May National Finals 2023

There was fantastic success for the St Francis Credit Union Clare Community Games in the Community Games National Finals in Gormanston, Co Meath at the weekend, 27-28 May. Forty-four children from across the county participated. They participated in Cycling, Handball, Marathon, Badminton, U13 1200m Cross Country and Mixed Distance Relays. The Clare children came first in five events, second in two and fourth in one, bringing home a total of thirty medals. The Cross-Country team kept Clare’s long-standing record in this event having won it more times than any other county. We also got Individual gold with Aisling Kelly from Ennis St John’s leading the whole field of boys and girls home. The two Badminton teams from Ennis St John’s won gold as did Sophie Maher from Ballynacally/Lissycasey in the Marathon. Daithi O’Leary of Inagh/Kilnamona/Cloonanaha came second in the Marathon while Sean Mc Gee from Quin/Clooney won fourth place medal in the Handball competition. All the other competitors put in a great show but were unlucky not to be among the medal winners.

The events at Gormanston Park were attended by Thomas Byrne T.D. Minister of State at the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. There was a novelty race for the Ukranian family staying in Gormanston they received a specially designed Community Games medal. The weather was extremely warm but that did not prevent a very high standard from all the athletes.

01 national may 2023

RESULTS

GOLD

Marathon – Sophie Maher – Ballynacally/Lissycasey
Badminton Girls U15 – Ennis St John’s – Kayla Connellan, Antonina Galka, Lenka Kandler, Caroline Owens, Ivona Paunovic, Fatima Sanchez
Badminton Boys U15 – Ennis St John’s – Sean Conway, Andrew Coughlan, Jack Guthrie, Tadhg Howard, Aidan O’Connell
Cross Country U13 – Individual – Aisling Kelly – Ennis St John’s
Cross Country U13 – Team – Shane Burke – Cooraclare/Cree, Padraig Chaplin – Sixmilebridge/Kilmurry, Emily Hick – Ballynacally/Lissycasey, Aisling Kelly – Ennis St John’s, Kara Lynch – Ballynacally/Lissycasey, Caoimhe Mc Mahon – Ballynacally/Lissycasey, Roisin Mc Mahon – Doonbeg, Cathal O’Rourke – Ballynacally/Lissycasey, Rian Robertson – Doonbeg, Darragh Sheedy – Newmarket – on – Fergus

SILVER

Marathon – Daithi O’Leary – Inagh/Kilnamona/Cloonanaha
Girls U12 Mixed Distance Relay- Abbie Gallagher – Doonbeg, Nicole Griffin – Ballynacally/Lissycasey, Nancy Howard – Corofin/Kilnaboy, Jenny O’Brien – Quin/Clooney, Olivia Shannon – Doora/Barefield, Sophia Tracy – Ennis St John’s

FOURTH

Handball – Sean Mc Gee – Quin/Clooney.

Well done to all the Clare Participants

Cycling on Grass U14 & O12 Boys: Michael Cahill (Quin-Clooney)
Handball - One wall U13 & O9 Boys: Sean Mcgee (Quin-Clooney)
Handball - One wall U16 & O13 Boys: Matthew Coughlan (Quin-Clooney)
Badminton U15 & O12 Boys (Ennis St John's): Séan Conway, Andrew Coughlan, Jack Guthrie, Tadhg Howard, Aidan O'Connell.
Badminton U15 & O12 Girls (Ennis St John's): Kayla Connellan, Antonina Galka, Lenka Kandler, Caroline Owens, Ivona Paunovic, Fatima Sanchez.
Cross Country U13: Shane Burke (Cooraclare-Cree), Padraig Chaplin (Sixmilebridge-Kilmurry), Emily Hick (Ballynacally-Lissycasey), Aisling Kelly (Ennis-St-Johns), Kara Lynch (Ballynacally-Lissycasey), Caoimhe McMahon (Ballynacally-Lissycasey), Roisin McMahon (Doonbeg), Cathal O' Rourke (Ballynacally-Lissycasey), Rian Robertson (Doonbeg), Darragh Sheedy (Newmarketonfergus).
Marathon: Sophie Maher (Ballynacally-Lissycasey), Daithi O' Leary (Inagh-Kilnamona).
MDR U14 Girls: Isabelle Cronin (Newmarketonfergus), Anna Donnelly (Ballynacally-Lissycasey), Emma Haugh (Ballynacally-Lissycasey), Zoey Warren (Ballynacally-Lissycasey),
Ava Robertson (Doonbeg), Sinead Robertson (Doonbeg).
MDR U12 Girls: Abbie Gallagher (Doonbeg), Nicole Griffin (Ballynacally-Lissycasey), Nancy Howard (Corofin-Kilnaboy), Jenny O Brien (Quin-Clooney), Olivia Shannon (Doora-Barefield), Sophia Tracy (Ennis-St-Johns).
MDR U12 Boys: James Howard (Corofin-Kilnaboy), Ronan Kelly (Ennis-St-Johns), Oliver Mannion (Doora-Barefield), Matthew Murphy (Sixmilebridge-Kilmurry), Seadna Ryan (Quin-Clooney), Fionn McGuire (Quin-Clooney).