DAY 3  is over and there was lots of activity today at Summer Camp '17.  The God's were kind and kept the rain away that was forecast so the boys and girls enjoyed everything that is great about this camp....good honest to God fun with their friends!. 

Today the mentors rotated again and brought their varying degrees of expertise to another one of the 8 groups taking part. Kilkenny Senior Hurling Captain Paddy Deegon is glad to share what his learned in the Kilkenny squad....as too  is Kilkenny Camogie's Laura Green, while Kilkenny Minor, Conor Heary,is glad of the distraction in the build up to next Sunday's All-Ireland Minor Semi-Final at Croke Park.  ..you can be sure there will be over 200 pairs of eyes watching intently and rooting for thir new hero come Sunday afternoon as he takes to the field with four more O'Loughlin Gaels on Sunday. 

King of the Ring, Penalties and Building the Wall were just some of the games that the participants enjoyed today and each group also got the opportunity to demonstrate their skills with the big ball. 

All home this evening with tired legs no doubt but still have a spring in their step in anticpation of Day 4... Bring it on!!

It was Day 1 today of the 10th O'Loughlin Gaels GAA Summer Camp and a contigent of over 200 strong gathered on the steps in front of O'Loughlin Gaels GAA club before 10am in anticipation of two full weeks of GAA magic.  

Last night reflected a mood of Christmas Eve as youngsters all around St. Parish tossed and turned to get that final sleep so they could get up, grap their hurls and helmets and rush to St. John's Park. For one young Gael the wait was just too much and was first in at 8.30am.  DOC was already getting traffic managment in full swing so was on hand to calm any anxiety before the scheduled throw in. 

After a quick intro from Coordinator Niall Bergin the boys and girls were grouped with their club mentors for the day, made up of adult hurling and camogie players aided by their minor colleagues, and were out on the fields within minutes having the craic almighty!.

It was too short a day for some who could not believe it was 2.30pm and time to go home. They didnt mind though, becuase they all knew they'd be at it again by 10am tomorrow. ..and maybe they hoped the 2017 Edition Jersey will be there...we're all wondering what colour this years one will be!

Summer Camp continues until Aug 12th. Lovely Hurling

Once the Games ended it was time for the main event. Almost 300 children from u6 to u12 gathered on the 21yard line at the Country end of the Main Pitch. Their target was a range of lollipop sticks dotted between the two 65's placed and numbered earlier by the Camogie u16s..each lollipop stick holding a players corresponding number. Once the player found his/her stick it could be brought to the club for an Easter Egg and a gourmet burger...no child would be sold short.

Once the whistle sounded the stampede to the centre was on and the scramble for sticks got going. Former Club Chairman Luke Roche commented that it was the most fantastic sight he had ever seen during his long association with the club, to watch 300 young gaels stampede the length of the pitch with pure joy on thier faces. It was EGGsactly what the organisers hoped for. 

Once the target was achieved the lollipop stick in hand was brought to the registration desk where rigistrars - Juvenile Chairperson Joan Galwey and Linda O'Leary - handed each and every child their Easter Egg and directed them to the BBQ team for burgers. There were burgers available too for anyone who wanted, and the BBQ team of Stephen, Caroline & David McCormack, David Buckeridge, David and Paula Feehan and Sarah Cuddihy were flat out all evening making sure that everyone was catered for by serving a whopping 400 and more burgers. You could retire to the lounge too and mingle with other club members as the youngsters safely enjoyed pucking around on the pitches at St. John's Park for thr remainder of the evening
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 Well done to all the young 'Gaels, their parents and mentors who all took part in today's brilliant St. Patrick's Day Parade that made it's way through the Kilkenny Streets in what must have been the biggest and best there was to date.  

The O'Loughlin Gaels GAA & Camogie entry was a true community entry with not only children from the St. John's Park participating but also children from St. John's Snr, The Model School, Johnswell NS and St. John's Junior all joining up as the battalion made it's way from St John's Park down O'Loughlin Road to the Dublin Road to the official starting point. And as the group reached the crest of St. John's Bridge the crowd had swelled so much so that Rose Inn Street came to a standstill as the White & Green brigade funneled it's way to the official viewing stand at The Parade. There the group set up goals and played out what young Gaels do best...a match with the silkiest of skills. Johnathon Swift refereed...I'm not so sure Swift was a hurling man but he made a fair stab at refereeing under the added pressure of the large crowd!

A group of young St. John's Warriors, armed with shields made during the week by the pupils of St. Johns' Snr School,  looked after the Tom Walsh Cup as it made it's way through the street as a guest of O'Loughlin Gaels GAA....a guest by the way that is welcome anytime!!

It was a fun filled community effort, coordinated by Commander in Chief Stephen McCormack and backed up by a strong team from the Juvenile Section. Well done to everyone involved...we were the envy of all and can be proud of our contribution to arguably the best Kilkenny St. Patrick's Day Parade ever.

Thanks to our Sponsors MacDonagh Junction Shopping Centre  & Ormonde Construction today. Thanks too to The St. Patricks Day KIlkenny team.  Thanks to all those who sent in photographs also and feel free to keep them coming in and we'll add to our gallery. 

Lovely Huring.

It was everything it promised ..not even the result of the Irel v Wales match could dampen the spirits of the 300 strong crowd that attended the Champions Dinner on Friday Night last. ..and that's not including the 'afters' crowd!!!

From 7pm they started to fill the large hall bedecked on White & Green by the hardworking Social Committee. The all-important Ireland v Wales rugby match was streamed live into the crowd via the six large screens set up around the hall that were later going to be used to keep the crowd close to proceedings as the night progressed. Not the result required at the start of a party.. but one man was grinning like the cheshire cat was Welshman Jason Acremen,, who accompanied his wife Marion - one of the guests on the night representing MacDonagh Junction Shopping Centre, the club's juvenile Sponsors .  The result only temporarily dampened the crowds spirits as a quick review of the hurling championship in musical highlights ensured the party mood continued. 

Club Chairman Brian Murphy welcomed everybody to the club including special guests from the Co. Board - Chairman Ned Quinn, Vice Chairman Conor Denieffe and Secretary, Jimmy Walsh.  Brian also thanked our three main sponsors for their continued support - Pat Carroll is a valued sponsor of our senior teams while Marion Acreman Centre Manager with MacDonagh Junction Shopping Centre represented our juvenile Sponsors who have been with the club since 2007. Also present were John and Margaret McCarthy from McCarthys Eurospar Newpark who are main sponsors to the club's Family Dog Night that's held during the Summer. Also welcomed were Fr. Purcell, Fr. O'Connor from St. John's Parish and Fr. Tommy Murphy one of the clubs co-founders along with Club President , Martin Hanlon. 

Co. Board Chairman Ned Quinn congratulated the club and players on the 2016 success and wished them well for the coming season before presenting the medals to each of the 33 strong panel of players.  Each player, introduced by John Joe Cullen was greeted with a rousing O'Loughlin Gaels cheer with the loudest cheer reserved for the final player to be called out..Martin Comerford. Captain Brian Hogan spoke of the desire amongst the players for success and impressed upon those present that that hunger be instilled into our younger players to compete for team places and hence build a stronger club.  Manager Aiden Fogarty thanked all for their involvement in leaving no stone upturned in the pursuit of last years success.

All fed (thanks to Alan Cullen and his team of caterers - beef or salmon should anyone ask), watered and 'medaled' , it was time to party, and Drops of Green got that show on the road with a fine set enjoyed by a very satisfied crowd that had grown since the beginning of the night. It was now well into the early hours of Saturday morning and the revelers were getting into the swing of things with DJ-Seanie D providing the sounds. The Tom Walsh Cup was not going to be left out of this one and must have had more dance partners on the night than Warren Beatty ever had! - because O'Loughlin Gaels GAA Club have the best party's. This reveler left to the sounds of the morning course...and also left behind some hardened revelers still inside.  If you missed it..it's your own fault because you were well warned...but if you did..you missed a cracker!!

A huge thanks to the organising commitee Brian Murphy, John Skehan, Paddy Greene, Eoin Lawlor, Margaret Hanlon, Eileen Cleere, Mary Deegan, Coleman Loughnane & John Joe Cullen.

Thanks also to the Bar staff on the night, the glass collectors, the decorators and the cleaner-uppers. (Often the same people!!) 

Well done to the players of course.... becuase no one will mind organising another one of those nights next year!! ..(..not even Paddy Greene!)

Thanks to Maurice Walsh Photography for helping to put this memory together.  It was shown at our Champions Dinner last night and enjoyed by everyone.  So here it is again for you to enjoy whenever you want......  

​Lovely Hurling

U16 player Niall Flanagan just returned from a visit to Calcutta, India where he spent some time with the Hope Foundation through his school Rockwell College to help the children there with their educational needs. Niall would like to thank all those from the club who contributed to his fundraising efforts last Autumn that helped him to participate in what Niall himself describes as "an incredibly humbling, life changing experience."  The monies raised were very well spent on homing, educating and feeding the young children of the slums. Niall is pictured above at one of the dumps at where many of these children live. 

Below are just some of the photos of Niall with some very extraordinary young children from the slums of Calcutta that Niall visited with his TY colleagues

​Well done Niall and thanks to all who helped 

LUKE JOINS HIS  TOP CLUB
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​​There was great night tonight at Juvenile Registration with record numbers of boys and girls getting ready for a season of hurling & camogie at St. John's Park. Luke from Johnswell National School​  (Pictured) is one of dozens of happy new young Gaels who was fitted with a new hurl by our Master of Ash, Hugh Mahon. Luke, like everyone else who registered got a Training Ball, A club Calendar - and the girls also came away with brightly coloured boot laces 👍👍👍. There were homework passes too for those from St. Johns Senior and The Model School and the numbers present suggest there will no homework done in the parish for a week!!  

Training starts for some on Sunday and continues every Sunday at 11am for the boys...while the O'Loughlin Gaels Camogie Club girls return on Saturday 25th at 10.30am. 
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Best wishes to everyone involved and enjoy the season ahead...hon d'Loughs!

On Wednesday night a generous show of mentors and members from both the GAA & Camogie Club's attended the official Launch of the O'Loughlin Gaels GAA Young Player Pathway. Coordinator of the Project Paul Clear opened proceedings by welcoming all and thanking those involved in it's production.

The event was attended by Kilkenny GAA's Coaching and Games Development Officer, Brian Ryan, who congratulated the Club on continued efforts in mindfully guiding the young through their development as players and club members, noting that O'Loughlin Gaels GAA is held in high regard throughout the GAA community as a benchmark for developing players.

"The Pathway itself shall be viewed as a 'Route Map' which sets out the Key Characteristics and identifies the age appropriate content (Technical, Physical and Game Specific) that should be coached or practiced at a particular age and stage of the players career" the introduction states and a point that was clearly identified by Niall Bergin, the main collaborator of the project, when addressing the audience. He stressed that the Pathway be used by coaches to set development targets for the year and hence plan coaching sessions to achieve those targets through the skills challenges & the age specific physical focuses set out in the guide. 

Club Chairman Brian Murphy was delighted with the efforts put in by all involved in publishing the Pathway and used the opportunity to encourage anyone interested in our games to get involved in the club and add to it's continued growth. Juvenile Chairman Nigel Leydon was on hand also to thank Niall Bergin and Paul Cleere for their innovation in producing a document that will serve the club's high standards long in to the future. He thanked the members of the Juvenile Committees of the last three years for their contributions though to the guides completion

​The Document is available in Booklet Format for Club Mentors and local Schools. It is also available in full on the club's website at www.oloughlingaels.gaa.ie/young-player-pathway.html for all users - mentors, parents, teachers and players. Its available to download from there to pc/laptop, or indeed to have on smartphone or tablets. 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

Brendan Cleere (Jnr) & Brian Ryan, Kilkenny Co. Board

Thanks also to Graphic Designer Kieran Carroll Design for a wonderful publication 
Email:  Kcgraphicdesign@hotmail.com
Twitter: @KieranCarroll 
Print Shop www.etsy.com/ie/shop/KieranCarrollDesign

Photographs: The ever present Luke Leydon & John McElwaine

Printing: Perfecto Print sales@perfectoprint.ie   and www.perfectoprint.ie/