GAA Centenary Year celebrations and events, organised in 1984 to celebrate and commemorate a momentous event, proved the catalyst or inspiration for the foundation of Clonmel Og.
Br. C O’Grady, Br. H. Somers, Br. P. Gleeson, Fr. M. Kennedy, Seamus Stritch, Cathal Ryan, Sgt. Michael Hogan, Eileen Sheehan and Eddie Kearney all shared the same vision – namely, that at the end of the twentieth century the GAA would have to reorganise, redefine and restructure its activities in large urban areas. Demographic trends and census statistics all showed that more and more people were relocating and settling in towns and that more GAA facilities were necessary if we were to attract and retain our fair proportion of young people.
From meetings held in 1984/1985 there was overwhelming support for what Clonmel Og was about to launch – a fact later proven when Clonmel people ontributed a staggering £400,000 to our Tipperary Draw initiative and other fund raising activities.
We chose the colours gold and blue to signify our loyaltyto the Premier County. The name Clonmel Og was carefully chosen as “Clonmel” was meant to be all embracing and the “Og” is hugely significant in that it demonstrates and shows our tremendous loyalty, dedication and commitment to young people and juveniles no matter what their level of ability.
1986 was tremendously successful and we won both south finals in under 14 hurling/football the same year. In 1986, 1988 and 1990 we reached three county finals in football, only to be beaten in the final seconds by the minimum margins by outstanding Eire Og, Nenagh teams. In 1987/1988 we reached two All-Ireland finals in Feile Peil na nOg in Kildare and Galway respectively.
The Lohan powered Wolfe Tones of Shannon beat us in 1987 while St. Brendan’s of Ruislip in London broke hearts by a point in Pearse Stadium, Galway, in 1988.
Many of the lads who played on those panels went on to represent Tipperary at underage level in both hurling and football and we are particularly proud of one and all.
The year 1990 saw us win our first South minor championship at the second attempt in what will surely rank as one of the greatest minor finals ever in South Tipperary. Once more Nenagh were there to spoil the party at the final hurdle.
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