Clonoulty Rossmore aren’t the biggest of clubs.
The numbers aren’t great in the parish and there aren’t too many houses being built there either.
But every house in Clonoulty Rossmore knows about the GAA club and the GAA club sure as hell knows about every house there too.
The GAA is Clonoulty Rossmore’s tradition, it’s the way of life there and as St Columba’s Mullinalaghta proved last weekend, that kind of atmosphere can be enough.
It can be enough to create something special, it can be enough to get something going, it can be enough to get everybody in the parish rowing in the one direction for the one goal and then it can have everybody absolutely buzzing then when they reach that goal.
There’s a buzz in Clonoulty Rossmore at the moment. The hurling is going well for them.
For the first time in 21 years, 2018 saw Dan Breen arrive back into the small parish 11 miles outside of Cashel. They went into the final as underdogs against town club, Nenagh Éire Óg, but as they did on their path to the final against the likes of Kiladangan and Toomevara, they outfought, outdogged, outsmarted and outhurled their opponents.
That’s the way they do it.
That was a famous and a historic triumph for the parish and for the club but it’s only the start of it.
Because the backbone of that triumph was the young lads. We’re talking about 21-year-olds like Dillon Quirke, Michael Ryan Winnie, Cathal Bourke and Enda Heffernan. A new breed, a young breed, a rising breed.
Those lads had their dander up after the senior win and they went into the under-21 championship with plenty of confidence.
Clonoulty Rossmore had never won the under-21 A in Tipperary before but these lads don’t care about the past and on Sunday, a month after that senior win, they went out and made it an even merrier Christmas for the parish by taking out the Premier county’s most successful club, Thurles Sarsfields, to make history and to win the under-21 crown.
The noise, the jumps, the roars, the pitch just seconds after the whistle was blown shows just how much it all means, how much the hurling can mean.
What a year for @ClonRossGAA winning this county final v Sars 2-12 to 1-12.. heres the closing stages of the Tipp U21 A hurling final in beautiful sunshine at Boherlahan pic.twitter.com/5cY6nttSN5
— Stephen Gleeson (@StephenGleeson_) December 16, 2018
And a couple of minutes later, Clonoulty Rossmore mothers, fathers, jersey washers, raffle promoters were hand in hand belting out Slievenamon outside the dressing rooms in Boherlahan.
This is what it is all about. Mothers, fathers, lifelong servants of the club embracing the moment. A special time for @ClonRossGAA 💚💛 pic.twitter.com/TbWQfY2Maa
— Conor Hammersley (@ConorHammersley) December 16, 2018
And that’s what it all means.
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