Junior Footballers ( left), trained every Wednesday night from January to April on the new All weather pitch.

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1 This development has been a massive instant benefit to the club with all club teams having access during the winter months. Prior to commencement, the four Belgrove schools gave their full support to the development of all-weather facilities and have been extremely happy with the results. Our full-time Games Promotion Officer uses the new facility to provide coaching to the schools during the day. The cost of this project was 540K with 140K being provided by National Lottery Grant aid and 185K being contributed by a small number of individuals/companies, all of whom we are very grateful to. Upgrade Pitches 34 & 35 St Anne s to all-weather grass with floodlighting Pitches 34 & 35 St Anne s have been the adult home pitches for Clontarf for as long as most members can remember. After lengthy discussions with DCC, an agreement was reached whereby DCC would grant Clontarf a long-term lease on these pitches and allow Clontarf to develop the two pitches into all weather grass pitches with match standard floodlights. This agreement was subject to planning approval and full planning permission was received during the course of While these pitches will be grass-based and will not withstand the usage patterns of a synthetic surface they will be available for training and matches throughout the winter period and will be under the control of the club. It is hoped to begin work in mid-july 2005 and have the pitches ready for play the following June. Floodlights will be erected during summer 2006 with the first floodlit matches/ training commencing in September This will be an enormous undertaking by the club ( 1.2million) and we hope that with the support of further national Lottery funding and a major fundraising drive that we will be able to complete this project. Provide changing facilities at Pitch 21 St Anne s There are currently no changing facilities at Pitch 21 and, at this time, Clontarf are not in a position to fund development in this area on its own. DCC have been made aware that we are willing to work with them in conjunction with other clubs in the area to fund a joint project We ve come a long way, as a team, but as you can see, we have much unfinished work on our hands. With your unstinting support, goodwill, and patience, we can achieve our targets and ensure the long-term stability, and success, of the club. Junior Footballers ( left), trained every Wednesday night from January to April on the new All weather pitch. Below left The Under 5-8 s Nursery making use of new pitch in early April when the St. Anne s pitches are rained out Girls U12 s ( below right), availing of the new facility, winter 2005.

2 Senior Footballers make steady progress in 2004 The 2004 season started afresh back in January with anew management team consisting of Niall Fitzgerald (manager),mark Coffey(selector),Alan Costello (football coordinator), Cathal Carr (capt) &Dermot Leahy (selector). Pre season / early Spring training took place in Innishfails GAA,Balgriffin. While their facilities are quite adequate, wet weather meant pitches were more often off than on resulting in the squad having to train indoor. This lack of on field work coupled with early injuries picked up by players contributed to our poor start to the league campaign. Two losses at the hands of St Sylvesters & Fingallians respectively. On returning to our home base of pitch 34 with the longer evenings arriving our fortunes turned for the better. Injuries began to heal, training numbers increased and consequently our form improved greatly.the next four league games resulted in wins over, Ciarans, Barrog, Mearnog,& R Towers. Somewhere in between those games we lost in the first round of the Championship to newcomers St. Maurs by 2 points. Perhaps that game is best forgotten about we didn t play to the top of our ability on the day. Mistakes were made both on & off the field. Lessons were learned!!! On June 22nd, we travelled out to St Marks for our toughest league assignment to date. Torrential rain and gale force winds spoiled this game as a spectacle. We missed 2 good goal opportunities in the first half, against the wind. After there start, Marks showed why they were potential Div2 champions by scoring freely and won snugly by 11 points. At this juncture it was time for the squad to regroup and renew the focus. Great credit is due to the players for the manner inwhich they responded to the Marks defeat. Our next three league games were won in tremendous style with an aggregate score of 6-24 Play-offs now looked a realistic target. Our friends St. Maurs had other ideas they stole the points from under our noses in our next game August 17th on pitch 34. This loss proved to be another wake up call for the panel. Three league games later win, draw, win,- the latter a bruising home game against Garda and we had reached the playoffs one of our objectives for the season. Round Towers with all their inter-county stars available proved too strong for us in the promotional semi-final. They in turn reached Div 1 by beating Plunketts in the final. Our 2005 season begun with a moral boosting league victory over Plunketts ( 04 runners-up). With 5 league games by early May we are in fourth position in the league and ahead of where we were at this stage in Squad training continues to be excellent due in no small part to the club s new superb all weather facility, which was used from January to April. Both players and management are eagerly keen to achieve further success on the field during 2005 and hopefully in doing so gain promotion to the higher echelons of Division 1. Dermot Leahy, Team Manager. Clontarf GAA Senior Football Squad 2005 Back Row: J.Moroney, N.Mullins, N.Shanahan, R. Farrell, K.Leahy, D.Smith, G. Ryan, D.Fennelly, I.Smith, A.Morrissey,M.Duignan, B.Stokes. Missing are (D.Carew, K. Devine,M.Coffey,R.O Brien) Front Row: R.Stokes, M.Leahy, C.Reidy, S.Coen, A.Costello, S.McIntyre, P.Curran, S.Dunlee, D.O Brien, C.Carr, D.Lambert.

3 UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH SENIOR FOOTBALLER KEVIN LEAHY Earliest Sporting Memory? Losing U-10 league final to St Vincents in Favoutite Current Player? Kieran McGeeney, Matty Forde Favoutite All time Player? Paul Curran One for the future? Me, hopefully. Sportsperson you most admire? Roy Keane, Kieran McGeeney Biggest Achievement to date? Leinster Minor Championship medal 2003 Who wants to be a millionaire ph a friend? Eamonn Dunphy Superstitions? None, they take your attention off the game. is hunger, don t ever quit. Pet Hates? Smoking Favoutite School Subject? P.E. Least Favoutite School Subject? Everything except P.E.! Favoutite Food? Pasta and Chicken Biggest Influence? Mickey Whelan & Dermot Leahy Best advice received? The difference between ambitions and accomplishments Music Interest? U2 Favourite Place? Croke Park Decent Legal advice at Doyle & Company Our Professional Legal Service Includes: Property Purchase and Sales Commercial Transactions Wills, Inheritance and Administration Family Law Divorce / Separation Personal injuries Cabra 123 Cabra Road, Cabra, Dublin 7 Tel: Fax: Blanchardstown 1 Main Street, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15 Tel: Fax: mail@doyleandcompany.ie Website: FREEPHONE:

4 LADIES YEAR OF CHEERS Our Junior Ladies Football Team had an exceptional year winning the County Junior B Championship Final. This was a wonderful achievement for a team who had lost two previous Junior Championship Finals in 2000/2001. The Ladies Team this year had a great mix of players young and old who were very committed. The squad had a great attitude trained hard and worked well together on the pitch. Their dedication and hard work paid off. With the addition of new players, Willie Lillis and Noel Hickey (Management), saw the team grow in skill and strength. This coupled with great displays from Michelle O Shea, half back, Anne Flynn, centre Back, the team performed very strongly in the League, Cup and Championship. The team beat Thomas Davis in the Final. The match was a very closely contested and sporting game at Naomh Mearnog on July 28 th Clontarf were a point down at half time 1-3 to 0.5 but came out in the second half to win 3-9 to 1-7. Goals from Hannah Billings, Carrie O Connor and Chris Doyle, and great point scoring from Una Nic Iomnhain, sealed victory for us. Martina Coen and Elaine Caverly had great games at midfield. Martina represented the club on the Dublin Senior Panel this year. Sue Lillis, Brenda Murray and Bronagh Dignam had already experienced the heartbreak of losing two Championship Finals. For them and all the squad this was a dream come true. Player of the Match went to Sue Lillis, who had an outstanding game at Full Back. The Ladies Team brought great honour to the club making history for Clontarf GAA in winning the first Adult Football Championship. The team also did the double and won the Cup Competition They also finished runner-up in the League. It is the ambition of Clontarf GAA club, looking forward, to provide girls with football, at all age levels, for the future, and to progress their skill, knowledge and enjoyment of Gaelic football to enable them to excel at the highest level was an exceptional year for the growth of Ladies football in our club. Here s looking forward to a wonderful sporting and fun year for 2005 for all players both young and old, welcoming new players at all age levels to Clontarf Ladies GAA. Buoyed by the phenomenal successes of last year the ladies team has been training since early January. The numbers at training and the level of commitment shown augurs well for the new season even though we will be playing at a higher level. Career opportunities and study commitments meant that we are without the services of some of the 2004 heroines, our numbers have however been bolstered by an influx of new recruits. We welcome these new girls and we are confident that they help make the new year a success both on and off the field. Finally both the management and team would like to thank all those who supported us all through last year and in particular our Chairman Donal Nolan who created an environment, which enabled the team to achieve it s potential. Noel hickey and Willie Lillis.

5 Dinner Dance Action - 19th February 2005 Top Left: Brenda Murray receives special award as first player to have won two adult championships with the club. (Junior B Camogie 1993, Ladies Junior B Football 2004) Top Middle: Dennis McIntyre says a few words following his special award for Service to the Nursery since Top Right: The Devine brothers (Kevin, John and Ger) celebrate John receiving Junior Hurler of the Year award. Left: Past senior captain John O Connor shares some of his wisdom with current senior captain Shane Dunlea Pictures from around the club Top: Ladies celebrate Junior B Football Championship Success. Middle Left: Just Married - Daragh O Brien and Jen McCLure with family and friends in Melbourne in March Middle Right: Micheal O Muircheartaigh with two of the all time greats - Paddy Markey and Martin O Meara. Bottom Left: Program sellers Mick Forde, PJ Lynch and Pat O Brien following sales training course - what a team? Bottom Right: Reporting for stewarding duty - Jim Vale, Stephen Harrington, Dennis McIntyre and Martin O Meara.

6 FOUNDATION FOSTERING FRUITS From past publications most of our adult members will be familiar with our club history. However, especially for the benefit of our younger members and new adult members, it might be timely to recall some notable dates and events in that history. The first organised Gaelic football club in Clontarf was the legendary Brian Boro Club, formed in That club opened in the turbulent earliest years of our state and proudly and defiantly kept the Gaelic Football flag waving on the seafront until their ship hit troubled waters and sank in Two efforts were made both unfortunately unsuccessful to re-float the ship under the name Clontarf G.A.A. Club in the 1950 s. The club finally ceased to function in 1957 due to the lack of both players and mentors. Clontarf was bereft of any organised G.A.A. activity until today s club was formally established at a meeting in Belgrove Boys School on 11 th April Just a hurling club at first, success was instant, when the under 13 side under Frank McGuire won the North Dublin hurling league (the Denis Guiney Cup), just three months after the clubs inauguration. The club then, as it still does, fed off the output of boys in Belgrove Boys School and very soon began to field football teams as well as hurling sides. The school itself entered it s first team in the Dublin primary schools league as far back as Since the beginning the club has experienced crest and troughs on and off the field. But, it has always been expanding if only gradually at times and introducing Gaelic Games to new generations. The streets leagues, first mooted in 1961 became a series of fiercely competitive and prestigious competitions. In February 1965 Clontarf played their first game in Croke Park a juvenile football championship game against Clanna Gael which Clontarf lost by one point. In June 1965 Paddy Donnelly became the first Clontarf Clubman to wear the blue and navy of Dublin being picked for the Dublin Minor Hurling team. Gerry O Connor was the first clubman to appear in an All Ireland Final on the losing Dublin under 21 hurling side in Gerry in fact has the unusual distinction of wearing the Dublin colours in both hurling and football. The biggest honour won to date by a clubman is the All Ireland medal won by Jim Ronayne in 1983, while Noel McCaffrey Dublin s stalwart number 6 for many years received an all star award in 1988 and a Railway Cup medal in Derek Murphy also holds the distinction of winning an All-Ireland minor medal. In 1967, Clontarf first put an adult team into competition competing in the Dublin Junior League Championship. In 1973 the club gained intermediate status and finally in 1979 became a senior club. In 1985 Clontarf Seniors reached the county championship final only to be beaten by Ballymun Kickhams Hurling, which had been abandoned in the mid 1970 s by the club due to a severe shortage of mentors, was revived in But it was not until 1993 that the club first fielded an adult hurling team. In 1999 the hurlers became the first club team to win an adult championship, capturing the Junior C title. Ladies football, the success story of 2004 in winning the clubs first Adult football championship, began back in The team continues to grow in stature each year and acts as a great inspiration to our thriving under age girls teams from U10 to U16). Camogie came into the club in 1981, thanks to the efforts of Agnes Doyle and Aileen Tutty. While camogie thrived through the 80 s, it sadly declined in the 90 s. However a revial is under way at present thanks to the local schools. In refereeing circles our club has provided many knights of the whistle over the years and none more prominent than former chairman Aidan Shiells. Of course the official opening of our clubhouse in 1998, gave our club a home base, a headquarters from which all aspects of club activities operates.we now look forward to the final chapter in facilities development with the proposed upgrading of the pitches and pavilion at St. Annes. Article by Dennis McIntyre