honorary Vice Presidents-Denis Wall, Mick Cuddy & Percy Phelan

Chairperson – Monica Delaney

Vice Chairperson – Padraig Cuddy

Secretary – James Hooban

Treasurer – Seán Mullaney

Assistant Secretary- Fionán Cuddy

Assistant Treasurer- Joe Delaney

P.R.O. – Tom Dooley

Registrar- John Finlay

ASAP Officer – John Gaughan

School Liaison Officer – Gerry Gaughan

Coaching Officer – Tom Dooley

County Board Delegate - Monica Delaney

Committee Members – Richard Poole, Tony Delaney, Mick Phelan, David Cuddy, PJ Mullaney, Tom Phelan, Alan Doheny

Team Managements for 2014

Club Trainer: Damian Fox

Senior: Damian Fox, Padraig Cuddy, Mick Phelan, Martin Lowry & Michael Delaney

Junior A: Joe Heffernan, Brendan Peters, Fintan Cuddy & Ollie Fogarty

Junior B: Tony Delaney, Anthony Heffernan & Joe Delaney

Junior C: Tony Delaney & Alan Doheny

U21: Patrick Mullaney & Seamus Lyons

Minor: David Cuddy & James Hooban

Football Teams: Tom Delaney, Seán Mullaney & Mark Delaney

Senior Captain- Patrick Mullaney

Junior A Captain- Shane Farrell

Junior B Captain- Paul Heffernan

U21 Captain- Ben Conroy

Minor Captain- Evan Cuddy

Juvenile Club 2014

Honorary President – Jack Lowry

Honorary Vice Presidents- Very Rev Fr. William Hennessy PP

Chairperson – Fenton Kavanagh

Vice Chairperson – Tim Drea

Secretary – Martina Cuddy

Treasurer – Amanda Poole

Assistant Secretary- Susan Collins

Assistant Treasurer- Nicola Kirwan

P.R.O. – Nicola Kirwan

Committee Members – Des Scanlon, Gerry Gaughan, Mark Peters, Brendan Peters, John Lyons, Damien Fitzpatrick, Richard Poole, and Tony Delaney

Juvenile Team Managements 2014

U8 Hurling & Football- John Lyons, Claire Lyons, Ger Cuddy & Tom Phelan

U10 Hurling- Damien Fitzpatrick, Declan Donovan and Seán Byrne

U10 Football- Damien Fitzpatrick and Des Scanlon

U12 Hurling & Football- Mark Peters, Barry McKelvey and Seamus Tobin

U14 Hurling- Gerry Gaughan, Dan Phelan and James Hooban

U14 Football- Des Scanlon and Seamus Tobin

U16 Hurling- Brendan Peters, Richard Poole, Michael Butler, Joe Delaney and John Gaughan

U16 Football- Fenton Kavanagh and Tom Delaney

Secretary's Report

(As presented to AGM on 11/1/15)

It is my pleasure as secretary of Castletown GAA Club to present the Secretary’s report for 2014.

This is the Club’s 41st A.G.M. We had six teams compete in hurling competitions- Senior, Junior A, Junior B, Junior C, U21 & Minor. Despite good performances for the club in a number of competitions no honours were secured in 2014 in any of the competitions. The senior team competed in the Senior Leinster League Division 1 for the first time in a number of years. The team reached the semi final of the Palmer Cup and finished joint 3rd in the ACHL Div 1 League, losing out to Camross in a playoff for the semi final place. Our Junior A team were promoted to ACHL Div 2 for 2014. Despite the step up in divisions the team finished 6th in the league and reached the semi final of the championship. The Junior B team were also promoted up a division to ACHL Div 3. After a tough start to the league, they finished strongly, coming 4th and reached the semi final of the Junior B championship. The club entered a Junior C team for 2014 finishing 4TH in the league and losing out in the quarter final of the championship. The U21 team reached the semi final of the championship and our minor team reached the quarter final of both the league and championship.

Minors

Our minor team this year was one of our strongest in a number of years, with 4 players on the county minor panel and after this team had success at u17 level the previous year, confidence was high going into both league and championship. Despite an excellent start to the league with a big win over Clough Ballacolla, they suffered a defeat to Borris Kilcotton in their second match and qualified for a league quarter final against Rathdowney Errill and were very unlucky to loose on a scoreline of 2:16 - 2:18. A number of practice matches were played in preparation for the championship quarter final v The Harps Gaels, but unfortunately the team suffered injuries to a number of players in the build up to the game and lost out 1:7 – 1:12. A special mention should go to Evan Cuddy who was named captain of the Laois minor hurlers in 2014. I would like to thank David Cuddy, Patrick Mullaney and Ken Holmes for their work in preparing the team.

U21

At U21 level, once again we were drawn to play Clough Ballacolla for a second year in a row. After a poor start to the game, the team produced an outstanding second half performance to win 2:18 – 2:16. They went on to defeat The Harps Gaels 0:20 – 2:12 in the quarter final. The team played Portlaoise in the semi final and lost out on a scoreline of 0:11 – 2:11. Despite this defeat, the team have made great progress, and with the majority of the panel once again available for the 2015 championship, hopes should remain high that they can go one step further next year and win an U21 Championship. As mentioned at previous AGMs, the timing of the championship makes it extremely difficult for the management team to get the panel together for training, but credit must go to both the players and management, as despite the majority of lads being away in college, huge efforts were made to arrange for players to drive, get trains, buses, etc back home to train mid week and again at weekends. I would like to thank Seamus Lyons, Patrick Mullaney and Ken Holmes for the work they done with the team.

Junior C

The club entered a junior c team in 2014. The team had a mixed league campaign, finishing 4th in the league narrowly missing out on a semi final spot. At times it was difficult to gather players for matches as phone calls had to be made by the club and management to make sure we had enough numbers. The team faced Borris Kilcotton in the championship quarter final and despite losing a number of players from the team that was involved in the league they put in a spirited performance losing out by 8 points. I would like to thank Alan Doheny, Tom Dooley, Tony Delaney and Anthony Heffernan for all their hard work during the year with the team.

Junior B

The junior B team had an early start to the season. Kileedy Gaa club from Limerick were running an All Ireland hurling competition for Junior B winners from each county and invited our team to compete, representing Laois. Their opening game was a quarter final against Gracefield(Offaly) which was played in Heywood College and the team won by a margin of 3 points. We were drawn against Ballyraggett(Kilkenny) in the semi final, this game was also played in Heywood Collage and despite a good showing lost out by 6 points in the end.

After winning the ACHL Div 4 title in 2013,our Junior B team competed this year in ACHL Div 3 . After a tough opening few league matches, and being forced to concede a game, the team then put together some very good results against teams who were in higher grades at championship level and came 4th overall in the final league standings.

They started off the championship with a very impressive win against Clonaslee in Slieve bloom at the quarter final stage but suffered a disappointing loss to The Harps in the semi final.

I would like to thank Joe Delaney, Anthony Heffernan and Tony Delaney for the work they did with the team throughout the year.

Junior A

Our Junior A team competed in ACHL Div 2 in 2014. After winning the ACHL Div 3 title the previous year, like our Junior B team we were competing against teams who were in a higher grade at championship level than ourselves. Despite this the team put in some competitive performances recording two wins along the way and managed to finish 6th overall in the league standings.

We were drawn against Rathdowney Errill in the 1st round of the championship. There was controversy about the final score of this game with the referee awarding Rathdowney Errill a one point win. Borris Kilcotton were the opposition for the 2nd round of the championship and the team recovered from the disappointment of the previous game with an excellent 4 point win and qualified for a quarter final meeting with Mountmellick. Once again the team put in a very good showing and came away with a 6 point winning margin thus qualifying for a semi final match against our rivals Camross. Unfortunately we never got going on the day against Camross and went down on a scoreline of 0-7 to 1-11. This team has shown promise throughout the league in previous years and after playing at a higher league level in 2014 hopes were high success could finally be had in the championship. Hopefully next year the team can go a step further and finally claim a championship title. Each year the issue of the Junior A team training on their own comes up, while this is understandable at times depending on fixtures, I think it is not good as a whole for the club for our Junior A team to be training away from the other teams. Numbers end up being small for all training sessions and nothing is gained by any teams involved. I would like to thank Brendan Peters, Joe Heffernan, Ollie Fogarty and Fintan Cuddy for all their work preparing the team throughout the year.

Senior

Once again our seniors had a mixed year in 2014. Damien Fox was appointed senior manager for the year. The club invested in gym equipment and were put through 3 months of physical training in the community hall. The team entered the Leinster Hurling League Div 1 and were drawn in a very tough club, losing out to both O Loughlin Gaels(Kilkenny) at home and away to Buffers Alley(Wexford) and received a walkover from Ballyboden St Endas(Dublin).

In the Palmer Cup, we defeated Colt in the quarter final and lost out to Clough Ballacolla at the semi final stage

The league started off with a home game against county champions Camross and despite a lot of players being unavailable to the management, the game ended in a draw with Camross getting a last min goal to share the spoils in very poor weather conditions. This was the last senior game to be played in Castletown before development works started on the pitch.

The rest of the league was mixed for the team, with some poor defeats and some impressive wins especially in the latter stages of the league and we ended up in joint 3rd place along with Camross, which ment we once again faced them in a playoff for a place in the semi final. After a poor first half display the team came back strongly to bring the game back to a draw but two late points for Camross gave them a narrow victory.

We were drawn to play Abbeyleix in the 1st round of the championship. The team never got into gear and ended up losing badly 1-11 to 2-14, which was one of the poorest results the club has had in a senior championship. Round 2 was against Borris Kilcotton and this proved to be one of the teams better performances in recent times coming away with a 2-19 to 0-20 win. Once again, as has been the case in recent years we faced Clough Ballacolla in the quarter final. Like in 2013 against Portlaoise the team completely collapsed in the second half and suffered a huge 19 point defeat. After what had been a positive start to the year regards training, the spirit within the panel and a decent league campaign the team just didn’t get going once it came to championship. This has been the case for a number of years now and it needs to be looked into what is causing this to happen, as once the league finishes the team seems to loose momentum. I would like to thank Damien Fox for managing the team, Padraig Cuddy, Mick Phelan, Martin Lowry and Micky Delaney for been involved in selecting and preparing the team throughout the year.

While the management of all teams are the people who get the brunt of the criticism when things go wrong, the players have to take a lot of responsibility. Discipline levels among players both on and off the field have fallen over the past couple of years, and if this is not addressed things will only continue to get worse. Also I believe that the players, the team management and the committee need to work closer together to make sure everything runs smoothly and that if any issues arise during the year it can be dealt with straight away.

Membership

Membership levels have fallen slightly over the last year. While we continue to have a very good membership community, the falling numbers are a concern. An increasing amount of people have switched over to paying their membership by standing order which is the simplest way to do so and I would continue to encourage other members to go down this method of payment. One problem that is becoming more of an issue is members missing standing order payments during the year. Issues have arisen where people have missed a number of months payments and it is something that the club needs to discuss as to how to deal with these cases.

Membership continues to include keeping members updated by text of fixtures and results, free entry into home games, a Social Night for our members, club merchandise and entry into a draw for All Ireland hurling tickets.

While the issue of non payment by players has almost being eradicated completely, there was still a very small number of players who failed to pay their membership. As discussed in previous years, this is something that cant be tolerated by the club.

I would also remind the meeting that only those who were members in 2014 will be entitled to vote on any matters that arise today.

Club Website

I would like to thank Fionan Cuddy for his continued work regarding The Castletown GAA club website. It is always being updated regarding fixtures, results and any fundraising activities the club is involved in. For anyone who has not viewed the site I would encourage you to do so at www.castletown.gaa.ie as it covers both the current teams and has an excellent history section of the club. If anyone has any information that could be used on the site please feel free to contact the club regarding it as we are always looking for new material to add.

Other Activities

Our social night was held on the 20th of April in Mountrath Golf Club. This was also used as our presentation night and it proved to be a great success. A big crowd turned out and a great night was had by all. Gerry Kavanagh our county chairman presented medals to the players on the night.

Fundraising

The club held a Monster auction on Sunday the 26th October in Castletown Community Centre. A huge amount of work went into organising this event and despite a small attendance on the day it proved to be a success for the club. I would like to say a big thanks to all the people who helped organise everything, from saving turf, to cutting and chopping timber, getting vouchers from companies to auction off and people for loaning their trailers on the day. A special thanks should be given to both Tony Delaney and Damien Brophy who supplied us with timber for the event, and to all the businesses and individuals who donated vouchers.

The rearranged Castletown Slieve Bloom race night was also held on Sunday the 26th of October in The Castletown Inn. Once again this proved to be a good success for both clubs. It is a very simple and effective way to raise money. I would like to thank Pat Delaney for doing MC on the night and Ger and all the staff at The Castletown Inn for hosting the event.

The club this year got involved in promoting the parish lotto. It is an excellent source of income for the club. I would encourage more people to please get involved in both selling and buying tickets on the clubs behalf, especially the players, as a very small number of players are currently involved in doing so.

Player Injury Scheme

The player injury scheme continues to work as it has done so over recent years. I would ask players to please keep themselves up to date with how the system works and remind them that receipts and forms must be completed on time or the claims can not be processed.

Club Development

As you all know the pitch was redeveloped during 2014, with the help of the Sports Capital Grant and the money brought in through our membership scheme the club was able to complete the work without having to borrow money. A field committee was put in place to look into what other work could be carried out on the pitch, the dressing rooms and car park. While we can use what money is available through the membership scheme to carry out these upgrades, the club may need to borrow funds to complete all the essential works that are needed to be carried out, and maybe this should be discussed.

Castletown GAA applied for a Sports Capital Grant in 2014 and received a grant of €8000 to go towards purchasing a new mower for the field. Unfortunately the dressing rooms were broken into during the year and extensive damage was done including the copper cylinder been robbed.

I would like to thank Tom Phelan and Richard Poole in particular for their continued work regarding the redevelopment of the field.

Referee

I would like to thank Alan Doheny for continuing to referee within the county. It is very important for the club to have a referee involved and I would encourage the club to help Alan out regards getting people to make themselves available for umpiring.

Castletown & Slieve Bloom Amalgamation

As agreed at last years AGM, a steering committee from both Castletown Gaa and Slieve Bloom Gaa clubs meet on a number of occasions during 2014 with the intention of coming to an agreement on how the future set up between both clubs should proceed. As stated on the proposal that was passed at last years AGM, an outside senior manager was appointed, an even number of selectors from both clubs on all managements was put in place, senior and junior managements picked the 17 players required to be named at each grade for the county board, monthly meetings took place and a new combined jersey was purchased for our minor and U21 hurlers/footballers to wear during 2014.

At a steering committee meeting on November 4th it was agreed that both clubs would meet again on the 28th of November to finalise a proposal to put forward at our AGMs regarding the future set up between Castletown and Slieve Bloom.

On the 26th of November we received an e mail from Slieve Bloom Gaa stating that following a committee meeting of Slieve Bloom Gaa, it was decided that Slieve Bloom Gaa could no longer continue with any arrangement at adult level with Castletown Gaa unless that arrangement was based on a single parish club under a neutral name and neutral colours. Slieve bloom requested a meeting with Castletown within 5 days to discuss this matter.

A steering committee meeting took place between both clubs on November 28th in Slieve Bloom dressings rooms. After long discussions on the matter Castletown Gaa agreed to a single parish club, involving a neutral jersey(in which the colours blue and white were included) but insisted that any future name for the club would have to include the name Castletown in it. Slieve Bloom informed us that they would have to go back to their committee to discuss the matter further.

To date Castletown Gaa club has received no further contact from Slieve Bloom Gaa club since the steering committee meeting on November 28th. This is extremely disappointing situation we find ourselves in but unfortunately it is something that is somewhat out of our control and it should be discussed at length as to what steps we can take at this point, and members should express their opinion on the situation that has developed.

Acknowledgements

I would like to compliment The Naomh Éamonn Juvenile Gaa Club on their continued good work and congratulate them on another very successful year. These successes include:

U10 Hurling won the Bill Delaney tournament for the first time and clonaslee tournament.

U12 Hurling won the ’A’ Shield.

U14 Football won ’B’ League and Feile and qualified for semi final of National Feile Div 3 in Connaught.

U14 Hurling won ’A’ League and Feile and qualified for semi final of National Feile Div 1 in Ulster.

U16 Hurling won ’A’ Shield.

I wish to thank all of those involved in Castletown Gaa Club over the last year. The running of the club requires a lot of time and effort and it is a huge commitment by all involved. I would like to thank all the committee for all their hard work during the year and Monica and Fionan for their help over the past year.

From a financial point of view I wish to thank all the businesses and individuals who contributed in any way to the running of the club in 2014.

I also wish to thank the following :

Pat Phelan – sale Tipperary Draw tickets

Harry Phelan/Jimmy Conroy – Physio

Castletown Inn – Food for team meetings/Race Night

Mary Hooban – Looking after jerseys

2015

The club once again can look forward to the year ahead with optimism. With more young players coming through from the juvenile ranks there is plenty of hope for the 2015 season. I would like to wish all the players/managements every success in 2015.

While it has been a pleasure to serve as secretary for the club I really feel it is a job that should be undertaken by someone who is not still involved on the playing side of things.

Seamus ó hÚbain

7th January 2015

Other Events during 2014

The A.G.M on 5th January 2014 in the ICA Hall was attended by the following;

Monica Delaney

Fionán Cuddy

Seán Mullaney

Padraig Cuddy

James Hooban

Gearóid Gaughan

Ryan Mullaney

Evan Cuddy

James Dooley

William Delaney

John Gaughan

Kevin Conroy

P.J. Mullaney

Gerry Gaughan

Alan Doheny

Tom Dooley

Richard Poole

Taidgh Dooley

Eoin Dooley

Seamus Lyons

Adrian Dollard

Patrick Mullaney

Tony Delaney

Joe Delaney

Matty Cuddy

Mick Cuddy

David Cuddy

Seán Fleming

John O’ Sullivan

Apologies: Fr. Hennessy, Brian Ferns, Mick Butler, Loughlin Hegarty, Brendan Peters, Mick Phelan

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Results 2014

Palmer Cup

Castletown Slieve Bloom 2-15 Colt 1-7

Castletown Slieve Bloom 1-14 Ballacolla 2-12

Leinster Club Senior Hurling League

Castletown Slieve Bloom 0-15 O Loughlin Gaels 0-21

Castletown Slieve Bloom 0-12 Buffers Alley 3-10

Castletown Slieve Bloom Ballyboden St Endas walkover received

ACHL Div 1

Castletown Slieve Bloom 0-15 Camross 2-9

Castletown Slieve Bloom 0-17 Rathdowney Errill 2-17

Castletown Slieve Bloom 2-13 Ballinakill 1-8

Castletown Slieve Bloom 1-13 Ballacolla 1-17

Castletown Slieve Bloom 1-15 Borris Kilcotton 0-14

Castletown Slieve Bloom 4-15 Portlaoise 0-16

Castletown Slieve Bloom 1-20 Colt 2-15

Playoff- Castletown Slieve Bloom 0-19 Camross 1-18

SHC

Round 1- Castletown Slieve Bloom 1-11 Abbeyleix 2-14

Round 2- Castletown Slieve Bloom 2-19 Borris Kilcotton 0-20

Quarter Final- Castletown Slieve Bloom 1-11 Ballacolla 3-24

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ACHL Div 2

Castletown Slieve Bloom 1-9 Clonaslee 3-11

Castletown Slieve Bloom 0-11 Camross 1-10

Castletown Slieve Bloom 0-14 Trumera 1-15

Castletown Slieve Bloom 4-13 The Harps 0-8

Castletown Slieve Bloom 2-11 Ballypickas 1-9

Castletown Slieve Bloom 2-7 Shanahoe 2-14

Castletown Slieve Bloom 2-7 Park Ratheniska 2-12

JHC

Round 1- Castletown Slieve Bloom 1-13 Rathdowney Errill 2-11

Round 2- Castletown Slieve Bloom 2-14 Borris Kilcotton 2-10

Quarter Final- Castletown Slieve Bloom 2-13 Mountmellick 1-10

Semi Final- Castletown Slieve Bloom 0-7 Camross 1-11

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Leinster Junior B Club Competition

Quarter Final- Slieve Bloom 0-10 Gracefield 0-7

Semi Final- Castletown Slieve Bloom 1-5 Ballyraggett 1-11

ACHL Div 3

Castletown Slieve Bloom 2-11 Mountmellick 5-11

Castletown Slieve Bloom 3-8 Ballacolla 4-20

Castletown Slieve Bloom Rathdowney Errill walkover given

Castletown Slieve Bloom 1-6 Portlaoise 3-11

Castletown Slieve Bloom 1-11 Kyle 1-9

Castletown Slieve Bloom Timahoe walkover received

Castletown Slieve Bloom 1-12 Borris Kilcotton 1-10

JHC B

Quarter Final- Castletown Slieve Bloom 4-17 Clonaslee 0-8

Semi Final- Castletown Slieve Bloom 3-2 The Harps 3-8

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ACHL Div 5

Castletown Slieve Bloom 2-23 Ballypickas 1-8

Castletown Slieve Bloom 0-10 Abbeyleix 2-9

Castletown Slieve Bloom 1-19 Rathdowney Errill 1-15

Castletown Slieve Bloom Timahoe walkover received

Castletown Slieve Bloom 3-12 Mountmellick 0-9

Castletown Slieve Bloom Shanahoe walkover received

Castletown Slieve Bloom 3-12 Borris Kilcotton 5-11

Castletown Slieve Bloom 2-6 The Harps 0-13

Castletown Slieve Bloom Graiguecullen walkover received

JHC C

Quarter Final- Castletown Slieve Bloom 0-8 Borris Kilcotton 1-13

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Minor Hurling League

Castletown Slieve Bloom 5-19 Ballacolla 2-10

Castletown Slieve Bloom 0-8 Borris Kilcotton 1-15

Semi Final- Castletown Slieve Bloom 2-16 Rathdowney Errill 2-19

MHC

Quarter Final- Castletown Slieve Bloom 1-7 The Harps 1-12

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U21 HC

Round 1- Castletown Slieve Bloom 2-18 Ballacolla 2-16

Quarter Final- Castletown Slieve Bloom 0-20 The Harps 2-12

Semi Final- Castletown Slieve Bloom 0-11 Portlaoise 2-11

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League Tables 2014

2014 Fixtures – List page from Classic Sites

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The following were graded Senior for 2014 and therefore could not compete at a lower grade;

Ben Conroy, Brendan Reddin, Fionán Cuddy, Brian Ferns, James Hooban, Declan Keenan, Paul Cuddy, Gavin Conroy, Kevin Conroy, John Gaughan, Enda Conroy, Loughlin Hegarty, Ryan Mullaney, Evan Cuddy, Patrick Mullaney, Seamus Lyons, Gearóid Gaughan

The following were graded Junior A for 2014 and therefore could not compete at a lower grade;

John Paul Bennett, Tom Delaney, Martin Delaney, Gearóid Lowry, John Lowry, David Cuddy, Tadgh Dooley, Eoin Dooley, Adrian Dollard, Shane Farrell, Kevin Carroll, Tom Phelan, Cyril Cuddy, Joe Delaney, Robert Delaney, Martin Reddin, Ger Cuddy

The following were graded Junior B for 2014 and therefore could not compete at a lower grade;

Paul Heffernan, Fergal Burke, John Palmer, J.R. Kingston, Padraig Cuddy, Ciarán Cuddy, Barry McKelvey, Damien Brophy, J.P. Campion, James Tobin, Michael Butler, Tadgh Drea, Gavin Daly, Paul Croke, Darragh Delaney, James Mullaney, Paul Harding

All remaining players were entitled to play any grade, including Junior C

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Castletown GAA became promoters in the Castletown Parish Lotto for the first time, thanks mainly to the support and enthusiasm of Fr. Hennessy P.P.

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On the night of Wednesday 27th March/morning of Thursday 28th March our club house was broken into, vandalised and extensive damage was caused. A copper cylinder, with minimal scrap value, but expensive to replace, was taken.

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A Presentation/Social Night took place on Easter Sunday, 20th April, at Mountrath Golf Club.

Medals from 2013 were presented on the night for JHC B, ACHL Division 3, ACHL Division 4, JFC B, MFC B and U21 FC B.

On the night Evan Cuddy and Shane Farrell were presented with the Young Hurler & Footballer of the Year respectively.

Here is a collection of images from the night;

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Pitch development works began in April, with Killeen Civil Engineering & Plant Hire from Portlaoise being the contractor. The pitch was excavated, drainage pipes put in place, levelled, sanded and re-seeded.

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Castletown Primary School won their division in the Cumann na mBunscol finals v Killadooley.

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Rushall National School Parent's Council won €1500 in the June County Board Draw.

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Castletown GAA successfully applied for Sports Capital Funding to the tune of €8,000 in 2014. This grant was allocated for spending on non personal sports equipment. As we are neither the owner or lease holder of our grounds, and the fact that we had successfully applied for a grant of €25,000 in the 2012 round of funding, we were ineligible to apply for funding for any capital projects. The money allocated is for the purchase of non personal sports equipment only.

This money will be used for equipment upgrades, maintenance equipment etc.

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On the 18th June Laois Minor Hurlers played Kilkenny in the semi final of the Leinster Minor Hurling Championship in Portlaoise. Evan Cuddy captained the team, while Conor Phelan and Ryan Mullaney both lined out also. They had earlier beaten Offaly in Tullamore 0-26 to 3-14 in Tullamore. Match report here.

They lost out on this occasion and exited the Championship on a scoreline of 1-21 to 0-16.

Match report here.

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Previews from local newspapers of the 2014 Laois SHC

From Leinster Express