Lacrosse and the Listowel connection from Jim Horgan in Pittsburg

Lacrosse is one of the oldest team sports in the world. Native Americans from the north of America used lacrosse to prepare for war or resolve conflicts between rivaling tribes. In 1640 the game was named lacrosse when French missionaries saw Indians play the game. In 1856 Dr. William George Beers established the first lacrosse club in the world: The Montreal lacrosse Club. In 1867 he created the ground rules by which lacrosse is still played today.

Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. Lacrosse is played with 10 players per team (men’s lacrosse), 12 players (women’s lacrosse) or 6 players (box lacrosse). It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh designed to catch and hold the lacrosse ball. Offensively, the objective of the game is to score by shooting the ball into an opponent’s goal, using the lacrosse stick to catch, carry, and pass the ball to do so. Defensively, the objective is to keep the opposing team from scoring and to dispossess them of the ball through the use of stick checking and body contact or positioning. The sport has four major types: men’s field lacrosse, women’s lacrosse, box lacrosse and intercrosse.

Here is the link to the Irish Lacrosse website:

http://www.irelandlacrosse.ie/home/?page_id=212

Colin O’Donoghue is the grandson of the late Tom O’Donoghue of Tannavalla.  Tom emigrated to Pittsburgh in the 1950’s  and was a dedicated GAA man for years, heading up the Roger Casement Football Club in Pittsburgh, PA. Tom was chairman of the North American County Board for a number of years in the late 1970’s and early 19080’s.  His restaurant “The Blarney Stone” in Pittsburgh was a well-known center for Irish sport and culture in Pittsburgh.  Colin’s father Jack played for the Pittsburgh teams as well during the 1980’s and 1990’s and is still a big supporter of the GAA in Pittsburgh.

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This photo with a  suggestion for some enterprising Listowel publican was sent to us by Marty Sheehy.

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Good article here on Limerick’s bacon factories

http://limerickslife.com/limerick-bacon-factories/

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Please don’t do this!

This is the next worst thing to parking across the dished part of the pavement. For some reason that I can never fathom some people always park their bikes ON the footpath. It is an appallingly inconsiderate practice. As well as blocking up the pavement for pedestrians, they are making life so difficult for wheelchair users.

The proliferation of street furniture is another bugbear. But I’ll leave that rant for another day.

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Now more handball

At the Club A.G.M. held on Tues March 31st
1964 the Chairman Mr. Kenny paid

tribute to the club members who had won Listowel’s
first ever County Championship

titles during the past season. This was the County
Novice Championships and were

played in Listowel for the first time ever. Brendan
Murphy won the minor singles and

partnered Richard Galvin to win the minor doubles and
Tom Enright and Junior

Griffin had won the senior doubles title.  

  1.  

The last recorded minutes in the minute book were of
the A.G.M. held on April 19th

1965. The outgoing Chairman, Mr. John Joe Kenny
presided.

The following officers and committee were elected;

 Hon.
President; Mr. Michael Keane

Vice-Presidents; Rev. Fr. O’Brien c.c., Rev Fr.
Kieron O’Shea, M/s Bryan McMahon

Louis Murphy, Brendan Macauley, Andy Molyneaux, Jack
Fitzgibbon, Con J. Keane,

Tim Shanahan, Pat Sugrue.

Chairman; Mr. John Joe Kenny

Vice-chairman; Mr John Keane

Hon Sec; Mr. John (Junior) Griffin

Hon. Treasurers; Mr. Tom Enright and Mr. Dermot
Buckley;

Committee; Richard Galvin, Kieron Murphy, Ml.
O’Sullivan, Buddy Scanlan,

Jimmy O’Sullivan, Seamus Browne and Jimmy Bunyan.

In his address to the meeting Mr. Kenny paid tribute
to all who had helped the club

during the year and congratulated the winners of the
various tournaments. He paid

special tribute to Aidan Murphy for the efficient
manner in which he ran the National

School tournament.

Even though the above were the last recorded minutes
in the minute book notes have

have come to hand of the A.G.M of 1996 in which Mr.
Kenny stood down as

Chairman. Elected at that meeting were;

President; Ml. Keane

Vice-Presidents; Rev. Fr. O’Brien c.c., Rev Fr.
Kieron O’Shea, M/s Bryan McMahon

Louis Murphy, Brendan Macauley, Andy Molyneaux, Jack
Fitzgibbon, Con J. Keane,

Tim Shanahan, Pat Sugrue.

Chairman; Aidan Keane

Vice chairman; Dermot Buckley

Hon Secretary; Junior Griffin;

 Hon Treasurers;
Tom Enright and Junior Griffin

Committee; Andy Molyneaux, Timmy Daly, Seamus Browne,
Richard Galvin,

Jimmy O’Sullivan, Liam Browne, D. Browne.

At this meeting arrangements were put in place to run
a town league Tournament,

Teams entered were; The Bridge Road, E.S.B., Garda,
The Boro, The Gleann.

To be continued….