2012 will long be remembered as the glory year for Cumann Naomh Padraig, An Fhairche on achieving All Ireland honours for the first time in the history of our club. The story began in 2010, as our club had been relegated to Junior status from Intermediate grade. Following a think-in at club level the team mgt of Stephen Joyce, Patsy Carney, and Michael Philbin agreed to focus their full attention on regaining Intermediate status in 2010. The year proved to be satisfactory, but we fell short in the West Board final with a disappointing performance against Salthill/ Knocknacarra. After a few meetings with the players, it was agreed by all that winning the Junior title was our target for 2011. The year began with a very encouraging performance in Comortas Peile na Gaeltachta. We represented Galway in the finals in Donegal where we were narrowly beaten the eventual winners. This competition gave us great encouragement and determination. The seeds were laid for the forthcoming Championship. After a few encouraging wins in the League and Championship we were now convinced that this could be our year, which proved to be justified. We met Headford in the County Final in Pearse Stadium where we had a comfortable victory. After a few days celebration in the parish, where the cup was displayed in each of the schools ie Clonbur, Cloughbrack, Corr na Mona, Tirnakill it was down to training once again for the Connacht club championship. Confidence was high, as the lads felt that there was much more in this team. Our first outing in the competition was against the Roscommon champions Creggs in Tuam. We had an easy victory which spurred us on for our next encounter against Islandeady in the Connacht club final in Mc Hale Park. After a very close encounter we emerged victorious, thus winning our first Connacht title in the clubs history. This competition continued into 2012. Our opponents for the Semi Final was Ballivor the Meath and Leinster champions, in Carrick on Shannon. After a great performance we again emerged victorious. We were now in the coveted All Ireland Final. Our opponents were Derrytresk,the Tyrone and Ulster champions who came with a very high reputation. The lead up to the match was memorable. The villages were draped in blue and white and every house in the parish displayed bunting and flags showing their pride for our team prior to the big day. The club opened a shop in our local community centre where jerseys, hats, scarves, flags were for sale. The interest in the shop was so great that we ran out of goods on two occasions. The organisation prior to the trip to Dublin was immence. Tickets had to be secured, accommodation for the team and supporters had to be sourced in Dublin,transport arrangements were organised. The club executive were working day and night to organise events in order to finance the whole venture. The whole parish got behind the many fund raising events which proved to be a wonderful success. 22nd Feb was D. Day in Croke Park. The team travelled to Dublin by luxury coach. We left Clonbur on Sat 21st amidst a rousing send off by all of the parish, from babies in cradles to old men on the sidewalks, some of whom were noticed to drop a tear with pride of our parish team. We even had the distinction of having a Garda escort out of the county. On arrival at our hotel in Dublin (Regency Hotel) and a cup of tea, the team paid a familiarisation trip to Croke Park and dressing rooms. This was an excellent idea, as it gave some of the younger members of the team an early insight into this vast arena. Sunday morning soon became a reality. After a beautiful mass which was celebrated by our P. P Fr Peter Connolly in the hotel and attended by hundreds of our loyal supporters who had travelled to Dublin to be with the team at this historic time. The game started at 2. 15 and after a slow start we found ourselves 4 points down at half time. The second half proved to be memorable for the team and supporters and we ran out eventual winners by one point. Cumann Naomh Padraig were All Ireland Junior champions for the first time in the clubs history. This was also the first time that a Galway team were crowned All Ireland Junior champions. The celebrations began at the Regancy Hotel with a banquet for the team. Approx 400 people attended the celebrations and a wonderful night was enjoyed by all which went on until the early hours of Monday morning. The trip home to Joyce Country was unforgetable, with bonefires and banners waving in all of the villages from Galway to Joyce Country. On entering Mayo one of our stops was nearby Cong village where a huge crowd greeted the team. On entering Clonbur a crowd of up to 800 people greeted the team which lasted for up to 2 hours. After a wonderful meal hosted by the Burke family the team retired to their homes for a well earned rest. Tuesday would prove to be another memorable day for both the team and all of our schoolchildren in the four schools ie. Clonbur, Cloughbrack, Corr na Mona, Tirnakill (Maam). Each school was visited and photos of the All Ireland Champions, with trophy were taken. Hopefully these pictures of our historic team will prove to be a stimulus to all of our youth to follow in the footsteps of this team in the future. GLORY DAY FOR CLONBUR BY PAT LAMBE HISTORY-MAKER: Liam Carney's winning point for Clonbur at Croke Park. Victorious Naomh Pádraig, An Fhairche captain Eoin Seoige and his father Steven (bainisteoir). 10
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