Football
Good luck to Shane McGrath and UCD in their Sigerson Cup semi-final against UL this Thursday. The game throws in at 6.30pm and will be streamed by TG4 on YouTube. Elsewhere Eoghan Kelly manned the centre back berth as Ulster University saw off UCC in the All-Ireland A Freshers quarter-final. Anthony McGrath’s team bossed the last eight encounter to run out 3-14 to 0-7 victors. There was further Erneside interest with Aaron Cullen was also a panel member. Ulster University now play University of Galway or DCU this week in the Freshers semi-final.
All boys underage teams are returning to training in the coming weeks. Outlined below are the arrangements for each team.
Boys under 5, Mercy hall, Coláiste Cholmcille, Fridays from 6pm to 6.45pm. Commencing Friday 9th February
Boys under 6, Mercy hall, Coláiste Cholmcille, Fridays from 7pm to 7.45pm. Commencing Friday 9th February.
Boys under 8, New hall, Coláiste Cholmcille, Fridays from 6pm to 7pm. Commenced Friday 2nd February.
Boys under 10, New hall, Coláiste Cholmcille, Fridays from 7.15pm to 8.15pm. Commencing Friday 9th February.
Boys under 12, Lakeside, Fridays 5.45pm from 7pm. Commencing Friday 9th February.
Boys under 14, Lakeside, Mondays and Wednesdays from 8.15pm to 9.15pm. Commenced Monday 5th February.
Boys under 16 and boys under 18, Lakeside Centre, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8.15pm to 9.45pm. Commencing Tuesday 6th February. There will also be gym sessions on Fridays, commencing Friday 9th February, details from team management.
Ladies
Well done to Caoimhe Keon who did really well on her first start of the season for the Donegal senior ladies, helping them to a 1-9 to 1-3 victory over Westmeath. Well done also to Katie McGowan and Ciara Larkin who lined out for Donegal under 16s against Leitrim in pre-season games in Killybegs over the weekend.
The Ladies Football committee held their first meeting of the 2024 last Thursday in Aras Aoidh Ruaidh. It was very well attended with a lot of good discussion and planning taking place centred on the rapidly approaching competitive season. Management positions were ratified for all teams and were filled as follows:-
Senior, Junior and Under 23, Paul Gillespie and Siobhan O’Donnell.
Minor, John Hughes, Síofra Hughes and Bobbie Murphy.
Under 16, Eamonn O’Donnell and Roisín Maguire.
Under 14, Terry Hughes.
Under 12, Elaine Garvey, Caroline McLoone, Donal Gallagher and Pauric Hegarty.
Under 10, Denise Burke, Hugh Gallagher, David Downey, Karen Hartin, Aoife McLoone and Adam Abbott.
Under 8, Brian Roper, Karol Foley and John Britton.
Under 6, Anna Rafferty and Cáit Gillespie.
We were also delighted to ratify the incoming Ladies executive. Niamh Hoey comes into post as Chairwoman, with Linda Christie taking on the Secretary hot seat. Anna Rafferty moves to Head of Fund-raising, with Linda Clyne continuing as Registrar.
Coláiste Cholmcille are semi-finalists in their bid to win €50,000 in the Lidl LGFA schools’ competition. This money would go towards girls’ football in the school. They would really appreciate your vote and if you could share the link around. Coláiste are up against stiff competition! There’s a lovely video of the girls and coaches too. Thanks to everyone for their support so far.
Hurling
Congratulations to the Aodh Ruadh hurlers who lined out for the County Development teams over the weekend. It was great to see a sizeable Ballyshannon representation with Cian McDonald on the under 20 panel, while Corey Sheridan, Liam Doogan, Daithi Sheerin, Jun Hui Lin, Sean Maguire, Shay Winters, Lennon Canny and Joseph Gibbions lined out with the under 17s. We have a our first galleries of 2024 live now with a great range of shots from the under 17 and under 20 challenges.
Club gear
A reminder that the deadline for ordering club gear from the O’Reilly Sports online website is this Tuesday, 6th February.
Scór Sinsir
We’re looking for people to represent Aodh Ruadh in Scór Sinsir this year. Scór aims to promote Irish culture and tradition in areas such as music and drama and we’re hoping the club will be represented in as many disciplines as possible. It’s open to any club member over the age of 17. The county final is scheduled for the 1st March in Ballybofey. We are looking for acts to represent the club in
• Céilí Dancing
• Set Dancing
• Recitation/Storytelling
• Ballad Group
• Solo Singing
• Historical Presentation
If you’re interested or have any queries, please contact Eamonn-Martin Maguire at eamonnmartinmaguire@gmail.com.
Successful CPR / AED training
We had a great turnout again last week with 38 people attending over the two nights at our CPR / AED course. We’d like to our newly trained potential life savers. Our also thanks to Liam, Mark and Kenny on behalf of the club for giving up their time, and of course, thanks to Chris Kelly for organising the event.
Club membership
We ask all club members to start thinking about submitting their club registration for 2024. This year we are moving to Foireann for processing of club membership. This is the official GAA online platform, and many will have already used it during COVID. To obtain or renew membership online go to foireann.ie, and your membership status will be displayed on the dashboard after you login, with the option to register, if you have not yet paid your membership for 2024. Anyone running into problems with Foireann can contact Lisa McTernan or Louise Larkin for assistance. Alternatively, membership can also be paid to Gerry Ferguson at Ferguson’s Jewellers. All players, without exception, must be signed up club members. Non members are not covered by the GAA’s injury insurance scheme and cannot line out for the club. Adult members will receive first priority for the club’s allocation of All-Ireland final tickets in the event of Donegal contesting the decider. Only adult members registered by 31st March may vote at the club AGM.
Last One Standing
It was another rough week for our Last One Standing competitors with Louth’s two point victory over Cork accounting for the majority of the fallers. There’s a break in the NFL action, but we’ll be back for round three on Saturday, 17th February.
Gaeilge do gach duine
We are back at it this Tuesday at 8.30pm in Dorrian’s Hotel, Ballyshannon. Fáilte roimh gach duine. Interested in using your own level of Irish in a relaxed, enjoyable conversation group? Join us every Tuesday from 8.30pm to 9.45pm. All levels of Irish are welcome to join in, speak, listen, or just do whatever you are comfortable with. This event is free of charge. Bain triail as, beidh fáilte romhat.
Dinner dance
The social night of the year takes place on Saturday, 17th February, as Aodh Ruadh host their annual dinner dance! As usual the action takes place in Dorrian’s Imperial Hotel, and we are all looking forward to what should be a big night of craic and celebration. Thankfully the club had a successful 2023 on a number of fronts, so we have quite a bit of achievement to mark. Attendees will be greeted with a complimentary glass of fizz on arrival from 6pm, before proceedings formally get under way with the banquet at 7pm sharp. After the fine dining, Master of Ceremonies Sean Perry will take to the rostrum to introduce the presentation of awards. As well as our usual individual presentations we will be saluting our senior reserve championship winning footballers, as well as the under 23 championship winning ladies. We will also be honouring our 1998 senior and reserve championship winning sides, as well as the intermediate camogie champions as they mark their jubilees. With the gongs given out, the fabulous Keltic Kaos will take to the stage to entertain the crowd into the small hours. Tickets priced €40 are now available on klubfunder.com or by contacting Lisa McTernan on 086-2338636. Don’t delay, get yours today!
Ballyshannon Bingo
A huge congratulations to Mark Granaghan on winning €500 on last week’s Jackpot Game. The other houses were won by Joe McGowan (who had a great night sharing another house and taking €125 on the Stand-Up game), Molly Kerrigan, Grace Kelly (with a line too), Rosemary Roper, Tom Flanagan, and Karen Gallagher, with house shares between Marie Gallagher and Rachel Anderson (Game 5), Mary B Kerrigan and Kathleen Fannon (Game 7) and James Gettins and Joe McGowan (Game 8). The Line winners were Mary McDermott, Anne Granaghan, Gerard Cullen, Mary McGowan, Maureen Coughlin, Edmund Brennan, Majella Gettins with Tracy Singh taking the €50 double line. The new €1,000 Spring Snowball survived its first week so we play again this week for a prize fund of €2,800 including the €500 Jackpot and €300 Lucky Numbers game. Bingo as usual at 8.30pm Tuesday at the Abbey Centre, door open 7.45pm. Come along for a great night and be sure to spread the word!
Aodh Ruadh lotto
There was no winner of the Aodh Ruadh Lotto jackpot of €5,900. The winning numbers drawn were 6, 7, 8, 10, 15 and 16. In the lucky dip prizes of €20 were won by Mary Donagher, Liam Leonard, Marion Matthews, Eugene Perry and Fiona McGonigle. The next draw is for a jackpot of €6,000 on Sunday in the Bridgend bar. Lotto tickets are available in Kernan’s Spar and Pearse O’Neill’s. You can play also play the lotto online. Log onto klubfunder.com and then search for and select Aodh Ruadh Ballyshannon. Users can now avail of the auto-renew option to play the same line every week until they decide to stop when they pay using Stripe. If you’re not in, you can’t win!
The lotto team for McCosker’s Centra on Saturday is: RESERVE FOOTBALLERS.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~