This article is from page 17 of the 2012-06-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 17 JPG
SIX Clare men made up the majority of the rifle team that brought glory to the 32nd Reserve Infantry Battalion at the Defence Forces All Army Shooting Competition.
Among the members of the winning team was Kilrush man Private John Kiely who currently holds two all army shooting records, not yet broken by his colleagues in the reserve army or even the professional defence forces.
After an absence of two years from the Defence Forces All Army Shooting competition, the rifle team representing Clare, Limerick and Kerry came close to securing a historic double gold win at Kilworth Military Ranges in Cork, having won the Southern Brigade qualifying competition several weeks before.
Despite a record team score and the second highest recorded in a competition, they missed out on gold by the narrowest of margins.
Two team members also won three individual prizes, one going to Corporal John Lillis from Barefield and two to Private Kiely. The Kilrush man was also crowned All Army Champion Marksman and received the coveted red marksman badge.
This competition marked another milestone in his shooting career having attained nine podium finishes from his last 11 starts which also includes two army scoring records, a run of consistence that is unheard of in living memory.
After the competition team captain, Lieutenant Mark Burke Kilrush was very optimistic about the future of the team.
The 32nd Reserve Infantry Battalion riffle team was made up of Lt Mark Burke, Sgt Robert Adrian, Pte John Kiely all from Kilrush; Cpl John Lillis, Barefield; Cpl Tommy Lineen, Kilmihill; Pte David Cosgrove, Ennis and Pte Kevin Garvey, Kilmallock.