Sport « Thurles Information

Tribute To Tipperary Senior Hurlers.

A tribute to Tipperary’s senior hurlers, fresh from the pen of poet Mr Tom Ryan and dedicated to Liam Sheedy and our mighty Tipperary men, togged out in the blue and gold.

Tribute To Tipperary Senior Hurlers
Courtesy of Thurles Author & Poet Tom Ryan ©
“By Leeside you held our colours high
In gallant glorious fray against the Red
Scorned the pride of the ancient enemy,
Hurled with blood and muscle, heart and head.
Tipperary men by bold tradition brave,
No time for reputations or renown.
Who for Tipperary and her homes engrave
A glory that is greater than a crown,
Cry the fainthearted, “Tipperary hurling dead”
No! tis alive with fiercely wondrous will.
Proud wear the blue and gold upon your head,
Tipperary men are hurling warriors still”.
END

Tom Ryan, “Iona”, Rahealty, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.

Planning For Semple’s Field In Thurles Placed On Hold

Tipperary County Council have decided to seek further planning information regarding a new multi-million Euro plan to transform the Kinane Stand at Semple Stadium, Thurles. Same is required by the council before granting their consent to planning proposals to an area, possibly better known as ‘The Old Stand’.

It had been expected that the council’s final decision would have been made known today, but further confirmation is now being sought on this proposal, through Wilson Architecture, Cork; latter commissioned to put together the initial planning application.

The Kinane Stand (Old Stand) area, with an existing holding capacity for some 14,500 sports fans, was last upgraded 12 years ago as part of a then major refurbishment project; same undertaken at a cost understood to have been in the region of €18 million.

Under this new planing application it was envisaged that an extra floor could be built to include the installation of changing rooms; a gym; physiotherapy space; a kitchen; stores; media rooms and a welcoming area.

These plans, initially lodged last April, involved the reconfiguration of the present ground floor seating area; including turnstiles; the construction of a new exit gate, together with three service hubs, latter providing access for wheelchair-accessible turnstiles to the upper floor area.

Mikey Ryan Nearly Met Golfer Rory McIlroy

“You won’t believe it”, said Mikey Ryan, “but as true as Santa Clause, didn’t I run into Beyoncé Murphy over in Templemore about an hour ago. She swore she was crossing the local petrol station forecourt, just before I pulled in, and you will never guess who she met”.

“Give me a hint”, said I, “or better still surprise me”.

Now, to be quite honest and not wanting to be unkind, but had I realised Mikey Ryan would end up sitting in the next chair, having his hair and eyebrows cut in “Pat The Barber”; you know the place I mean, there beside the Suir, on Emmett Street, close to Barry’s Bridge and the bridge Castle; I would have cancelled that badly needed personal haircut until slightly later in the day.

“He came in driving this state-of-the-art Mercedes-Benz, into the petrol station she told me, and furthermore she confessed to nearly wetting her last pair of Calvin Klein thongs with the pure excitement of this encounter”, said Mikey, “Now go on, guess who it was?”.

“Well was it the Minister for Transport Shane Ross”, said I, “I heard he was down here closing shop on rural publicans”.

“No”, said Mikey “sure the Irish transport minister knows nothing about motor vehicles and even less about publicans, and according to what I hear, he never sat his driving test. No, you’ll never guess, it was the great Rory McIlroy, the golfer, heading for Thurles Golf Club“, said Mikey.

“Oh, you’re very welcome to Tipperary Mr McIlroy, says Beyoncé Murphy, in an excited squeaky voice, having recognised his fizzog from her flat screen television”, Mikey continued.

“Now according to Beyoncé, Rory gave her the ‘twice over’, if you know what I mean, as he bent forward to grab his petrol nozzle. In doing so, two golf tees fell out of his shirt’s top pocket, onto the tarmac.” continued Mikey.

Now from what I knew myself about Miss Murphy, while she was well known in some ball playing circles, however her knowledge of sport could be best described as non-existent. But enough said and personally I wasn’t surprised when Mikey informed me that Beyoncé had asked “What are those two things for?”, as she quickly moved closer to assist with their recovery.

Mikey Continued, “They’re called tees” replies Rory McIlroy with a smile.

A curious and somewhat confused Beyoncé now asks, “Well, what on the God’s green earth would you be using them for Mr McIlroy?

“They’re for resting my balls on before I drive on the golf course,” replies Rory.

“Feckin Jaysus,”, says an enthralled Beyoncé, “Doesn’t Mercedes-Benz think of everything.”

Quinn Brothers Set New Record

Pic (1): “Quinn Brothers Foursome”. Left – Right: John, Martin, Michael & Billy. Pic (2): “Edel with Medals” together with Martin, Edel & Michael (Note: John & Billy had to fly back to Azerbaijan.)

Four Quinn brothers from the village of Holycross, Thurles, Co. Tipperary, ran the SSE Airtricity Dublin Marathon last weekend in support of the Irish Cancer Society. Their goal was to raise as much funding as possible for Irish Cancer Research.

This project was very close to their heart, given the fact that their sister Edel is terminally ill with multiple myeloma; latter a cancer arising from plasma cells, a type of white blood cell which is made in the bone marrow.

Through the help of the Irish Cancer Research, Edel continues to battles bravely against her illness. Edel is very well known is the community having worked for many years with “Inclusive Opportunities” in Thurles, before being struck down by this illness.

It is most certainly a record to have four brothers from the same family and from the same village of Holycross to run in the Dublin City Marathon; if not a record for the county of Tipperary itself.

The brothers ran very well in the marathon with some impressive times. Billy (3hrs-23 mins), Michael (3hrs-57mins), Martin (4 hrs) and John (4hrs-51mins). However, they also managed to raise well over 12,500 Euro and are not completely finished yet.

Between the four brothers and three of their wife’s, they have completed over 41 marathons in the past few years.

Congratulations to all four brothers on their truly massive achievement.

Thurles Race Meeting Cancelled

Thurles Race Track

The next Thurles race meeting, latter scheduled for the October 11th next, has been postponed due to a lack of rainfall being forecast over the next 7 days.

Thurles Race Track; located 1.5km north-west of the town centre, is a North Tipperary horse racing venue, which stages National Hunt racing. Racing has taken place here in Thurles since 1732, when a three-day festival took place in the town.

Yesterday it was announced that the October 11th meeting should now be re-scheduled to take place on November 12th.

The decision was taken because of “present ground conditions at the venue and an adverse weather forecast over the coming days”, according to Turf Club sources.

Horse Racing Ireland have confirmed that, following a routine course inspection, it identified ground concerns; with the track being deemed way to fast. With the absence of any real rainfall forecast over the next seven days, a decision was made to cancel the meeting.