An Bhoth GAA Club Notes 16/01/2024
2024 Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup
Monaghan qualified for the Semi Final for the 2024 Dr McKenna Cup after defeating Fermanagh away in an exciting Round 3 group stage game on Wednesday evening last in Enniskillen. Monaghan finished top of Group C and well done to Jack, Conor, Michael and Ryan in that game along with the Monaghan team and management. Unfortunately Monaghan lost to Donegal in the Semi Final on Sunday last in Castleblayney. They next play Dublin away on Saturday 27th January in Round 1 of the National League Division 1 in Croke Parke at 7:30pm.
The Big Prediction Quiz - €2,500 in Prizes!!!!
Show your GAA expertise! You have always fancied yourself as a fountain of GAA knowledge with regards to matters on the field. Now is the time, join the big prediction quiz, see can you be crowned the champion and win the top prize of €1,000 plus any number of the weekly €100 winner prize! The proof is in the predictions! We are having the popular Prediction Competition Quiz from previous years for this year’s National Football League games which will commence at the end of this month. You can now easily enter our NFL Prediction Quiz 2024 simply by filling in the online form linked
https://www.scotstowngaa.ie/nfl-prediction-quiz-2024
Pick the result of each game of the National Football League for a chance to Win €1,000, plus a weekly prize of €100 for score of the week.
Prizes = 1st €1,000, 2nd €500, 3rd, €300. Tied scores will split the prize money
Cost of Entry is €50.
This year, after round 3 we are allowing players to resubmit predictions for the remaining rounds 4 to 7. This can be done easily online and a reminder will be sent to you for it.
Entries must be in by Friday January 26th. We also have manual copies for people to fill in who do not have online access. Please ask any committee member for a copy, and there are sheets available in the local shops and pubs
Kilmore Hub Facility now open
Well done to everyone involved in the Kilmore Hib gym which is now open. If you have not already downloaded our new gym app for the new Scotstown GAA gym you can do here - https://onelink.to/2gs425
Please also check our Facebook page and the Kilmore Hub Facebook page for updates on classes available.
Scotstown GAA Online Club Lotto – Jackpot €14,800!!
Thanks to everyone involved in our online lotto draw for a €14,600 jackpot on Wednesday 17th January. Please see our Social Media platforms for more details of the results.
In the January 10th draw there was no Jackpot winner. Numbers drawn on the night were 21, 23, 27, 30. There was 1 Match 3 Winner, Mark McKenna. We had 3 Lucky Dip winners, Katherine Lynskey, Olivia Greene and Chloe McPhillips who win €20 each. Congratulations to all our winners! The Scotstown GAA online Lotto Draw takes place every Wednesday at 8:30pm with last entries at 8pm. The draw is conducted on-line and is fully automated using secure facilities. There are 4 numbers to choose from a range of 1 to 31. Match the 4 numbers to win the Jackpot of €14,800. If no jackpot winner €200 is rolled over to the following week. Also if there is no jackpot winner there will be lucky dips. Next draw is Wednesday January 24th at 8:30pm.
Club Shop
The Club Shop is next open at the end of the month.
Social Club opening hours and rota
The Social Club is open this Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 9pm. Bara Rota: Sean McKenna and Kevin Boylan.
Monaghan GAA Annual Awards 2023
The Monaghan GAA Annual awards 2023 ceremony took place last Saturday night in the 4 Seasons Monaghan. Scotstown GAA achieved 5 Monaghan GAA Annual Awards for 2023 at December's County Convention and well done to everyone involved. Thanks to everyone involved in Monaghan GAA and the Four Seasons Hotel Monaghan for organising and hosting an amazing night of talk, music, reflection and appreciation to what was an outstanding year for Monaghan Gaelic sports. Well done to Gráinne McElwain for her excellent performance as Master of Ceremonies and local traditional band Ceolinn from Tydavnet parish for a fine start to the evening with their brilliant music.
The 5 awards were as follows; Congratulations to Rory Beggan, Senior Footballer of the Year. Since making his Monaghan debut in 2013, Rory has played over 120 consecutive league and championship games for the county, while also being an ever-present in Scotstowns championship games for more than a decade. In 2023 Rory was a consistent performer for club and county. He was central to Monaghan retaining their Division 1 status this year and in their run all the way to the All-Ireland semi-final and was an All Star nominee. He was also pivotal in Scotstown winning the Mick Duffy cup and their run to the Ulster Club final. From shot stopping, saving penalties, support play, contesting opposition kick outs, scoring from placed balls or from play, Rory has displayed a range of skills and abilities few other goalkeepers can match.
Next award; Congratulations to Conor Mc Carthy, Club Monaghan Senior Footballer of the Year. A former Ulster Minor medal winner and Sigerson Cup winner, Conor became the 10th Monaghan player to win an All Star after his performances in 2023 as the county made it to the All-Ireland Semi Final. Lining out at left-half back, he scored two second half points in the Ulster Championship win over Tyrone, 0-3 in the drawn All Ireland Group game away to Derry and 1-2 in the home victory over Clare. Monaghan supporters will long remember his brilliant winning point in the Preliminary Quarter-Final win over Kildare on a great day for Monaghan football. His form continued in Croke Park with three points in the Quarter Final win over Armagh and he gave another fully committed performance in the Semi-Final defeat against Dublin. Conor was also an important player for Scotstown as they won the Mick Duffy Cup and he got vital scores in the Ulster Club Championship.
We had 2 former Blues entering the Hall of Fame, Tom Moyna and Gerard McGuirk. Congratulations to Tom Moyna. Tom comes from a family with a long association with Scotstown and Monaghan – his father Tommy and uncle Mackey played for club and county. Tom had a successful juvenile career with Scotstown and made his way into the senior team in the mid-seventies. He gave some memorable performances when Scotstown won five Monaghan Senior football championships in a row and won three successive Ulster club titles in the late seventies. He lined out at full forward for Monaghan in 1979 when the county won the Ulster Senior Football Championship after a gap of 41 years. Tom has managed various underage teams in Scotstown and is a current Trustee of the club.
Congratulations to Gerard Mc Guirk. Gerard also comes from a family with strong Scotstown history – his father Hugh was a member of the 1960 championship winning team. Gerard was a regular on the Scotstown team that won the Ulster Club title in 1989 and won back-to-back Monaghan Senior Football titles in 1992 and 1993, winning the Man of the Match award in the 1992 drawn final.
He was a regular for Monaghan throughout the 1990’s, capable of playing in defence, midfield or attack. After retirement, Gerard got involved with management of various Scotstown teams and was a selector in 2011 when they narrowly lost the county final to Latton. Gerard’s family continue the tradition by playing for Scotstown Ladies.
To round it all off, Scotstown GAA were named Club of the Year! So well done to all our members, players, coaches and volunteers for achieving club of the year 2023!
Scotstown GAA has enjoyed another busy and fruitful year both on and off the field, and we are delighted and grateful to awarded Club of the year for 2023. Through our health and well-being initiatives and other activities in our club we continue to serve the community as community comes first. Football is nothing without the people you enjoy it with, the people to share in those moments, the people in the community. Having recently achieved the Silver Healthy Club GAA award, we are further enabled to further support the holistic health of our members and all the community that we serve. Healthy Club Initiatives and other community related activities included Operation Transformation, Make a Ceili, Nutritional talks, Scór successes, Card playing nights, table quizzes, blood pressure health checks, various charity collection events with the senior ladies, and Gaelic Mothers 4 Others. Our new Kilmore building is now open which includes community gym and meeting room facilities.
This year has been an eventful and successful year for our juveniles again following up on the recent years’ achievements. Our Minor B boys won the Division 4 League Cup and Championship Double. Our Minor A side narrowly missed out on retaining the Under 17 Division 1 League cup to a strong Castleblayney side and made the Semi Finals of the Championship. Our Under 15 B team won the Division 5B Championship and our U15 A team won the Division 1 League Shield Cup. Our Under 13 Division 6 team won the League Shield cup. Our juvenile girls had success, with the Under 16 A team winning the league Cup and Championship double and the U16B team winning the Division 2 Championship. Our Under 18 girls made the Division 1 Championship final and our Under 14 girls made the shield cup final. Our Under 15 girls won the Ulster Feile competition.
In adults, our Senior ladies won the Division 2 Reserve League cup and made steady progress in the Senior Division 1 Championship and League, losing narrowly to the Ulster champions Donaghmoyne in the Championship Semi Final. In Mens our 3 reserve teams had success with our Senior reserves retaining the O’Duffy Championship cup and our Junior Reserves winning the Division 3A League Shield Cup. Our Junior men made brilliant progress this year making the quarter final of the Junior Championship. Our Senior men qualified for their 11th Senior Championship County final in a row and won against a strong Inniskeen side to win the club’s 22nd Senior County Championship, including 8 out of the last 11 finals in a row. The Senior team went on an amazing run in the Ulster Club Championship, defeating 2021 All Ireland Champions Kilcoo in a thrilling quarter final and a strong Trillick side in a tense Semi Final before losing narrowly in a tight Final to last year’s All Ireland runners up, Glen.
It was also an amazing year in Intercounty level, with 8 of our players part of the Monaghan Senior team that went on an exceptional run to the All-Ireland Semi Final and 5 of our representatives were part of the historic Monaghan minor team that made the All-Ireland Final. Our juvenile girl representatives had success as well with the minors winning the Platinum Ulster Championship and our Under 14 girls winning the Silver Ulster championship and qualifying for the All-Ireland Final.
Well done to all our teams, management, players, members, volunteers, supporters and our community! An Bhoth Abú.
Thanks to Shane Stirrat for accepting the award and to Michael Owen McMahon for presenting some of the awards last night.
Interested in Volunteering?
Anyone interested in helping out in one of our many new committees, we are looking for volunteers. Please contact Cyril at 087 9628521.
Our Condolences
Scotstown GAA would like to offer our deepest condolences and sincerest sympathy to the family and friends of Laurence McKenna. We would like to pass on our sympathy to his children, Alan (Christine), Lorraine (Ray Hughes), Paul (Kate) & Joanne (Stephen Clarke), grandchildren, his sisters Kathleen, Margaret, Nora and his brother Noel, nieces, nephews, cousins, neighbours and his wide circle of friends. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
Health and Wellbeing
Scotstown GAA continues this year with its Healthy Club project which aims to help GAA clubs explore how they support the holistic health of their members and the communities they serve.
As we entered the winter months we renewed the Make a Ceili initiative which was launched recently. Last week saw the start of the Operation Transformation walk and the Scotstown Ladies hosted a Women’s Health talk.
RTE Operation Transformation 2024 – Ireland Lights Up Walk
We have registered with the Transformation 2024 initiative again this year. It commenced last Wednesday 10th January from 7pm. Many thanks to everyone involved in the Health Check and blood pressure check onsite during that evening. Feel free to join into the walk at any stage of the weekly event. This initiative involves Scotstown GAA Health and Well-being joining up with Ireland Lights Up 2024 in partnership with RTE Operation Transformation and encourages everyone young and old, especially families / household bubbles, to get Ireland safely walking. We host this initiative at the Kilmore walking track at evening times, every Wednesday for 6 weeks. This is part of our Silver Healthy Club.
Free Talk on Women’s Health
Well done to the Scotstown ladies and everyone involved in the Women’s Health talk which was expertly presented by Tara McCarville on Thursday evening of last week in the Scotstown Complex. There was a large turnout and thanks to everyone who attended and all those involved in organising the event and to the speaker Tara McCarville. The talk was geared to an over 23 year old audience based on some of the content but everyone was welcome. Please note there will be a talk more suitable to u16s and minors scheduled later in the month or early February. This is part of our Silver Healthy Club.
Card Playing night
Well done to everyone involved on another successful card night on Friday night last in the Scotstown GAA Social Club. We will be having further Card nights in the future and are inviting everyone to come along and play Cards especially young people who want to learn the game of 45. There will be card players there on the night to guide and help, fun night ahead don’t let our traditional card games become a thing of the past. This is part of our Silver Healthy Club.
Make a Ceili during the cold snap
Please keep in mind to check in on your friends and neighbours during the cold snap.
Playing pitches closed for the Winter
Please note that all the pitches at Kilmore and Pairc Mhuire are closed for the Winter.
Gaelic 4 Mothers & Others
Gaelic For Mothers & others outdoor training has ended for the year and training will be indoors from now on. All welcome to come along. As there is no competition for the group there is no pressure to attend every week. You can join in at any stage and come when it suits you. You need to be over 25 and living in the parish. Why not come all and give it a go!!
80th Birthday wellwishes
Happy 80th Birthday to John James McKenna, who celebrated his birthday last week. John is a lifelong supporter of our club and Ciste fundraising.
Scór agus Cultúr
Scór dates for your diary. Scor sinsir quiz Thursday March 14th. Scor sinsir County final stage events Friday March 22nd. Scor Ulster Semi-finals Saturday and Sunday 6th and 7th April. Scor sinsir Ulster final Saturday 20th April; All Ireland final in Killarney Saturday May 11th. enues and times for above events to be confirmed.
Tá an Ciorcal Gaeilge sa Spórtlann gach Oíche Mháirt ó 8 go 9pm! Fáilte roimh gach duine.