Coachford News

Greenway a great success

The new Coachford Greenway walk along the northern banks of the river lee has been hailed as a great success by all those who took part in the first family walk on the 6km route last Sunday. Over 150 adults and children turned up to walk the new greenway and to raise funds to decorate the village in advance of the world Fishing Championships which are being held on the river later this month. The walkway was developed to create a new amenity for the area and to become a state of the art venue for the World Fishing Championships and for visiting fisherman to the area in the coming years. This beautiful flat walking route has stunning views of the River Lee, Farran Woods and Rooves Bridge. It was developed by the Inniscarra Lake Tourism development company with the assistance of the Avondhu Blackwater Partnership, the ESB, Cork County Council, Inland Fisheries Ireland, Tourism Ireland and the National Course Fishing Federation of Ireland. Chairman of the Inniscarra Lake Tourism development company, Matt Sheehan said “ We were delighted that this walk and venue for the championships has turned out so well, A lot of people have worked very hard to bring the project to this stage and we are very grateful to all of them. There were many times during the last three years that we doubted if this could be done but thankfully it has been and seeing the huge number of families using it today makes all the hard work worthwhile”.

Old Toothbrushes and Tumble Dryers wanted

The Coachford Tidy Towns will host a WEE recycling day in Coachford on this Saturday July 5th from 10.00am to 4.00pm. Bring along your unwanted electrical items and dispose of them properly and safely. The Recycling truck will be located at the Coachford Church Car Park for the day. Any household item with a plug or battery will be accepted from large items such as fridges, dishwashers and tumble dryers, to small household items such as remote controls, electric toothbrushes and everything in between. All waste batteries will be accepted free of charge, including AA and AAA batteries, torch batteries, watch batteries, car batteries and electric fence batteries. This is a great chance for you to finally clean out the garage or attic.

Coachford GAA Boys at Soccer World Cup

Two local lads working on different sides of the world decided to meet up in Brazil to attend some of the World Cup games. The two friends, John Hogan from Coachford who is working in Perth in Australia and Seanie Twomey from Aghabullogue who is working in Calgary in Canada have been attending a number of games, soaking up the atmosphere and blending in seamlessly with the Brazilians. The boys were spotted on TV at the USA versus Germany game proudly sporting their Aghabullogue GAA colours and wearing the Irish Tricolour. The boys now hope to make one of the quarter final games this weekend.

The building of the Dams

Video, Audio and aerial images will make up the eagerly awaited week long free exhibition on the flooding of the Lee Valley and the building of the two dams that formed the Lee Hydroelectic scheme. The exhibition takes place in Coachford from Monday July 14th to the 20th in the Community House, Main Street, Coachford. This is a fabulous opportunity for people to witness how this mammoth task of building the dams took place and the huge implications it had on the people and environment in the Lee Valley area.. The organisers have put in a lot of work into the event over the last six months and have secured never seen before images from the ESB and Cork County Council as well as rare film footage taken at the time.

Agrilympics are back

The organisers of the Coachford Autumn Festival are delighted to announce that the Agrilympics will be featured again at this years festival which runs from August 15th to 17th. This novel event was a huge success at last years festivals and saw teams of four, made up of male and female members push tractors, milk cows, and steer farmyard trolleys around an obstacle course. The Agrilympics are just one of the many novel and fun events planned for this yeas festival. Tim O’Riordan of Natural Gas will be playing live at the event and the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Massey 100 and Ford 1000 series is sure to attract a large number of tractors to the show on Sunday August 17th.

Family walking event
The Coachford Greenway walk at Nadrid is complete with the final surface dressing, fencing and entrance gates put in place over the last few days. This beautiful new river bank walk is a wonderful amenity for the area and takes people along the northern bank of the River Lee opposite Farran Woods..The 3km walk will be used as the main venue for the upcoming World Fishing Championships in July and was developed for this event.  On Sunday June 29th the Welcoming Committee for the World Fishing Championships will host the first walk along the new Greenway in advance of its official opening in July.
The Committee would like to invite everyone to come along and join them in this free walk and be among the first people to enjoy this superb new amenity. To help the fundraising efforts of the committee they are asking that those taking part in the walk on June 29th would, if they like to donate €5 per adult on the day . Everyone is welcome and Children should be accompanied by an adult. The walk begins at 11.30am

Aghabullogue to lay siege to Dripsey Defences

On the same weekend that the famous Dripsey Castle was put up for sale it also emerged that the hurlers from Aghabullogue and Dripsey were to face each other in the 2nd round of the Cork County Intermediate hurling championship after each of the teams lost their opening games. This will be the first time that both clubs will face each other in this competition and everyone is looking forward to it. The build up in the villages is growing and a friendly rivalry and ribbing is underway. To the victors an opportunity to re enter the county championship draw awaits and to the loser a relegation semi-final looms in the near future. This game is not a county final, there will be no cup presented to the winning captain in Cloughduv next Saturday night but bragging rights, until they meet again will be afforded to the team who end the game on top.

These two clubs have a contrasting history. The Coachford based club was founded in the early 1890s while the Dripsey club is one of the youngest in the country formed in 2005. Aghabullogue won their All Ireland title in 1890 and Dripsey captured theirs in 2009. The crest on the Dripsey jersey depicts Dripsey castle which is located in Aghabullogue Parish while the All Ireland trophy won by Aghabullogue in 1890 featured on Aghabullogue’s crest is on a mantle piece in a Dripsey home. Some of the heroes from the 1960 and 70s Aghabullogue hurling teams now live in Dripsey and their children are heavily involved in the club there. Some of the current Dripsey players live in Aghabullogue parish and have established strong roots there.

Both clubs have strong links with each other and while they may appear as great rivals on the field they are good friends off it. The Villages of Coachford, Aghabullogue and Dripsey are intertwined through relationships and marriage. Both Communities know each other well. Coachford and Dripsey men have crossed the Dripsey Bridge to find women and love in each others territory. Families in both places have relations in both hamlets. There have been many weddings between the two communities and these have strengthened the bonds between the two places.

Many of the boys playing on Saturday night will have gone to school in Coachford College with each other. They would have socialised together, played other sports together and some still do. Coachford AFC and the new Foróige club draw its players and members from both villages. Businesses in both communities benefit from the strong links between the villages. You are as likely to find a Coachford man in a Dripsey pub as you are to find a Dripsey person in a Coachford pub. The Communities that support the two hurling teams are close knit and support each other when they are not playing hurling. Both communities find themselves working together more and more as the communities continue to grow and intertwine to bring prosperity and community spirit to each place.

Healthy friendly rivalry is important in sport. If you don’t have it then games become less important and less interesting. Rivalry between neighbouring clubs and counties is very natural and welcome. There is no doubt that both teams will up their game and performance on Saturday because of this rivalry but the most important aspect of Saturday’s game is when it is over and the players on the pitch shake hands with their friends from the opposition that their supporters will do the same.

Enjoy the game.

The Coachford Greenway walk at Nadrid

The Coachford Greenway walk at Nadrid is almost complete and the final surface dressing, fencing and entrance gates will be completed by the end of this month. On Sunday June 29th the Welcoming Committee for the World Fishing Championships will host the first walk along the new Greenway in advance of its official opening in July.
The Committee would like to invite everyone to come along and join them in the walk and be among the first people to enjoy this new amenity. To help the fundraising efforts of the committee they are asking that those taking part in the walk on June 29th would donate €5 per adult on the day. Everyone is welcome and Children should be accompanied by an adult. The walk begins at 11.30am

Athletics Ireland approves Coachford Race.

The Athletics Association of Ireland has given full approval to the Coachford 5 Mile Road Race which takes place this year on August 15th at 7.30pm. This is the only AAI approved race in County Cork that weekend. One of the organisers of the race, Ciara Murphy said, “ We are delighted to have our event approved again this year by the Athletics Association. It shows the confidence that they have in the way we organise the event. We put a lot of time into making sure the route is properly measured, that the correct amount of stewards are in place and the timing mechanisms are approved ones. The runners take these events very seriously and so should the organisers. We have superb facilities in Coachford with changing rooms, warm up area and refreshments after the race. We are offering cash prizes for the winners again this year.” The road race is also open for walkers. Registration is from 6.00pm at the GAA grounds in Coachford.

Coachford looks to find the Voice of the Valley

The organisers of the Coachford Autumn Festival are looking to find the Voice of the Festival on Saturday August 16th. The event will feature local talent, sponsored by businesses in the Lee Valley and Coachford area singing their hearts out to see who will be crowned the ‘Voice of the Festival’ for 2014. Festival PRO, Kieran Doherty said “ We are all looking forward to this event. There are so many fine singers in the area and this event will showcase the very best of them. We are looking for local businesses and organisation to sponsor each singer or group of singers and to get behind them on the night. There are some rules and conditions so that the whole event can run smoothly. These can be found on our Facebook page Coachford Autumn Festival and from the festival secretary on 086 80 30 086.”

Exhibition on flooding of the Lee Valley

To tie in with the World Fishing Championships in July a week long free exhibition on the flooding of the Lee Valley will take place in Coachford from Monday July 14th to the 20th in the Community House, Main street, Coachford. Video, Audio and photography records will be on display as well as numerous documents outlining the run up to and the building of the two dams on the river and the flooding of the valley. This is a fabulous opportunity for people who live in the valley now to see how this development impacted on the lives of those who lived in the area at the time of the flooding of the Lee and how it has shaped our world of today. The organisers have put in a lot of work into the event over the last six months and have secured never seen before images from the ESB and Cork County Council as well as rare film footage taken at the time.

Coachford scores high marks in litter Challenge

The Coachford Tidy Towns Committee have received the results of the first round of the Cork County Council Litter Challenge and the results in 2014 are much improved on 2013 . Martha McCaffery, Chairperson of the Tidy Towns said, “the results are very encouraging and shows that we are making huge inroads in the problem of litter in the village. The TÚS workers have been a huge help to us and their commitment to the challenge over the last two years has been great. Last year our scores were in the mid 80s but this year already we have had a score of 98 on the first week. This is great news for all involved. Marks were lost again this year through the reckless discarding of the cigarette butts. We are all well aware that having such a vibrant and busy village was always going to be difficult to keep clean but we have been putting in a huge effort and are reaping the rewards except for the cigarettes. We could pick up over 150 butts on a Monday night and come back again on Tuesday and find the same amount again thrown on the streets. For every 10 cigarette butts we lose one mark.. I would ask that all smokers be more conscious of where they discard their cigarette butts and litter. We are at the same time very grateful for the huge amount of effort that the business community and volunteers are putting in to the challenge of keeping our village tidy.”

                                    Cork County Council

Local Elections

Blarney -Macroom Area — 43,000 people — six seats

On next Friday, May 23rd you’re being asked to vote for candidates seeking election to the new Cork County Council. There are 55 seats on the council and the area that Coachford is in, ‘Blarney-Macroom’ will have just six seats on this council. There are 12 candidates in our area, six from Macroom, four from Blarney, one from Ovens and one from Ballingeary.

Please take a few minutes to complete our short survey on this year’s elections at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JCKTF6N

it’s completely confidential and anonymous on your part.

Voting on Friday May 23rd will take place from 7.00am to 10.00pm. It is vital that you vote to ensure you are represented on a council that will have more extensive powers in the future and will have a bigger impact in your daily lives.

Lights Camera, Paint!

Coachford Foróige have entered the Dulux Paints ‘Lets Color Awards’ and are asking for the public to vote online for their project. The members have identified a wall in the village which could be used to portray all the tourist activities that are available to tourists and are anxious to paint a mural depicting these. As part of the entry they had to produce a video explaining their project. Club Chairperson, Amy Ryan said, “ We had great fun making the video but we also wanted to show just how many things happen here and how great it would be to paint images of these activities on this wall. We would love to win the prize of free paint from Dulux so that we could get this project completed in time for the World Fishing Championships.” To vote for the Coachford project log on to Facebook and the Dulux Lets Colour Awards page and look for the Coachford project. You can vote every day!

Let them eat cake

Coachford Foróige’s cake sale was a huge success with a large crowd coming to support the new club and to purchase some of the member’s beautiful baking. The members enjoyed getting the hall ready, pricing the cakes and selling the tea and Coffee. They are now looking forward to evaluating the event and seeing what worked and what could be improved on for next year’s event. “ Club PRO, Leah Buckley said “ It was a great success and we were thrilled with support and the hard work put in by all the members. our parents and our  club leaders. We are also very grateful to the support from Kathleen’s Shop who donated the tea, sugar and milk, and O’Donovan Engineering and Styles hairdressing Salon for the fantastic spot prizes.”

Coachford Cycling Club

The Noel Deasy Skoda Coachford Classic takes place on  Sunday May 25th on a 16k circuit and is open to the following categories; A2, A3, A4, Junior and Women. Sign on is in Coachford GAA Complex from 10 am on and racing starts at 11am.Anyone with any queries can email the club at coachfordcyclingclub@gmail.com or contact us on our Facebook  page or on Twitter @CoachfordCC. The club are delighted to have the backing of Noel Deasy, Skoda in helping to offset the costs of holding this race. Last years event was very well supported and the club are expecting  even more to turn up and enjoy the racing this year.

Coachford 5 mile road race.

The Coachford 5 mile  road race takes place again this year. The run was a huge success last year with over 200 runners and walkers taking part in the first ever road race. The organisers have named Friday August 15^th as the date and the route around Nadrid, Direen and Knockanowen is the same as last year’s very enjoyable event. The race will be the opening event of the 2014 Coachford Autumn Festival. The Festival will feature many of last year’s popular events such as Agrilympics, Egg throwing and the large Vintage show as well as many new events and sideshows.

Aghabullogue Advance

The intermediate footballers from Aghabullogue advance to the fourth round of the county championship following a two point victory over Glanmire in the first round at Pairc Ui Rinn last Saturday evening. The lads enjoyed a point margin at half time but had to battle hard in the final quarter after going three points down following some extensive pressure from the East Cork side. The lads now concentrate on the hurling championship where they will meet Meelin in the first round on June 1^st at 2.00pm.

Coachford AFC

The premier team suffered another 1- 0 defeat to Kilreen in the second leg in the Semi-final of the AOH cup on Saturday. The boys played well but just couldn’t break down a very disciplined City side in very windy conditions. Kilreen scored the winning goal on 88 minutes in what was a very tight game of football. The boys have this weekend off and will play their final few games in the league over the coming few weeks.

Schoolboys Soccer

The under 12s play Kanturk away on Saturday morning while the under 13s play Tramore away on the same afternoon. On Sunday the Under 14s entertain Rockmount in Carrigadrohid at 10.30am.

Foróige making Dough from Dough 

The Coachford Foróige club will hold their first fundraiser of the year when they host a Cake Sale and Coffee morning on Sunday morning at 10.30am (after mass) in Coachford GAA Hall. The Foróige members have been busy all week preparing for the event and are looking forward to receiving a lot of support from all in the area. The Coachford club caters for boys and girls from 12 to 18years from the Coachford, Dripsey, Carrigadrohid, Bealnamorrive, Donoughmore and Aghabullogue areas and has over 40 members. The ethos of Foróige is ‘Learning by doing’ and it is hoped that the members will learn a new set of skills while also raising some badly needed funds for the club through this event. The club recently did a Litter Pick up in the village and are busily planning their first Club outing at the end of the month.

Local Council seeks help from candidates
The Coachford members of the ACR Community Council are asking the people of the Coachford area to ensure that they get a commitment from the Local Election candidates for improvement to our infrastructure of sewage treatment, roads and footpaths in the area. However at a recent meeting, the most pressing issue raised for the area was the lack of an adequate sewage treatment plant. “our village is in dire need of more houses to sustain our schools and businesses but the lack of the promised treatment plant means that more houses cannot be built until this is put in place. The council promised this plant for the area years ago but nothing has been done since. If we do not get this plant we are fearful that our village and schools will suffer. We have a number of unfinished houses in the village and we need this plant in place to get them completed and sold and for new families to more into our community. The candidates for the Cork County Council seats must be pressed on this issue when they come looking for our votes over the next few weeks”.

First Holy Communion
The First Holy Communion ceremony takes place in Coachford this Saturday at 11.00am. 13 children form Coachford National School will receive the sacrament in a ceremony that they have been preparing for all year. Many of the other children in the school will also be present at the mass to support their schoolmates and to sing in the Childrens Choir.

Super Saturday for Sport
Coachford AFC take on Kilreen in the second leg of the AOH Cup Semi Final. The local boys were beaten at home by a single goal in the first game but they are hoping to overturn that result and reach the final of the most important Cup competition in Cork Soccer. The game takes place at 3.00pm in Murphy’s Farm. Supporters can then make the short trip to Pairc Ui Rinn for the first round of the Cork County Intermediate Football Championship when Aghabullogue take on Glanmire at 8.00pm. The lads have prepared well and while they go into the match as underdogs they will do their utmost to win the first round to launch their title bid and secure their intermediate status for 2015 at the same time. We wish both teams the very best of luck

Summer Soccer Camp for Coachford
The FAI and Killanardrish/Coachford AFC have announced the dates for their 2014 Soccer Camp in Coachford. The very popular camp takes place from July 14th to July 18th inclusive. A huge number of children attended last years camp which was held in glorious sunshine.
This year’s camps are again priced at €65 (€55 for additional siblings). They come with the same high standards of coaching and care delivered by Garda vetted FAI Qualified coaches as well as a brand new full kit, ball and back pack, all exclusive to the eFlow FAI Summer Soccer Schools!
The focus on each camp is for fun and development rather than competition and are open to boys and girls of all abilities from the ages of 6 to 14. The week-long (Monday-Friday 10.30am to 3pm) school is run by UEFA qualified coaches and delivered by Garda vetted FAI Qualified coaches in a safe and professional environment .More information is available at 1890 653 653 or on http://www.summersoccerschools.ie

Schoolboys Soccer fixtures
Killanardrish/Coachford under 12s travel to Castletreasure on Friday night to take on Corinthians in the League at 7.00pm and although they were well beaten last Saturday by the same opposition they hope that they will be much more competitive this time around. On Sunday the under 16s take on Bandon at home in Carrigadrohid at 10.30am while the Under 14s entertain Rockmount at 12.15pm at the same venue.

Coachford Boys add to success of Cork team

Congratulations to Coachford AFC players, Adam Murphy and Luke Casey who were members of the successful under 13 Cork Schoolboys League team who won the Munster title last weekend when they defeated Limerick Desmonds by two goals to nil in Waterford. Adam scored one of the Cork goals to make it an extra special day for the Coachford boys. Cork now travel to the All Ireland Semi Final where they will play the South Dublin Football League team on May 11th. We wish them the best of luck.

This weekend Coachford/Killanardrish Under 12 boys play Corinthians at home in Carrigadrohid at 10.30am on Saturday. The under 13s travel to Castletreasure to take on Corinthians in the league at 11.45 am also on Saturday. On Sunday the under 14s entertain their neighbours Lakewood in the league when they face up to them in Carrigadrohid at 1.15pm.

Canovee History

Canovee GAA are launching their book on the history of the club on this Thursday night at 8.00pm in the Castle Hotel Macroom. The book, ‘ Carrig to Croke Park’ is a great read and gives a fascinating account of the club from its humble beginnings in Carrigadrohid to its All Ireland Triumph in Croke Park in 2008. The book has a huge number of photographs and offers a unique insight to one of the great football clubs in the county. Jimmy Barry Murphy will help to launch the book and all past and present players, mentors, coaches, supporters and anyone who has had any association with the club is most welcome to come along.

Gamblers trapped by speedy Mice

The race mice gave gamblers the run around at the Mouse Racing night in O’Callaghan’s Bar last weekend. Eight races run over two hours provided a great night’s entertainment for all those in attendance and ensured a lot of money was raised for the Inniscarra Lake Tourism Development Limited project of installing a multi purpose amenity at Fergus and Nadrid , Coachford in time for the World Feeder Fishing Championships in July. The bookies were kept busy as gamblers of all ages backed each of the eight mice in the different races. Each race was sponsored by local businesses and each mouse was bought by supporters of the project. Speaking at the event, matt Sheehan, Chairman of the group said, “ We are delighted with the level of support from the business community along the Lee Valley for this project. The development is costing in the region of €400,000 and although we have received huge support from the local Development company, the ESB and Cork County Council we still have to raise some additional funding ourselves to complete the project. We have another few fundraising events planned for the coming months and we look forward to the continued support of everyone in the community.

Coachford play leaves audiences in stitches

The Coachford Players production of ‘Panic Stations’ was a great success and had the audience in stitches at this very well produced farce. The play was well supported over the three nights. The actors and production team pulled out all the stops to perform a superb comedy and although production had been delayed by six weeks all those who attended the play said it was well worth the wait. The new actors to the group were a great addition and we all look forward to seeing them threading the boards in Coachford again in the near future.

GAA club building for the future

Aghabullogue GAA Club are seeking the public’s help to improve their facilities in Coachford. The club wants locals to submit their ideas on how best the grounds and buildings could be better utilized or what additional facilities could be included at the club’s extensive property in the village. This is the first step in the club’s new 10 year development plan. Submissions can be made online at http://www.aghabulloguegaa.com or by filling out the forms in the shops in the parish. All submissions will be entered into a draw to win either a County Board Draw ticket (2014/15) or a €60 club gear voucher.

Footballers prepare for Championship

The Aghabullogue Intermediate Footballers enjoyed a good victory over Cloyne last weekend in the league as they prepare to take on Glanmire on May 10th at 8pm in Pairc Ui Rinn in the first round of this year’s championship. The lads, their trainers and supporters are hoping that they can go one step further than last year and secure the Intermediate title this year after just coming up short in the final last year against Grenagh.