In praise of referees (And we hven't gone mad) ...

At a time when Kilkenny and Kerry pundits have done their best to undermine James Owens and David Gough, it is appropriate that we acknowledge the contribution of one of our own referee's Barry Kelly to the club and its activities. A week after stepping away from the glamour of the RTE studios and The Sunday Game, Barry was out early last Sunday morning in Springfield in a dual capacity. As chairman of the club's under-age committee he welcomed participating teams competing in the Rob Cornally Memorial Tournament and refereed before crossing the fields to Oliver Plunkett's to referee our senior football challenge. After that it was back to Springfield for another refereeing stint at the Rob Cornally Tournament. Cusack Park was next on Barry's schedule where he took charge of the whistle in the crucial Clonkill-Castlepollard senior hurling championship match.

One of the linesmen in the Clonkill-Pollard game was Ken Gunning who was also on the final leg of a busy day. He also walked the line in the Lough Lene Gaels-Castletown Geoghegan senior championship match. Ken's day began early on Sunday morning in Drumraney where he refereed a camogie match. Ken travelled from Drumraney to Springfield when the camogie ended and he took charge of several matches in the Rob Cornally Tournament as did Shane Maher, one of the referees who has made it possible for Mullingar Shamrocks to stage is popular Go-Games Blitz tournaments over the years.

A typical day in the career of two dedicated whistle blowers.

Without this extraordinary dedication and commitment, the GAA would quickly grind to a halt.