Little of note was achieved by the club in the early years but nevertheless, the spirit of the community was evident in the club and there was much activity in playing championship and challenge games. A significant achievement at the time was the selection of James Nolan of Summerhill on the team to tour America in what became known as the ‘American Invasion’. Most clubs at the time were established by one individual or perhaps a small group of people. In our case, the main person involved in forming the club was Thomas Corcoran of Honeymount. He was an outstanding individual and was very active in Tipperary GAA affairs as well as being the founder of our club. His ability as an administrator was further recognised when he was appointed as the first Chairman of North Tipperary County Council.
Towards the end of the 19th Century, as in many parishes, the club went into decline which many would claim to be due to the ‘Parnellite Split’. A new curate in the parish, Fr Maguire, began to reorganise the club at the turn of the century and for a few years they competed in the Offaly championship, contesting the Junior Final in 1906, which they lost to Coolderry. On returning to Tipperary, a number of players became involved with Toomevara and were successful in winning titles. Two of those were ‘Darby’ Collison and Paddy Kennedy, and these players were honoured at a presentation ceremony held in Toomevara in December 2010 to commemorate Toomevara’s early county final successes.
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