Book on Kilkee’s sporting history to be launched

“A demanding but very rewarding project” is how committee chairman Ger Keane describes a book chronicling the history of the GAA and other sporting organisations in Kilkee. The book will be officially launched by GAA president Christy Cooney at the Kilkee Bay Hotel on Thursday, December 3.

A Sporting Odyssey took three years to research and Ger Keane, Jimmy Fitzpatrick, Paddy McDonnell, Paul Costelloe and Patrick Keane can be proud of their work.
The book runs to 527 pages and will not only be of interest to all Kilkee parishioners but to sports people across the county and beyond.
“We decided to examine the history of sport in the parish, with particular reference to Gaelic Games, football and hurling, while incorporating other sports such as basketball, boxing, soccer and athletics, to mention some,” said Keane, a well-known club and county footballer. He paid particular tribute to Lissycasey native Danny McCarthy, who edited the book.
Because of the lack of any substantial club records in all of the sports involved the project would never have been completed were it not for the past records of The Clare Champion in particular, records that are housed in the Clare Local Studies in Ennis.
The book is not just a sporting history but a social history of a people and a proud West Clare parish,” said McCarthy.
“We had some great basketball teams in Kilkee,” recalled Paul Costelloe, a versatile sportsman who featured prominently in football, basketball and squash successes in the West Clare town.
“The FCA were responsible for basketball coming to Kilkee.
“It was played at the old CYM hall and there were many great games between Kilkee and Bealaha and Blackweir and then, of course, there were the games with Ennistymon,” recalled Paul Costelloe.
Paddy McDonnell who, like Costelloe played basketball for Kilkee, is an ­ardent hurling follower and, in this history, highlights the fact that Kilkee-Bealaha contested a national Féile na nGael ­hurling final in 1987 before pointing out that hurling in Kilkee goes all the way back to 1830.
Another member of the committee responsible for the production, Jimmy Fitzpatrick, supported Paddy McDonnell’s recollection of how popular hurling was in Kilkee.
Jimmy also pointed out that the book contains many excellent photographs, which are sure to bring back great memories for parishioners and supporters of all sports in the parish.
“We also have a wonderful athletics history in Kilkee, where the St John’s club is based. Willie Keane has a fantastic record of 56 All-Ireland titles,” he said.
Ger Keane is delighted that the book has been completed on schedule and ahead of the Kilkee club’s 110th anniversary.
“Next year, Kilkee will celebrate 110 years, having been formed in 1900, and it’s great to have this history published in time to mark this special milestone in our club’s history.
“There are a lot of people who helped with this production and who gave of their times voluntarily and for this we are grateful.
“We are also thankful to LEADER for their financial support. This project cost €20,000 and we are hopeful that book sales will help us to meet the costs,” he said.
Was there ever a time during the three years that he felt that they might not complete the project?
“There was one occasion when we lost a lot of material that we had researched. Thankfully, we got back on track and hopefully all will agree that we now have a history that is accurate and detailed,” he responded.