Weekly newsletter

Cúchulainn CLG Mullach Bán & Camogie Club Notes & Latest News – Nótaí CLG Chúchulainn

30/03/2008

Weekly Newsletter:

Scor: The Cúchulainn CLG Mullach Bán Scor Team have yet again excelled and represented our club with pride in the Ulster Finals on Saturday evening in Silverbridge.  First up for the Armagh County Champions was Dearbhla Bennett. Dearbhla put in a truly outstanding performance in the solo singing event, her Harp playing and singing captivated the entire audience so much so that the only other noise that could be heard in the vast Silverbridge hall was the rain on the roof outside. Unfortunately however, it would appear that the West Meath judges who made the long track to South Armagh were looking for something different in this event with the eventual winner being Peadar Boyle from Donegal. No Doubt Dearbhla will be back next year to retain her County Title and try to capture the Ulster Title. Congratulations also to Dearbhla’s niece Megan Burns from the Tullymacrieve townland who had the honour of opening the evenings proceedings with her heart rendering performance of Amhrán na bhFiann.

The next event on the Clar was Ceol Uirlise – Instrumental Music, where the  Cúchulainn CLG Mullach Bán team was led out by Elaine O’Sullivan, (Box) Sean O’Coinn,(Banjo) Briege Quinn(Fiddle) Moira Hughes(Whistle) and Fergal O’Brien (Bodhrán). The guys stole the show and had every foot in the auditorium tapping and hand clapping – it was no surprise therefore that the Mullaghbawn team retained their Ulster Title in the Bridge. The Ceol agus Craic moved home in a triumphant entourage down the road to the Cúchulainn CLG Mullach Bán Social Club where the party went on into the wee hours of the morning where, as would be expected the sessions, songs and stories kept flowing through the night with a only a few unplanned interruptions as yet another bottle of bubbly was cracked open.

Congratulations also to the Set Dancers from Carrickcruppen who will also be on the road to Kerry for the All Ireland Finals in Killarney as they won the right to represent Ulster in the final of the Set Dancing competition against what was very strong competition.

Anyone wishing to join our victorious team members on this journey to the Kingdom can get in touch with another Armagh County Scor Champion for 2008 – Mr Larry Crilly. Larry will be taking responsibility on behalf of the Club to order tickets for the finals and will assist with accommodation and route planning etc. Please get in touch with Larry as early as possible in order to allow Larry time to book a coach if necessary and request tickets for the finals. Please also be aware that Tickets will be allocated to Club Members first as per Club protocol – so if you want to be guaranteed a ticket for the finals in the National Conference Centre in Killarney then please ensure that your membership is up to date for 2008.

Thanks to everyone who came along to show their support on the night for the very talented and hard working teams. And a special word of congratulations to another Club member, Aine Ui Choinn (Ann Quinn) who performed the most important role on the evening – Bean an Ti. Ann ensured that the performances on the night flowed seamlessly from one to the next and that there were no unnecessarily lengthy interruptions or delays whilst keeping everyone informed of the evenings proceedings. The occasion was all the sweeter for Ann as her husband Sean plays the banjo on the winning Mullaghbawn team.

 Remember this is a fabulous achievement for both the team members and the Club and leaves us only one step away from winning another All Ireland title. Copies of the “What’s the Scor” CD are still available in local shops or directly from any member of the Committee.

Social Club Work: This week saw work begin on the redevelopment of our social club. The social club had become somewhat dated in appearance but has served us well over the last 20 years. The detailed plan of work includes bringing the social club up to date and providing better facilities for all Club Members and Patrons including a better layout for the social club, improved seating, a lift to allow easy access to all Club Members and patrons and updated multi media interfaces such as a new sound system, broadband and internet access, satellite TV (including Setanta sports for all those box office GAA games), large digital flat screen TVs and projectors and most importantly a new state of the art security system.  

Cúchulainn CLG Mullach Bán is very proud of the fact that in the current climate of so called pay for play and elite athletes that there are no club members who believe that they are too important to lift a brush and sweep out a store room or help fill a skip. As an example of this, the current Senior Player of the year Martin McKinley and his trophy carrying brother Ciaran have been working flat out all week along with many others, some of whom put in a full days work on site whilst others go up the club after finishing their normal days work in order to begin another hard session of grafting.

This ethos is driven from the top down where Club Chairman Damian Garvey has been the first man on the job in the morning and the last man home at night – on some occasions even putting in 18 hour days all of which is hard graft for 7 days a week and is an inspiration to all not just in our own Club but to other Club Chairmen also. Amongst the goings on this week were a number of strange sights including some strange man with a shirt and tie carrying bricks upstairs and a pig eating nuts all week long! There are too many others to mention personally by name but needless to say that anyone who would like to help please go up the Club during the week at any time where Oliver McKinley will be leading the day shift and Damian Garvey will no doubt be there for the evening shift. And of course thanks to all those who thought it worth their while to go up and help out on Saturday and Sunday – your presence was both welcomed and noted! This highlights what a great club Cúchulainn CLG Mullach Bán really is. Thanks to all and keep it up. Also worth a mention is Kevin Murphy who has been on site every day and it was clear to all that Kevin was the main man who was running things ……Laps – Yes, Kevin was running laps while all the work was going on. Well done and keep it up Kevin! Although Kevin does have a bad back …… he says.

Football:

Men’s Senior Team: Our senior team played their last pre-season friendly of the year at home on Sunday afternoon where they played out a great game finally overcoming a strong White Cross challenge. This Sunday the 6^th of April sees our Senior team travel to Armagh City for the start of the league in a tough opener against Pearse Ogs. We are hoping for big support for this first league game of the season. Training continues for the senior Men on Tuesdays and Fridays.

U18 and U16 Team: Minor and juvenile training is as usual on Thursday evenings from 7pm to 8pm.

U14 Team: The U14s train on Tuesday from 6:30 to 7:30 and Thursday evenings from 7pm to 8pm.

U12 Team: The U12s training has changed from Saturday mornings to Thursday evenings – Training will be from 6:30 to 7:30 on the training pitches. Make sure to bring warm clothes. We also have a challenge game arranged for Saturday morning against Silverbridge in Silverbridge at 11am. Could all players please report to the Cúchulainn CLG Mullach Bán changing rooms at 10:15.

U10 Team: . Training continues on Sunday mornings from 11:30 to 12:30. Warm clothes must be worn.

U8 Team: Please Note. Training is changing from Monday evenings to Wednesday evenings and is scheduled to recommence on Wednesday the 2^nd of April outside in the training fields from 7pm to 8pm. Please ensure that you send them out with warm clothes.

Camogie:

Senior Camogie training: Sundays at 10.30am sees the senior team on the training pitches in preparation for the new league.

Underage Camogie: Indoor Camogie training for primary and post primary is back on in the Club on Thursday evenings from 6.30pm until 7.30pm. New volunteers to help with the training are always welcome. Post Primary and U 16 Camogie training recommences on Monday.

Club Members: This week is the final week for Club membership. We would encourage all locals to get their membership in as soon as possible in order to avail of the benefits including members only nights in the new social club and first choice access to tickets for all GAA events. Please get in touch with any committee member or directly with Martin McKinley our Club Registrar in order to be in the club! Again, compare the value of membership to Cúchulainn CLG Mullach Bán GAA Club against local golf clubs or weekly prices for other children’s sports clubs.

Club Lotto: The Club lotto jackpot is now at £2350 which represents fantastic value given that we still pick from only 24 numbers! For this weeks winners see the Cross Examiner Club Lotto page or simply log onto the club’s website at www.mullaghbawn.armagh.gaa.ie and view the winning numbers or click on the “Play Now” button on the home page to play your numbers on-line. Remember – you can buy a ticket and submit your numbers for the next 7 weeks and get the 8^th week free!

Entertainment:

Saturday night: The venue moves from upstairs to downstairs as we continue with the live music every Saturday night due to the renovation work. And if the crack is as good this Saturday as it was last Saturday then make sure to be there early – although we can’t guarantee any Ulster Champions or Champagne this weekend. We will be providing the usual complimentary light snacks and Admission is free!

Bingo : Eyes down for the first House from 9pm in the Club on Wednesday evening as usual.

Gala Night DVD – Copies of the DVD recorded on the night of our very successful Gala Ball in October are almost sold out already – However anyone interested can place an order with Maura Quinn for the next batch Prices for the Double DVD are at the very reasonable price of £10, but numbers are limited and there is a very big demand.

Club Newsletter: Anyone wishing to receive their own personal emailed copy of the newsletter can do so by sending an email to mullaghbawn-web@armagh.gaa.ie putting the phrase “weekly newsletter request” in the subject field. Get your friends and relatives to sign up to the website and let them see what is going on in our club.

New Selector:The Club received an email this week from a person preferring to remain anonymous that one of our esteemed club members Mr Leo Quinn was recently mistaken for a member of the UUJ Sigerson Management Team, however Leo who frequently Dons the UUJ Coat decided to enjoy the moment of fame and went on to give an in depth interview with a local newspaper discussing UUJs chances of claiming victory in the forthcoming Sigerson Cup final in Carlow. When questioned about the incident Leo stated that he had been off fishing on the day in question!

If you have any interesting or funny stories regarding any of our club members – please mail them through to the club on mullaghbawn-web@armagh.gaa.ie

Please check out our club website for latest news, pictures and events – www.mullaghbawn.armagh.gaa.ie