This article is from page 65 of the 2011-07-19 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 65 JPG
THEY came from near and far. Dubai and Dublin to the east, Cavan to the north, Kilkenny to the south east, but above they came from the south west country of Tuscon in Arizona.
It’s where Pat Kirby is exiled, even if his mind never strays to far away from Tuamgraney and what it gave him. It’s no wonder, because he says “Tuamgraney and handball gave me so much”.
Irish titles, world titles, American, Canadian titles and much more – the reason why the great and the good of Irish handball came out to honour his achievements on Saturday evening as Tuamgraney Handball Club marked its centenary.
“I never thought ever in my lifetime that something like this would occur,” says Kirby. “When the Tulla Pipe Band was marching up from the church, I was shivering. ‘What am I going to say’. There’s no words to describe words like this.
“It’s 70 years since I first put a foot in that alley down there. All up through those years that I can recall there has always been a great tradition of keeping the club moving. On a Sunday morning when I was five, six and seven years of age, I go down to that court after mass.
“Four players would put six pence each in the corner – that was two bob and play for that two bob. The winners could go to a dance in Scariff or Killaloe that night – the losers were broke and could go no where.
“Anytime the ball would go over the wall we could go in and fetch it. We were like the little dogs. It was a wonderful apprenticeship. We watched them and then tried to emulate what they were doing in the evening when we got our chance to get on the court.”
It was Kirby’s success in the AllIreland junior singles in 1957 that ushered in a new era for Tuamgraney and Clare handball – an era that lasts to the present day as club continues to churn out All-Ireland and world champions.
“We have a very dynamic club here,” says Kirby. “Tuamgraney has always been a great club and the memories come back – you start thinking of all the old guys who have gone ahead of you. All the great brothers. Tuamgraney was infested by brothers when I was a kid. You had the Tuohy brothers, the Noonans, the Ryans. There were always five or six brothers in the families.
“When I started playing on the 60 x 30 court it had three walls. The two sides walls, the front wall and that was it. A line at the back designated the length of the court. I remember games in the ‘40s when the ball would bounce inside the endline and go back another 15 feet into the grass and the guys would be hitting from that distance. In 1952 they put the back wall in and made four walls out of it.
“Handball afforded me the oppor- tunity to play all over the world. I saw the whole world because of handball. I played in the Hawain Islands, Anchorage Alaska, Melbourne, Sydney, all of Canada from end to end, all of America from end to end.
“There were great characters along the way. Muhammad Ali. I had breakfast with him – all through handball. I sat on John Wayne’s knee – all through handball. I loved every bit of it. Made great friendships, great fraternities. It’s been great.”