WATCH: Mullingar Shamrocks celebrate re-opening of Clubhouse Bar
Mullingar Shamrocks members turned out in great numbers for the official re-opening of The Clubhouse Bar last night (Friday).
Included among the attending members was the Minister of State with responsibility for Local Government and Planning, Peter Burke TD.
The ribbon cutting was performed by ace impressionist and club member Conor Moore. Prior to Conor taking the stage, the members were briefly addressed by club chairman, David Nohilly who explained that the night was about much more than the opening of a bar. “It was about building the community dimension of the club and rebuilding club spirit,” he said.
David acknowledged the contribution of Eamonn McGowan to the reopening. Eamonn generously made his knowledge and expertise available to the club from the moment the decision was made to reopen the bar.
On the night, the various elements of the Shamrocks community were well represented including parents, adult players, LGF players and several members of the Gaelic for Mothers and Others who dropped in after completing their training session. County chairman, Frank Mescall also honoured the club with his attendance.
Conor Moore stepped on to the stage in Ger Loughnane mode before morphing into the President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins: “It’s a very special evening and I would like to commemorate the occasion with a poem I wrote during the week because I am quite the Bohemian.”
The poem covered the near 70 years of Shamrocks history as might be expected from the erudite Michael D. As a small man, the President paid special tribute to Shamrocks’ ace corner forward of the 1990s. Michael O’Reilly in the poem.
“Ormsby would field it and kick into Mickey,
And no team could handle the Mickey Reilly shimmy.
Respect, Mickey from one little Mickey to another!”
The president, it seems, likes his rhyming couplets: “The 90s you could say were our Golden Years, Five times we got to lift the Paddy Flanagan by the ears.”
Conor’s contribution ended with an impersonation of his favourite uncle, another Mullingar Shamrocks legend, Ned Moore.
Ross Corroon provided the entertainment for the remainder of the evening. Hurler and footballer, Ross is also a very talented guitarist and singer and in the opinion of some experts he could be the next Mullingar singer to hit the big time.