The new 1,200-seater stand at Hennessy Memorial Park, which has been home to St Joseph’s Miltown Malbay GAA club since 1924, will be officially opened on Sunday by GAA President Christy Cooney.
Since 1998, when tonnes of sand were transported from Doonbeg and poured into the redeveloped playing pitch, the playing surface in Miltown has been one of the best in the county.
The only problem was when it rained. Players could move about on the pristine surface but the supporters had to huddle underneath available umbrellas.
“I used to cringe when I’d come down here and see fellas under umbrellas,” John Reidy, the chairman of the stand development committee in Miltown, told The Clare Champion. 
“We decided we’d build a stand. Mind you, there was some opposition to it too within the club because they felt that the field would be used more by county teams,” he added.
Paddy Egan, club vice-chairman and director of Spanish Point Homes, who built the stand, says that everyone in the club were well aware that a stand was needed. 
“We were always let know about it from every club. Since the pitch was done in 1998 it was always known as a very, very good pitch but people would say ‘hopefully the day will be fine if there’s a game on in Miltown.’ But at least now we have excellent covered accommodation and the pitch is still in good shape,” he commented.
The stand has been completed and the seats are in the club colours. It also includes a press box with a perfect view of the field and a new public address system.
The redevelopment work didn’t end there though. Four dressing rooms have been built under the stand, from where the teams will emerge on Sunday for the first time. The club gym will also be enlarged in the old clubhouse.
Paddy Egan estimates that voluntary labour has saved the club tens of thousands of euro in costs.
“You would be talking in excess of €50,000 I’d say if every trade had to be paid for every little thing that had to be done. Plumbing alone is costing around €18,000 so that would tell you that €50,000 wouldn’t have covered the cost of the voluntary work,” he explained. 
John Reidy noted that the club has benefited from a number of grants but that the specific cost of the stand development is not yet fully known.
“We got the famous €25,000 grant from the county board and we have got money from the Munster Council but the overall cost at the moment, I couldn’t exactly tell you yet. I’d say since we started here in 1993 we’ve about €750,000 spent on this field,” he calculated.
The club also received €10,000 from the Salty Faces run last year.
St Joseph’s acquired the field 87 years ago when they leased it from the late President Hillery’s mother.
“They had no permanent residence at the time. They went around and found these two fields here on the Spanish Point road. Dr Paddy Hillery’s mother owned them. They leased the two fields for 150 years at £15 per year and rent couldn’t be raised,” John Reidy said. 
What was called the Miltown Malbay Athletic Grounds hosted its first inter-county game on June 14, 1925 when Clare beat Waterford in the Munster Junior Hurling Championship and defeated the same county in the Munster Senior Football Championship. That year the club won the fifth of it’s 12 senior championship titles, beating Kilrush in Miltown on September 6.
The ownership of the field changed hands in the 1950’s when the Hillery’s sold it to local butcher Tom Hynes but the club bought it outright from his son, Michael Hynes (RIP), in 1989.
The ground was named Hennessy Memorial Park, in memory of former Miltown and Clare footballer Patrick Hennessy, on May 20, 1951. Patrick Hennessy was shot dead in Miltown by British forces on April 20, 1920.
On Sunday, GAA President Christy Cooney will open the stand at 3pm, while the Clare senior footballers will play Sligo at 3.45pm. The ball will be thrown in by former Sligo footballer Mickey Kernis. The day will also feature a Clare ladies’ division 1 league game (Miltown v West Clare Gaels) at 12.30pm and an O’Gorman Cup fixture (Miltown v Doonbeg) at 1.45pm. Go Games and underage games will also take place on Sunday afternoon.
Long term, Paddy is hopeful that Miltown will host local and inter-county matches that will attract big crowds and leave business in the town.
“It certainly seems that the grounds are geographically positioned to finally become the secondary county grounds. Local support is key in any community and that’s why it will be very important to get good-quality games here, at least to give something back to the local businesses,” the club vice-chairman concluded.

Miltown certain of ground’s status

It’s an issue that hasn’t gone away since it was broached in July 2009. When will the Clare County Board reveal who has been accorded secondary county ground status in Clare?
In The Clare Champion of April 15, Miltown delegate Noel Walsh likened the lack of information on the matter to the third secret of Fatima. The club are convinced that they have been chosen. It’s just that the county board haven’t told them yet.
Chairman of the stand development committee John Reidy said, “We were told that we were getting secondary county grounds status. There’s somebody blocking it. What the story is, I don’t know. I asked Michael O’Neill (county board chairman) about it six months ago and he told me that he’d be announcing it within two weeks and he hasn’t.”
He insists that technically, Miltown and Tulla are the secondary county grounds in Clare.
“We have a bit of a bee in our bonnet about it. Miltown had secondary county grounds status here from 1924 going up to the late 1980s. The field deteriorated but they never took it off us. It was reported that Cooraclare and Doonbeg had it but when it was investigated in Croke Park afterwards, it was discovered that Miltown and Tulla are, to this day, still the secondary county grounds in this county, officially.”
Mr Reidy detailed the manner in which representatives from outside Clare came to Miltown to examine the club’s facilities.
“John Ryan from Tipperary and another guy from Kilkenny came here one day and apparently investigated about 12 or 14 venues in the county. I met them here. They did their report within three days and they nominated Miltown. In fact, the Munster Council rang me and congratulated me saying that we were after getting the secondary county grounds,” the former Munster Council delegate added.
He believes that secondary county grounds status would help business in the area.
“A lot of business people in Miltown have supported us and given us an awful lot of money. We feel that there is an onus on us to get county grounds status to pay them back and to thank them. I don’t think that all the revenue for Munster championship games should be concentrated on the big towns in each county,” he said.
On another note, Mr Reidy feels that the Clare v Cork Munster minor football championship game on May 18 should be played in Miltown and not in Cusack Park.
“Absolutely. This pitch is as big and as capable as any other. I certainly believe that Clare would have a better chance if they played Cork here. First of all they would get a bigger crowd here in the West. I think we should be concerned about our team and not worried about other people,” he concluded.