Stiff competition in talent contests

CLARE Community Games held its county talent competitions last Sunday in the GAA hall in Sixmilebridge. The event was co-ordinated by Mary Phelan and Mary Lenihan. The judges on the day had a very difficult task, as the standard of competition was extremely high.

Quin/Clooney came out on top in six of the 10 events. They now have 25 children from the talent competitions qualified for the national finals in May.  
The judges were Bridget Kelly, Niamh Kelly, Ciara Griffin, Gráinne Egan and Mary Lenihan, with MC for the day, Sean Stack, the county youth officer. All gold medal winners will represent Clare in the national finals in Athlone in May.

Results
Group dance Irish/contemporary
1. Quin/Clooney: Aisling and Oisín McMahon, Eoin, Callum and Aidan Beirne; 2.Quin/Clooney: Mary Conneely, Aoife Guilfoyle, Amber Ryan, Cliodhna O’Keeffe; 3. Inch/Connolly/Kilmaley: Clare, Ruth and Olivia Neylon; 4. Inch/Connolly/Kilmaley: Megan White, Caoimhe Cahill, Caoimhe White, Jodie, Eilis and Emily Cahill.
Group singing
1. Ennis St John’s: Caoileann Kelly, Alanna O’Connor and Christina Njekwe; 2.Quin-Clooney: Lauren Wall and Sarah Rochford; 3. Sixmilebridge/Kilmurry: Amy Higgins and Jade Kelly; 4. Inch/Connolly/Kilmaley: Chloe Boon, Caoimhe Carmody, Erin Reeves, Aoife Keating, Ryan Kennedy and Jason Reeves.
Solo singing
1. Conor Coughlan, Quin/Clooney; 2. Sinéad Coughlan, Clarecastle/Ballyea; 3. Katie Greene, Killanena/Flagmount; 4. Blathnaid Landers,Tulla.
Group music
1. Quin/Clooney: Jennifer, and Alex O’Neill, Ellen and Colin Liddy, Ulick O’Sullivan, Donal O’Criodain; 2. Sixmilebridge/Kilmurry: Zoe Merriman, Perathickshah Arunagiri; 3. Clarecastle/Ballyea: Colin Mannion, James Costelloe, Donal McNamara, Niall Casey; 4. Killanena/Flagmount: Ella and Rachel McNamara.
Solo music
1. Sophie Barbotin, Quin/Clooney; 2. Diarmuid Donnellan, Cooraclare/Cree and Chloe Ryan, Clonlara; 3. Lorraine Kelly, Ballynacally/Lissycasey; 4. Áine Murphy, Tulla.
Solo recitation
1. Ella McNamara, Killanena/Flagmount; 2.Michael Fitzgerald, Sixmilebridge/Kilmurry; 3. David Hamilton, Sixmilebridge/Kilmurry; 4. Emma Duggan, Quin/Clooney.
Group Drama comedy sketch
1. Quin/Clooney: David Rochford, Darragh Ryan, Rachel McEvoy, Sophie Barbotin, Paul Hogan, Oisín Egan; 2. An Droichead: David Casey, Alan Finnin, Cathal Walsh, Katie Gleeson, Sadhbh Fennessy, Amy English; 3. Sixmilebridge/Kilmurry: Sam, Paul and David Hamilton.
Set dancing
1. Ballynacally/Lissycasey: Caolan Crowe, Evan O’Sullivan, Bernadette, James and Siobhán Kelly, Shane Griffin, Lisa Hill and Michelle Carigg; 2. Carrigaholt/Cross: Tomas Bonfil, Laura Dunphy, Aoife Hassett, Mark McQuaid, Cillian Hassett, Leah Daly, Clodagh O’Callaghan, Ruth Ferguson, Kieran McNamara, Eoin Daly; 3. Quin/Clooney: Conal Egan, Donagh O’Sullivan, Pierce Griffin, Cormac Egan, Seoda and Cadhla O’Keeffe, Muireann Griffin and Hannah Conneally; 4. Cooraclare-Cree: Aislinn Hehir, Aoibhin Browne, Alannah Mullins, Nicola Keating, Tomas Browne, Paidí Hehir, Diarmuid Donnellan, Colm Browne.
Solo dancing, modern/disco
1. Amy O’Connor, Sixmilebridge/Kilmurry; 2. Molly B Nolan, Tulla; 3. Julia Barnowska, Sixmilebridge/Kilmurry; 4. Mella Holohan,Quin/Clooney.
Group dancing, modern/disco
1. Quin/Clooney: Harry McCarthy, Shona Hale, Róisín Keogh, Amie Louise Doherty, Aoife Deane and Rachel McCarthy; 2.Clarecastle/Ballyea: Eimhear Hodgins, Lisa and Laura Hogan, Isabelle Neenan, Sophie Morrissey, Kelsey Farmer; 3. Sixmilebridge/Kilmurry: Adam Carmody, Amy O’Connor, Laura Barnowska, Doireann Kennedy, Sarah Barry and Brianna Kelly; 4. Broadford/Kilbane/Kilmore: Niamh Mulqueen, Laura O’Connell, Apryl O’Regan, Catherine Donnellan, Aoife O’Brien.
Choir
The U-13 choir competition was held last Friday, with just two teams taking part.  Shannon emerged as winners over Clarecastle/Ballyea and they will now go forward to represent Clare in the national finals in May.
The members of the winning group are: Ailbhe Fitzgerald, Leah Boyd, Sinéad and Asha Murray, Ciara Parry, Katelyn Treacy, Ciara Maxwell, Naomi Akhimein, Jennifer Keane, Aisling Curran, Ciara Butler, Damanpreet Kaur, Sarah Moore, Alimat Balogun, Sasha McGettrick, Claudia Akhimein, Holly Dunlea, Shaznay Mounsey, Charleen Makoni and Melanie Mullane.
The members of the Clarecastle/Ballyea choir are: Emma Cosgrove, Katie Holland, Sinead Cullinan, Liam Halpin, Noel Shannon, Róisín Spriggs, Doireann Kinsella, Erin Backes, Kirsty O’Hara, Leanne Considine, Shauna O’Keeffe, Sarah O’Rourke, Rachel Cassidy, Sarah McNamara, Jennifer and Veronica Hanrahan, Katie O’Shea, Sarah Considine, Muireann Long and Elise Mulcaire.

 

Munster finals

The Munster finals will be held this Saturday, with all competitions with the exception of handball taking place in the University of Limerick.
The following teams are taking part:
Broadford/Kilbane/Kilmore in badminton; Shannon in chess U-12 and U-16; Tulla in draughts U-12, 14 and 16; Derg in handball (boys’ U-13 and girls’ U-15), Tulla in girls’ U-13 and Quin/Clooney in boys’ U-15; Ennis St John’s in boys’ U-13 boys’ and girls’ U-15 soccer, Cratloe in girls’ U-13 soccer; Inch/Connolly/Kilmaley in table tennis boys’ U-13 and An Droichead in girls’ U-13 and boys’ U-16 table tennis.
In badminton, Clare will play Cork in the semi-final, with Kerry awaiting the winners in the final.
In chess U-12, Clare play Kerry in the semi-final and in chess U-16 Clare play Cork in the semi-final.
In draughts U-10, Clare play Kerry, in the draughts U-12 Clare play Tipperary and in draughts U-14 Clare play Limerick.
In table tennis U-13 boys, Clare play Tipperary while in girls’ U-13 table tennis Clare will face Limerick.
In the boys’ U-16 table tennis, Clare play Kerry.  All of the above will start at 11am in UL.
In handball, Clare will play Tipperary in boys’ U-13 at Liscarroll while they will play Kerry in the girls’ U-13 at the same venue.  Broadford in Limerick is the venue for Clare v Cork in the boys’ U-15 handball. Broadford is also the venue for the Munster final meeting of Clare and Limerick in the girls’ U-15 handball.
In boys’ U-13 soccer, Clare play Cork or Limerick at 11.45am, Clare play Kerry at 11.15am in girls’ U-13 soccer.  At 12.15pm, Clare play Limerick or Cork in boys’ U-15 soccer while they play Tipperary in the girls’ U-15 at 10.45am.

Doora-Barefield win Clare title

Last Thursday, the Clare Community Games U-11 rugby challenge was held in St Flannan’s, Ennis. Doora-Barefield played Broadford in the first game. Doora Barefield were losing in the first half by two tries to one but came back to win 6-4, in what was a great display of skill from both teams.
In the final, Doora-Barefield played Sixmilebridge and were trailing from the beginning but due to superb tackling from the Barefield players against a very strong Sixmilebridge team, Doora Barefield came out victorious with a 7-4 win. Doora-Barefield will now represent Clare in the Munster finals in Limerick.
Doora-Barefield team members are Nicky Hardiman, Cian Moloney, Patrick Kennedy, Cillian Brennan, Joey Keane, Sean Keane, Arron Kelly, Fionn Kelleher, Joseph Rafferty, Darragh O’Callaghan, Ethan Coughlan, Tony Butler and Cian Hayden. The team is coached by Patrick Brennan and Ken Butler.

Important dates

Friday, March 30: quiz at St Flannan’s College.
Sunday, April 1: tag rugby at St Flannan’s.
Tuesday, April 3: county meeting at the West County Hotel at 9pm.
Friday, May 25 – Sunday, May 27: national finals at Athlone.