Cushendall Ruairi Og Hurling and Camogie clubs celebrated their Antrim and Ulster Senior Hurling titles at the club dinner in the Tullyglass Hotel on Friday evening. Their tradition of inviting guest from the other sporting clubs in village continued with Golf Club captain Danny ‘Dan’ McAlister and Cushendall Boat Club Commodore Silke McKeown in attendance, as were north Antrim GAA chairman Paddy Gray and Antrim county chairman Seamus McMullan
St MacNissi’s Primary School have won the MacAllister McAleese Solicitors Larne Schools Hurling Cup
This year’s competition saw some big changes, a title sponsor and 3 new Schools came on board for 2024.
Island Magee Primary School, Moyle Primary and Larne and Inver Primary School all making their 1st appearances.
The first game saw the pupils from the peninsula put up a good show against 2023 winners St MacNissi’s who won 2-0.
Moyle played their maiden match drawing 0-0 against St Anthony’s. And a strong Larne and Inver team beat Corran Integrated by a goal to complete the first round of fixtures.
The format changed slightly this year to accommodate the increased number of participants. Each school played each other once in the league section of the tournament. With the top two playing each other in an extended final.
Island Magee and Corran Integrated both won games, St MacNissi’s won 4 out of 5 but Larne and Inver were the most impressive throughout the league section. Winning every game with some intricate passing, impressive team play and astute defending.
The final was a tense affair, a single goal scored midway through the second half was enough to claim the victory for St MacNissis who received the trophy from Mid and East Antrim Mayor Geraldine Mulvenna.
The extended 2024 competition was a great success after ten years of 3 participants since 2014. Over 150 children across 6 schools got an introduction to Hurling all from the town of Larne or within BT40
Latharna Og would like to thank Mid and East Antrim for their continued support.
Brighter Futures who provided new personalised helmets for St Anthonys, St MacNissi’s and Corran Integrated, our title sponsors MacAllister and McAleese Solicitors, Larne and Inver, Moyle Primary and Island Magee for coming on board and everyone who helped out and most importantly the boys and girls who took part and made the day happen.
Danske Bank Forresters Cup Hurling
Rathmore 4-11 St Louis 0-19
An incredible scoring display by Rathmore midfielder Ronan Taylor saw the Belfast school pull off a shock when they beat St Louis Ballymena in the Forresters Cup at Rathmore on Monday afternoon.
With St Louis centre forward Fiontan Bradley ruling the roost in the opening half things appeared to be going to plan as the Ballymena school went in leading by 0-10 to 0-8 at the break. However Taylor turned in magnificent display in the second half, grabbing four goals and two points to get his team home with four points to spare.
The early stages of the game were a shoot-out between Bradley and Taylor, Bradley playing some superb hurling as he hit 0-8 of this team’s ten point total, while Taylor got seven of Rathmore’s eight points. Bradley and Eunan Curry got the first two points of the second half to stretch the St Louis lead to four, but Rathmore pulled two points back, and when Taylor grabbed his first goal on 38 minutes the game swung in Rathmore’s favour.
St Louis seemed to have weathered the storm when they hit back with five points in a row, one each from Neil Rodgers and Dara Higgins and three more from Bradley, but the final quarter belonged to Taylor, the St Brigid’s clubman hitting three more goals and a point to swing the advantage back to Rathmore and secure a famous win.
Dunloy Cuchullains held their Juvenile Awards Presntations in the Tullyglass Hotel on Sunday evening where the club’s young teams who were so successful in Hurling, Camogie and Football in 2023, received their team and individaul awards.
Saffron Gael went along to capture the memories.
Above – New secretary Declan McCarr (left) with new chairman Paddy Gray and treasurer Darrach Ó Maoláiin
On Thursday evening, the North Antrim GAA Extraordinary General Meeting concluded with the transition of positions for Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer. Whilst change can be positive, it is regrettable to see great Glensmen step down from their respective authoritative positions. The success of North Antrim GAA in the past year would not have been possible had it not been for the dedication and intellect of Martin Magee, Frank McCarry and Chris Campbell. It is beyond a shadow of a doubt that these men have left North Antrim GAA in a comfortable and successful place.
The new Chairman is Paddy Gray, whose experience as the Coaching and Development Officer has garnered respect across our region. Paddy is often seen with a great smile on his face, and his devotion to the game is well known. Declan McGarry of Loughgiel has taken the position of Secretary. We are very lucky to have Declan coming on board with a gifted ability. Declan has stepped up in the past few years as a referee and will no doubt do a fantastic job as Secretary. The Treasurer’s role has been usurped by Darach Ó Maoláin, the former PRO and Secretary for Loughgiel Shamrocks GAC.
The past year has highlighted that North Antrim is the home of Hurling and Camogie. There have been great strides by North Antrim Clubs to move into Provincial Levels and consequently All-Ireland Competitions. In our cultural pursuits, we’ve seen the hard work of Jimmy Gaston and the NA Cultural Officers being instrumental in promoting Irish Language Classes and participation in Scór. We hope that North Antrim GAA will continue to flourish. We aim to continue our promotion of Gaelic Games and Culture in a positive, inclusive and egalitarian manner. No one should ever feel left out in North Antrim.
Finally, we’d like to thank the outgoing Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer the best of luck and the best of health. We are all very grateful to have had Martin, Frank and Chris leading North Antrim GAA and acting as positive role models. They are a credit to their respective Clubs.