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LOCAL NEWS ARCHIVE - MARCH 2002
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Local News Page]
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Michael McGibney |
Michael
McGibney, Corlis, recorded a great victory for himself and Cornafean on Saturday
night last in winning the Recitation competition at the Ulster Scór Finals in
Silverbridge, Co. Armagh. A large number of local supporters made the journey to
the Co. Armagh village for the finals and they, along with the capacity
attendance of well over a thousand people, were captivated and enthralled by his
hilarious and expert delivery of “The Wake”. Michael faced tough competition
from the other three contestants in the Final, which included one previous All
Ireland winner, but his masterful recitation won the hearts of the entire
audience. Indeed, there was great praise for his performance from many neutral
observers in the hall even before his victory was announced. When the Bean A Ti
read out the welcome news that he was the winner, a mighty cheer erupted in the
hall, reflecting well the popularity of his win.
Although
only 30 years old, Michael has, almost unbelievably, been involved in the Scór
effort in Cornafean for each of the past twenty one years, after making his
debut in the Scór na nOg Novelty Act in the 1981/82 season. In the meantime he
has regularly displayed his considerable acting talents in various Novelty Acts,
and has also been involved in preparing and coaching various teams at Junior and
Senior levels down through the years. In recent years, he has become well-known
for his repertoire of humorous recitations, with which he has greatly
entertained countless audiences and social gatherings.
This is his first Ulster Title in Scór and it is fair to say that rarely
has a Scór honour being so richly deserved.
Michael
has now qualified for the All Ireland Scór Finals, which will be held on
Saturday 20th April in the National Exhibition Centre in Killarney.
No doubt, a large number of locals will make the long pilgrimage to the Kingdom
beauty spot to cheer Michael on in the Finals. The McGovern family from
Templeport will also be flying the Cavan flag on that prestigious occasion, as
they produced a mighty display on Saturday to win the Instrumental Music
competition.
Cornafean
had high hopes of double victory on Saturday night but the local Question Time
team of Tommy McGibney, Brian Doyle and Michael Dinneny narrowly failed to bring
home the honours. The standard of questions in the quiz was remarkably difficult
even for experienced quiz enthusiasts, and none of the three teams managed to
answer even half of their allotted questions. Halfway through, Cornafean were
level on 16 marks with the Armagh and Monaghan representatives but in the tense
closing rounds, the Armagh team broke clear to win out on 28 marks, six ahead of
both the losing teams.
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Sean Kelly |
In
recent weeks there has been immense pride among Cornafean people on both sides
of the Atlantic because of the prominent participation of our renowned local
piper Sean Kelly in the 2002 St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York.
In
this, the most special and poignant of all St Patrick’s Day Parades in the Big
Apple, Sean, along with the Inver Pipe Band from Co. Donegal Band, had the
honour of leading thousands of heroic firefighters, representatives of the New
York Police, and proud Irish men and women on the long march up Fifth Avenue.
Normally, the New York Parade is an occasion for unrestrained joy and
celebration, but the tragic events of September 11th were in the
minds of everyone in New York this St. Patrick’s Day. In this context,
Sean’s honour represents a unique and memorable achievement.
A
master player of the Highland Bagpipes, Sean Kelly’s musical talent has graced
many prominent occasions over the years in his native Cornafean, all over Co.
Cavan, and indeed throughout Ireland, and it is wonderful that his talents have
now contributed to one of the greatest Irish-American occasions of all time.
Sean,
a native of Drumora, is a also well-known football enthusiast and a loyal
follower of Cornafean GAA teams. He is also a former Vice-Chairman of Cornafean
GFC. We wish him every success in the future
A well-known local lady, Rita Martin, Bruse, has recently commenced practising as a Solicitor in Virginia and we wish her every success in her venture. Rita has many years experience in the legal world, having worked previously with John V. Kelly & Co, Solicitors. in Cavan. She is a renowned traditional musician, and a member of the famed Cornafean Ceili Group and she is also currently Secretary of Cornafean GFC.
An Easter Cake Sale will be held in Drumcor Old School on this Good Friday, 29th March after the 5.00pm ceremonies. All proceeds are in aid of the Old School Refurbishment Fund and all support will be greatly appreciated.
Following
its very successful walk on Bank Holiday Monday, Cornafean Walking Club will be
holding a meeting for members on April 7 at 9pm in McSeain’s.
New members are welcome to attend
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Cathal Sheridan |
The Cornafean footballers entertained Kill in their opening game of the 2002 Division 3 league in Pairc Naoimh Fionnain on Sunday last and came out on top by 1-5 to 0-7 in a tightly-fought game. Aided by a good Cathal Sheridan goal, Cornafean led by 1-3 to 0-4 at half time but had to withstand serious pressure from the visitors to hold on to their lead in a nailbiting second half. This is the first time for a number of years that Cornafean have opened their league campaign with a win, and hopefully the lads can build on this success in the coming weeks.
Next Saturday evening, Templeport are the visitors to the local ground for a Div 3 League fixture which will start at 4.300pm. We wish the Cornafean lads every success in that encounter.
Cornafean Vintage Ploughing Association are holding a meeting in McSeains on next Wednesday, 3rd April, at 9.00pm All members are requested to attend. The local Vintage enthusiasts were out in force at the recent St Patrick’s Day Parade in Killeshandra when they won 2nd Prize in the Best Novelty Float Competiton.
Congratulations to our international athlete Catherina McKiernan and her husband Damien O’Reilly on the recent birth of their baby daughter Dervla, who was born in Mount Carmel Hospital, Dublin recently.
A Reunion of past pupils of Drumcor National School will take place on Friday August 23rd next. The committee are anxious to hear from past pupils and friends of the school. They would be most grateful to receive any memorabilia, photographs, stories, songs etc. For further details, contact Fr. Eugene Clarke PP, Drumcor (049 4331755), Michael Goldrick (049 4337888) Teresa O’Reilly (049 4332959) or Sylvia Moran (049 4332187)
The next Whist in Cornafean will be on next Monday night, Easter Monday, 1st April, in McSeains.
There has been widespread shock and sadness in the locality recently on the news of the tragic death, following an accident in New York, of Raymond Martin. Raymond was a son of Brian Martin, Jackson Heights, New York and formerly of Bruse, who emigrated to the US some forty years ago, and was a cousin of the Maguire family, Bruse and the Crogan family, Coronea. His funeral and interment took place in New York on Saturday 2nd March last.
Raymond will be remembered by many people in Cornafean as a very friendly and pleasant young man. He worked as a Mutual Funds Manager in the financial services industry in New York. Raymond made frequent journeys across the Atlantic to visit his relatives in the locality and it was only last October when he last visited the area. Prior to his death, he had been planning to return here again this July.
Deepest sympathy is extended to his father Brian, mother Alice, brother Brian and other family members.
The Cornafean Walking Club, “Sli na Slainte Cor na Feinne” have organised a special Bank Holiday walking outing for next Monday afternoon. The walk starts from McSeains at 3.00pm and everyone is welcome to take part
A large Cornafean contingent were among the capacity audience at the Ulster Scor semi-finals in Ballyconnell Community Centre on last Saturday night. In each of the eight competitions, the Cavan champions faced their counterparts in counties Donegal and Fermanagh. Cornafean were represented in the Recitation by Michael McGibney, who give a brilliant rendition of “The Wake”, and in the Question Time by Brian Doyle, Michael Dinneny and Tommy McGibney.
Happily
both the Cornafean acts qualified for the Ulster Final which will be held in
Silverbridge, Co. Armagh on next Saturday week, 23rd March, at
7.00pm. They will be joined on that occasion by the Ceili Dancing group from
Killeshandra, the Templeport music group, the Crosserlough Novelty Act and the
Shannon Gaels Set Dancers who also won their respective competitions on Saturday
night, making it a very successful evening indeed for Scor in Cavan.
There
has been much excitement and debate in recent days among the many GAA followers
in the locality after the draws were made on last Monday night for the Cavan
Crystal County Football Championships for 2002.
In
the Intermediate Championship, Cornafean have been drawn in Section 3 against
Cootehill, Lavey and Denn, with the top two teams advancing to the
quarter-finals. Their opening game of the Championship campaign will be against
Cootehill, whom Cornafean famously defeated in the 1994 Intermediate semi-final,
only for Cootehill to gain revenge in a 1998 Championship relegation play-off
game. Cornafean’s last Championship meeting with Lavey was in last year’s
Championship, when the sides finished level after a late Cornafean comeback.
For the second time in recent weeks, the continuing unpleasant weather conditions forced the abandonment of the plans to commence the 2002 Cavan All County Football League last weekend. Cornafean had been fixed to play Swanlinbar on Saturday last in the Cathal Brady Reserve League Division 3 but with the ferocious bouts of rain, sleet and snow, in the preceding days, it was no surprise when the local pitch was deemed unplayable early on Saturday morning. Likewise, the attractive local derby senior fixture between the local side and Killeshandra was also postponed as Packie Devlin Park was also unplayable.
The following were the winners of the Whist Drive in Cornafean on Monday night, 4th March. Top Score Marin Clyne 1st Lady Nancy McGivney 2nd do. Vera Leahy 3rd do. Willie Reilly 4th do. Bernadette Donohoe 1st Gent Josie Rudden 2nd do. Val Goldrick 3rd do. Geraldine Mulligan 4th do. John Joe Brady Other winners were Teresa Keogan, Phyllis Fegan, Patsy Lynch, David Pratt, Iris Bennett, Sean Donohoe, Beatrice Burns and Pat Geoghegan The next Whist in Cornafean is on next Monday night 18th March.
The Cavan GAA Supporters Club are holding a Table Quiz in McSeain’s Cornafean on Friday 22nd March. Funds raised will be used to prepare the Cavan senior and minor teams for the forthcoming Ulster Championships.
The Cavan Skittles Association have recently announced that the 2002 All Ireland Skittle Championships will be held at McSeains, Cornafean, on the weekend of the 9th to 11th of August next. The Association will be having teams travelling from Counties Cork, Kilkenny, Wexford And Tipperary for the occasion.
This promises to be a great event for the locality with great spinoffs for the various tourism-related enterprises in the area. In Cavan, the Skittles scene is booming with 10 Intermediate teams and 4 Senior teams currently in existence. The hosting of the All Ireland Finals locally is sure to further boost interest in the sport, which has a long and rich tradition in Co. Cavan.
Cornafean's great Scor tradition in Co. Cavan was maintained in style on last Friday night at the 2002 County Finals in Killeshandra, when the local club won two competitions as well as the "Best Club" Overall Award for the year.
The event attracted a capacity audience to Killeshandra Community Centre, including large numbers of Cornafean supporters. Indeed the large attendance proved once again how the popularity of Scór has remained at such a high level over the years.
Cornafean had representatives in five categories on the night:, Ceili Dancing, Solo Singing, Ballad Group, Recitation, and Question Time, and it was in the latter two competitions where the Reds' representatives took county honours. In the Question Time, the Cornafean team of Tommy McGibney, Brian Doyle and Michael Dinneny faced stiff opposition from Kingscourt, Arva and Mullahoran. Halfway through the quiz, Cornafean held a narrow four-point lead over Kingscourt, with the other two teams in close pursuit. Towards the end, during a nerve-racking session of team questions, each of the leading teams narrowly missed a number of questions, and Cornafean were very relieved at the end to be still four points in front.
In the Recitation, Cornafean's Michael McGibney produced a great performance to get the better of the Crosserlough, Kildallan and Ramor United representatives, and there was a great Cornafean cheer at the end of the night when his victory was announced.
There was further joy for Cornafean when they won the coveted Overall Best Club Shield for 2002. The Shield was presented by County GAA Board Chairman George Cartwright to Tommy McGibney, on behalf of the Cornafean club
The winning acts now go forward to the Ulster Semi Finals which will be held in Ballyconnell Community Centre on nest Saturday night 9th March.
The 2002 edition of the popular Cavan GAA Annual, Breffni Blue, is currently available for sale in the locality. This year's annual contains a detailed interview with Cornafean's football team manager Phil Cullen who talks in depth about his plans and priorities for the forthcoming football season and looks back to his previous successes with the local club.
The annual is priced at €6.50.
Due to the bad weather the Cornafean Walking Club had to cancel its first organised walk scheduled for Sunday Feburary 24. The club will meet tomorrow night, March 7, in McSeains at 9pm to reschedule a walk for a later date when hopefully the weather might be a little more walker-friendly! New members are always welcome.
Cornafean Vintage Ploughing Association are holding a meeting in McSeain’s on this Wednesday night, 6th March at 9.30pm. All members are requested to attend and new members are welcome.
Cornafean GAA club are holding their monthly meeting for March on this Wednesday, 6th March in the clubrooms at 9.30pm. All members are asked to attend.
