Cashel King Cormacs GAA
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| Cashel King Cormacs | |||||||||||||||||
| Caiseal Rí Cormaic | |||||||||||||||||
| County: | Tipperary | ||||||||||||||||
| Nickname: | The Kings | ||||||||||||||||
| Club colours: | Red and Green | ||||||||||||||||
| Grounds: | Leahy Park | ||||||||||||||||
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Cashel King Cormacs GAA club is located in the town of Cashel, County Tipperary in Ireland. Cashel King cormacs play their games in Leahy Park, on the Clonmel Road in Cashel.
Extensive work has been carried out in the last few years, with the addition of a new clubhouse and main stand the highlight. Notable games have been held here in the last few years and it has become the annual venue for both the County Senior Club Football Final and the Munster Colleges Senior Hurling Dr. Harty Cup Final
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[edit] Honours
Hurling Munster Club Senior Hurling: 1 (1991) Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship: 1 (1991) West Tipperary Senior Hurling: 18 (1995) County U21 Hurling: 1 (1991)
Football West Senior Football: 1 (1992) County U21 Football: 1 (1990) West Intermediate Football: 1 (2006) beatin county finalists: (1990)
[edit] History
West Tipperary Hurling team of the Millennium (1930-2000)
Cashel King Cormacs had no fewer than 4 representatives on the West Tipperary Hurling team of the Millennium. On the night they were honoured at a special function, the MC Seamus J. King introduced them as follows:-
Right cornerback: Jim Devitt, Cashel King Cormacs Jim Devitt’s anticipation on the field of play was one of the most striking aspects of his remarkable hurling ability. Another quality many people admired was his fluent stickmanship. He could pull on a ball on either side and never miss. He perfected this skill in a ball-alley and he achieved such a level of perfection that he was always dead sure of connecting. Jim was a small man. At the height of his hurling career he scaled 9-8 to 9-10. One day the car taking him to Galway stopped in Killinan to pick up John Maher. Mrs. Maher invited them in for tea and when she was introduced to Jim she exclaimed: ‘Oh God! You’re not going to play this child!’ But his size never worried Jim because his speed, anticipation and hurling skills proved adequate compensations. Born in 1921 he came to public notice in 1943 when he was spotted with Cashel against Éire Óg, the eventual county champions. In the same year he won the All-Army final with the 7th Brigade of the Southern Command. He came on the county team for the Four County League in 1944 and was picked for the championship the following May. Within ten months he had won an All-Ireland and a Railway Cup. He was to win two more Railway Cup medals in 1948 and 1949, and a second All-Ireland in the latter year. He won two west medals in 1945 and 1948. Ill health brought a premature end to a fine hurling career. Writing about the 1945 All-Ireland in the 1972 edition of The Clash of the Ash, the late Raymond Smith had this to say: ‘I have always thought that if Devitt had come in a later era he would have been more widely acclaimed for his defensive qualities. But he was a delight to watch and if you looked for class in the corner or at wing back he had it certainly.’
Right halfback: Pa Fitzell, Cashel King Cormacs
Pa began to show his hurling skills in the early seventies. He was equally good at football and was on the Cashel county minor double team of 1974. He was captain of the hurling team that won again in 1975. The following year he played on the under-21 team, which was beaten, in a county final replay by Kilruane. He graduated to senior ranks in 1975 and was to play for nineteen seasons until his retirement in 1993. Six west titles were won and one county. He played county minor for three years without success and was also three years on the county under-21 side. The lone success in the latter grade was in 1978 when he captained the team to a great victory over Cork in the Munster final but lost to Galway in a replayed All-Ireland. He was brought on the county senior panel in 1976 and remained on it until 1988. He was unfortunate to have departed before the All-Ireland was won. As it was he won two leagues, one Munster final and one Railway Cup. During his long service to club and county he maintained a high level of fitness. Virtually all his play was in the halfback line, either at centre or on the wing. He did start in the corner on one occasion and also played at centre field.
Left halfback: Colm Bonnar, Cashel King Cormacs
Colm Bonnar’s hurling record includes All-Ireland honours in four grades, senior, junior, under-21 and minor. When one adds National League medals, Railway Cup medals, an Oireachtas medal, a Fitzgibbon Cup and two All-Ireland Colleges B medals the record is even more impressive. On top of that he won an All-Star in 1988, partnering George O’Connor at midfield. He played senior hurling for the county for twelve seasons. As well as giving dedicated service to the county he was for years the backbone of the Cashel King Cormac’s team. He made his debut with the senior team in 1981 and, including a stint with Dunhill, continued playing until 2000. During that period he won six Crosco Cups and five west championships. The highlight of his club career was winning the county final in 1991, after losing one to Holycross the previous year. Colm has an impressive list of honours to his credit but even more impressive is the complete commitment he has given to club and county over a quarter of a century. This made him the most valuable member of any team. He never gave less than his all and his superb physical fitness ensured that most always he gave more than most. His solo runs and tackling were phenomenal. He was a player so full of courage that he never stood back from anything. On the other hand he was always a fair player and never had his name taken by a referee. His sense of position on the field of play was superb and his anticipation was uncanny.
Full-forward: Cormac Bonnar, Cashel King Cormacs
Cormac Bonnar’s talent was first recognised in the mid seventies, when he won five west and three county minor medals with Cashel in hurling and football. He continued playing both codes at university level, being part of the Fitzgibbon and Sigerson sides at U.C.D., winning two hurling medals. He won medals in hurling and football at under-21 level as well. He made his debut with the Cashel seniors in 1976 and between then and 1993, when he retired he won six west medals. The highlight of these years was the county title in 1991. He was drafted into the county panel in 1988 after making the decision to retire from hurling. The rest is history. Three Munster and two All-Ireland titles were won as well as two All-Stars. The full-forward line he filled with English and Fox was the most impressive in the modern game. Nicknamed the ‘gentle giant’ and the ‘Viking’ there couldn’t be such contrasting opinions of the same player. Cormac had a long and successful hurling history. During that period his level of fitness and his general athleticism were outstanding. His commitment to the team was always one hundred percent. His versatility on the field of play is reflected in the wide variety of positions he played in. During his greatest period, the five years he played at full forward on the county senior team, he was a key man in the team’s success. He was a target man for the rest of the forward line. He showed the need for big men in any forward line to make space for those less well endowed and to distribute the ball. Cormac did these things excellently well and other forwards lived and flourished off him. He was above all a great team player.
