Report by Philomena Brennan
The Annual Family Fun Day which was postponed recently due to inclement weather took place on Saturday evening last 02/09/2017. Despite the postponement, a large crowd turned up in Tom Ryall Park, Kilmanagh to support the club’s fund-raiser. The club had been busy since early morning as the first ever Billy Malone Memorial U17 Camogie Tournament was in progress. The tournament has been established to honour the memory of Billy, a great supporter of camogie in Kilkenny and who was also a trustee of the hurling club.
With the weather being kind the crowd started to arrive and soon the place was a hive of activity. Ticket sales were brisk for the timber raffle and for the novelty attraction ‘Where will Winnie Pooh’. The hurling skills competition, kindly sponsored by Electro City was a huge draw for the juveniles as was the very difficult ‘Pull-up’ activity. The ladies in the kitchen and on the barbeque were cooking up a storm through-out the evening, working right up to late. Even the ice-cream stand did a raring trade despite the lack of sunshine. Bargains were to be had on the ever popular Bric-A-Brac stand. Medals galore were won by the U6s, 8s and 10s as they were put through their paces in the novelty races. As always there was great interest in the Timber Auction and all 25 trailers of timber went to good homes!
At six o’clock the final of the Annual Billy Ronan Tournament, between Graigue-Ballycallan and Danesfort entertained the crowds. And after a good tussle the locals came out on top and Captain Darragh Egan accepted the memorial trophy from Johnny Ronan, brother of the late Billy. Winners from the day’s events were then announced: Large Trailer of Timber was won by Aaron Brennan with the smaller trailer going to Davy Hoyne. Noel Power, from Moneenroe won the Winnie the Pooh event, and Ellie Lanigan won the skills competition. Before the evening came to an end the Chairman, Dave O’Neill addressed the crowd and thanked everyone for supporting the club’s fund-raiser. He thanked all the sponsors, those who donated timber for the auction and the raffle, the countless volunteers who helped on the day, the Family Fun Day committee and everyone who purchased tickets for the events. He concluded by wishing the U16s all the best in their Roinn B semi-final which would take place on the following day.
