Handball Stars from Cashel Won Several Awards
Presentation Booklet for the Annerville Awards at Clonmel on January 25, 2025
The number of handballers from Cashel who were honoured by the Tipperary United Sports Panel in the Cidona/Annerville awards down the years reflects the strong tradition of the game in the town. According to Albert Carrie, the game was played in Cashel as far back as 1850 when the members of the RIC had an alley in Hogan Square and they forbade the locals from playing in it. Those who did were issued with summonses. When the GAA was founded, it tried to foster the game by establishing an alley in every parish, but it was 1935 before an alley was built in Cashel on what is now Dean Ryan Terrace. It captured the interest of many players and great games took place, as it developed into the most popular outdoor recreation place in town. When the alley was knocked down in a hurricane in 1960, it put an end to handball in Cashel for a time.
New Alley
It took until 1975 for a new alley to be built. The amount raised by a fundraising committee wasn't sufficient, so it was decided to build it by direct labour, under the direction of Albert Carrie. The work began on Holy Thursday and was completed in less than six months and the alley was officially opened by Brother Malone on October 26, 1975. It was named after Monto Carrie, a well-loved supporter of all local endeavours, who died in a car accident in August 1973. The alley became a great centre for the promotion of handball in the town and in a short time success came to the club. In 1979 John O'Donoghue and John O'Neill won the All-Ireland Under 15 title, and Jimmy O'Neill and John J Murphy won the Under 18 title. In 1980 John Scannell and Richard Fahy won the All-Ireland Doubles Under 17, and on the same day John Scannell teamed up with Jimmy O'Neill to win the All-Ireland Under 18 Doubles. There were other successes in the Vocational Schools competition.
Spectacular Success
The number of successes is too many to mention in this short article, so I will concentrate on John O'Donoghue's achievements, which were spectacular. In 1980 he was beaten in the All-Ireland Singles final by P. McCann of Sligo, but came back in 1981 to beat his opponent of the previous year. In the same year, along with John Fitzell, he lost the All-Ireland Doubles final. In 1982 John O'Donoghue lost the All-Ireland Singles final to Ducksy Walsh, but there was consolation when he and Fitzell defeated Walsh and his partner in the All-Ireland Doubles final. In 1982 John won the All-Ireland Minor singles hardball final, and repeated the success in 1983. In the latter year he also won the All-Ireland Doubles with Eddie Corbett. In 1984 John won the All-Ireland Under 21 Doubles with K. Mullins. In 1985 he won the All-Ireland Under 21 Singles and the Doubles in partnership with Eddie Corbett. There were further successes in 1986, when there were two Under 21 Doubles All-Irelands, a Junior Singles and a Junior Doubles. Junior Doubles followed in 1989 and 1990 and Senior Doubles in 1991.
Back Injury
At this stage John's back was injured and he had to retire from handball. He returned in 2016 to win a Golden Masters Doubles, and repeated the achievement in 2017. A Silver Masters Doubles 60 x 40 was won in 2018, as well as a Golden Masters 40 x 20. There was much more that this outstanding handballer won, and he was the first Cashel person to win a Cidona Award when he won the Handball award with Kevin Mullins in 1984. He followed up with a second award, alone, in 1985, a third with Eddie Corbett in 1991, and a fourth when the two succeeded again in 1992. The nearest he came after that was when his son, Paraic, won with Daniel Hayes in 2016.
John O'Donoghue set the standard for others, women as well as men, in the Cashel club. David Moloney won the award in 1992, Carol Moloney in 1995, Jackie Keating and Carol Moloney in 1997, Daniel Hayes and Coilin Ryan in 2012 and Daniel Hayes and Paraic O'Donoghue in 2016