A large media contingent plus guests of honour, Tom Kenny the Cork midfielder and Kilkenny forward Eddie Brennan, together with club officials attended the launch of the 34th AIB Kilmacud Crokes All-Ireland Hurling Sevens in Croke Park on 22nd August 2006.
Hurling Section Chairman, Tom Barry, welcomed the attendees particularly our media friends who he thanked for their support and coverage over the years.
The 7’s is now a central part of the All-Ireland Hurling Final weekend and a must for all hurling aficionados. We will have some 70 teams taking part, intensely competitive, top class, hurling, valuable ESB-sponsored training kit for the winners and several chances to win that elusive All-Ireland Final ticket.
Top club sides from all over the country will battle it out for what is now one of the most prestigious prizes in club hurling. These include:
· Reigning 7’s champions and AIB All-Ireland Club champions Portumna of Galway, backboned by the Cannings and Damien Hayes,
· Thurles Sarsfields with Ger “Redser” O’Grady and Lar Corbett,
· The Eoin and Paul Kelly powered Mullinahone, and
· Recent winners Garryspillane from Limerick.
Our Shield and Under 13 Competitions will also attract widespread interest.
The Hurling Chairman thanked Tom Rock and his team on the AIB Kilmacud Crokes All-Ireland Hurling 7’s workgroup. Events of this magnitude don’t just happen. They require much planning and seriously committed groundwork encompassing team entries, dealing with the media, grounds preparation and much more. The Festival is a huge logistical undertaking with nearly 1,000 players alone to be catered for. It is a tribute to the workgroup that the event continues to be run so professionally
The event could not be of the size and quality it is without the support of our sponsors AIB Bank. For that reason we were delighted to welcome Eamonn Ryan, Regional Director, AIB Stillorgan, Billy Finn, Executive, AIB, and their colleagues. AIB have been longstanding backers of GAA activity at club level and are also the official sponsors of the AIB Club Championships. Our sincere thanks to them.
Eamonn Ryan speaking on behalf of AIB said the Sevens was another demonstration of the Bank’s commitment to club and community and praised Kilmacud Crokes Hurling for its great work, especially at underage level.
We were pleased also to welcome Paudie Butler, National Hurling Co-ordinator who recalled his own experience of playing in the Sevens and was highly complimentary in relation to the proposed Kilmacud Crokes Hurling Arena, which type of facility he said was essential for the proper development of the game.
Club chairman, Tommy Lyons, complimented the Hurling Section on the work put into making the Sevens such a feature of the GAA calendar and thanked everyone involved.
Hosting the festival provides Kilmacud Crokes with a wonderful opportunity to showcase the best hurling talent in the country competing for an All-Ireland title. This forms an important part of our ongoing effort to promote hurling in the club and locality. Without question a great hurling day lies in store on Saturday 2nd September at the AIB Kilmacud Crokes All-Ireland Hurling Sevens and Stillorgan is the place to be.
You can download details of the various draws - and a match venue map - blicking clicking on the links above.
Also, if you can't be there on the day, keep an eye on progress here on the Hurling Section website!