Commemorative Meeting and our First Committee ...

We honoured our founding fathers on Monday night by holding a special meeting in St Mary’s Hall. The date was 16 January and on the same date 70 years earlier at the monthly meeting of the Pearse’s Hurling Club, the officers of the new club called Mullingar Shamrocks were elected.
Over 30 present-day members were in attendance including some of the most distinguished volunteer members over the decades, including former officers, team managers, past players, current executive members. Champagne was nowhere to be seen (the founding fathers would have approved) but some tea and coffee was served (it may even have been decaffeinated in the interests of health).
Chairman David Nohilly (his grandfather-in-law was a founding member) welcomed the guests with a quote from Martin Luther King and spoke of the significance of the occasion and club PRO Tom Hunt spoke briefly on the foundation of the club and the careers of the initial committee members.
President: Fr. P. J. Regan; Vice-President: Frank Garvey N.T.; Chairman: Brother Baldwin; Vice-Chairman: Frank Tuohy; Secretary: Vincent Gillick; Committee: J. Brew, Tom Mullaney, Seán Tone, Paddy Lucey and Paddy Mooney.

Brother Baldwin was a teacher of maths and Latin in St Mary’s secondary school and was also President of the Pearse’s Hurling Club. Vice-Chairman, Frank Tuohy lived in Ballyglass where the family farm was located. Frank served his time in the drapery trade in Keelan’s Drapery and emigrated to Canada in 1956. On his return to Mullingar, Frank farmed for a number of years and then returned to the drapery trade and was employed in Shaw’s Drapery for some time before setting up his own business in Dominick Street. Throughout his life, Frank was deeply involved in community organisations particularly the St Vincent de Paul Society and he was one of the chief organisers of the Diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes for many years. Frank Tuohy, at 95 years-years-of-age died on 10 April 2022.

Vincent Gillick had been involved in the GAA for many years as a player, referee and administrator when he became the club’s first secretary. Vincent was a native of Castletown Geoghegan where his father worked in the Railway Station and when he was transferred to Mullingar, the family resided in Mount Street Gardens. Vincent first played senior football as a sixteen-year-old for Streamostown and as a Mullingar player represented Westmeath in all grades in the 1930s and early 1040s. He was a member of the Westmeath junior football team beaten by Roscommon in the 1940 All-Ireland final. During the gap years, when Mullingar was without a football club, Vincent played with Coralstown, Rathcolman, and was a key member of The Mental Hospital team that won the senior football title in 1948. Vincent Gillick was an employee of Shaw’s and moved to Tullamore in 1959 where he was employed by D. E. Williams as a production manager in the company’s bottling department. He died in Tullamore on 10 April 1994 at the age of 76.

J. Brew was a member of the Pearse’s team that won the 1952 junior hurling title but after that he is the unknown member of the committee. So too is Tom Mullaney, who was a useful footballer and lined out in the early years for the club. Paddy Lucey was a native of Mullingar and was a prominent footballer in the early 1930s. Paddy Mooney was employed in the retail trade and was a more than useful footballer who represented Westmeath and had the distinction of scoring the first goal for Shamrocks in competitive football.

Seán Tone, from Barrack Street where he was born on 12 September 1921, was active in Gaelic circles as the newspapers of the day liked to say. Seán loved Irish music and culture and his name regularly appeared in advertisements for céili dances and concerts in his role as Fear an Tí. He was also secretary of the Mullingar branch of the Clann na Poblachta Party at the time of the foundation of Mullingar Shamrocks. Seán later emigrated to London where he died on 14 June 2016 at 95-years-of-age.

The only item on the agenda was formalising plans for our special Celebratory 70th Anniversary Banquet which promises to be one of the great nights in the club’s social history. Book your ticket on the club’s website at www.mullingarshamrocksgaa.com. You receipt is your ticket and must be produced on the door on the night, in paper or on your phone.

AND don’t forget: Book your table before Wednesday 25 January