Happy New Year..

A Happy and peaceful New Year of 2015 to all friends of Bride Rovers at home and abroad. The New Year season is always a time of hope and expectations and we wish that everything  good may come to pass during the coming year. It wont be long now until Board meetings will commence, fixtures made and away we go again. At Club level the cobwebs of 2014 are being swept aside as training for various teams commence. We wish all team managers, selectors and players all the very best for the season ahead. On the development front a lot of work has been done on the new facility. It is taking shape very well and with each passing week great progress can be seen. When completed we will have excellent amenities but of course we can never stand still and progress in various other facets of the Club are always under review.

CLUB LOTTO.

After Joe Collins of Ballinhassig won the €6800 Jackpot it was back to  €2000 for Tuesday December the 23rd. The four numbers drawn were 5 8 11 16 and there was no winner. For Christmas we gave five prizes of €50. The lucky winners were ;

Barry Browne Bartlemy, Caragh Arnold Bartlemy, Seamus Buckley Glenagoul,  Margaret Drinan Rathcormac,Joe Cahill Rathcormac,

A raffle for special Christmas Prizes followed and the winners here were Dan Quill, The O'Flynn Family, Kevin Power, Mary Howard, Dan Quill, Donie Healy, Mary Browne, John Quirke, Eleanor Quirke, John Regan & Neilus McHugh, John O'Donovan, Eileen Lane.

The Jackpot for Tuesday December the 30th was €2200.

Tickets for the weekly Lotto Draw are priced at just  € 2 each and can be purchased from Club members. They are also available in local business outlets  and online at locallotto.ie Support for the weekly Lotto is vital and greatly appreciated as the costs involved in running a GAA Club are increasing all the time. As well as the day to day costs we are planning more major Development work in Pairc na Bride in 2014 so finance is always needed. We are always looking for new Lotto Ticket sellers so if you could sell even a few tickets each week it would be of great benefit to the Club.

Fun Run/Walk:

Despite the poor weather on St.Stephen's Morning some 120 participants took part in the Run/Walk from the GAA Pavilion to the Corrin Mart Roundabout and back to the Pavilion where welcome refreshments were provided by the Club.

The first twenty participants  across the line in the Run were as follows:

James Murphy, Alan Barry, Fergus Collins, Garry Clerkin, Adrian Clancy, Pat Walsh, Kieran Kenny, D.J.Cahill, Mike Kearney, Jim O'Connor, Barry Johnson, Brendan Walsh, Shane Murphy, Liam Forde, George Johnson, Cian O'Connor, Ryan Prendergast, John Drislane, Donal O'Brien and Jordan Mannix. Thanks to all who supported this event and those who kindly  sponsored those taking part.

Volunteers.

We are always seeking new players from four years and upwards and of course older players who may have played with other clubs and are now living in the parish are more than welcome to join the Bride Rovers Club. People who never played the games are encouraged to join too as we have a role for everyone. Maybe your talent is in gardening or landscaping, in IT or fundraising, in catering, cleaning, flag-making or any other of the many tasks that have to be undertaken in a busy GAA Club. Some people are afraid if they 'join up' they will be overburdened but don’t worry on that score. If you want to give an hour a week or an hour a month to the Bride Rovers Club that contribution will be very much appreciated and respected. They say 'many hands make light work' and in the case of a GAA Club it is really the truth. In the next few weeks many people will be making New Year's Resolutions -why not get involved with your local GAA Club? If you want further information on what you could do ring 087 9538077.

'Bride Rovers Abu'.

At our recent 50th Anniversary celebrations in Bartlemy Hall there were several enquiries about our Club History 'Bride Rovers Abu' - yes copies are still available from the Club PRO , just phone 087 9538077.

Twitter and Tweet. And Website.

The Tweets and Twitters have been going well all year. So many people at home and abroad are now very hi-tech when it comes to keeping in touch with the activities of the Bride Rovers Club. The online editions of newspapers are growing in popularity. Meanwhile you can follow the Club on twitter at twitter@ Bride RoversGAA or on our own website at www.briderovers.ie  Any news items or general items of interest are very welcome for inclusion and should be sent to Gerard Lane. Please inform family members, relations and friends of Bride Rovers about the ways and means of keeping in contact with the Club. Christmas time is when we all think of those away abroad in a special way so tell them all about how to keep in touch with the Club at home and how they can still support the Club lotto online.

 MEMBERSHIP FEES FOR 2015.

Players €100,Ordinary adult membership €50,OAP's €20, Students €30.

DOWN MEMORY LANE.

50 Years ago 1965.

Just back in playing action after an absence of three years our Junior B Hurling team reached the East Cork Semi final only to lose to Castlelyons in Riverstown by 5  6 to  3  9. The Bride Rovers team was Pat Hoskins, Paddy O Sullivan, Paddy O Regan, Tony Walsh, John Meade, Michael Murphy, Dick Shelley, Willie Sheehan, Matty O Sullivan, Seanie Barry, Eddy Barry, Jimmy O Brien, Denis Canty, Gerald O Sullivan, Tony O Brien. Mike Gubbins, Pat Sheehan and Eamonn Hoskins came on as subs. John Fitzgerald, Willie Cotter, Joseph O Brien, Paddy O Brien and Liam Collins were also on the panel

75 Years ago, 1940.

In the first round of the East Cork JA HC Bride Rovers defeated Watergrasshill in Riverstown on St Patricks Day - the gate receipts for the game came to £1, 5 shillings. The second round of the championship wasn't played until August 11th when the Rovers were heavily defeated by Aghada on a scoreline of 11 3 to 4 3.

During 1940 the Club held a Parish League with Bartlemy, The Village(Rathcormac) and Kildinan competing. Kildinan met The Village in the final which ended in a draw. The Village won the replay.

100 Years ago, 1915.

There was little organised hurling or football activity in the parish. A kind of a 'revival' around 1910 -1913 seems to have faded away. Laois won their first ever All Ireland Senior Hurling title this year and were trained by Bartlemy native Pat Lee. Pat was born in Bartlemy Village -the Lee house was where the Hall stands. He had worked as an unpaid monitor teacher in Monananig NS before taking up employment with the Great South West Railway Company.  He worked as Station Master in Ballybrophy Co. Laois and got involved with the local Kilcotton Hurling Club. Kilcotton won the Laois SH Championship and represented Laois in the 1914 All Ireland series where they were beaten in the Final by Clare -trained by  Jim O Hehir, father of broadcaster Micheál. For 1915 Pat lee took over as team trainer and Laois defeated Dublin in the Leinster Final by 3 2 to 0 5. Cork meanwhile beat the All Ireland champions Clare in the Munster Final by 8 2 to  2  1. Cork were hot favourites in the Final on October the 24th. the Rebels led by 3 0 to 2 2 at half time but in a rain drenched second half Laois scored 4 goals to win by 6 2 to 4 1.

125 Years ago, 1890.

St. Finbarrs beat Bartlemy in the Final of the O Connor Cup Senior Hurling competition at Mallow in October. The Bartlemy team was; William O Connell Capt., Patrick Murphy Vice-Captain, James Noonan, James Ryan, James Collins, John Scanlan, John McCarthy, Pat Lee, Maurice O Shea, Con Condon, John Ahern, John Martin, John O Leary, Daniel O Keeffe, James Barry, David Galligan, John Collins, William Cotter, Patrick Barry, Michael O Neill Edward Hoskins.

Bartlemy Field Umpire was William Barry, Richard Barry and Laurence O Flynn  were the Goal Umpires.  

BRIDE ROVERS CLUB SPONSORS.

Thanks to our Main Club Sponsors Rathcormac Tyres, Veoila Environmental Services and O Coileains Bar for their ongoing support.