The Clanna Gael Fontenoy Club prides itself on being more than just a sporting club, it’s an integral part of its surrounding community. None more so evident than in Alice Larkin’s recent receipt of a Sean Moore Community Award for her work with the under-age groups in the Club (read more about the awards on pages 20 and 21).
The doyenne of the cage at the club’s academy every Saturday morning, Alice attended the awards event little expecting to be a recipient. Instead, she clapped excitedly in acknowledgement of each of the recipients. Then Róisín Ingle began relating the profile of the next recipient. “Every Saturday morning,” she told the packed hall, “this lady and her whistle can be seen organising hundreds of kids at Clanna Gael Fontenoy.” The penny began to drop and when Róisín announced Alice’s name, the audience rose to their feet but she was left rooted to her chair. As she returned to her seat with her well-deserved award, she carried with her the heartfelt congratulations of all present as she does from all in the club.
Another Clanns stalwart, Conor Dodd, has also furthered the cause of community service. When a man out running with a group from Crusaders Athletic Club recently suffered a heart attack beside one of our playing pitches, the quick-thinking Conor went into action in deploying the club’s Automated External Defibrillator (AED). His skillful application of compressions and the AED pads succeeded in eventually stabilising the victim until the emergency services arrived and took him off to intensive care where he has since been making a full recovery.
While nothing as dramatic as this, events on the field of play have been particularly rewarding of late. Whether it’s been our under eights embarking on their first-ever competitive games, our under 13s acquitting themselves well following promotion to Division One, our minor footballers starting their season with a flourish, or our female footballers – Stacey Flood, Rebecca McDonnell, Niamh Shaw and Maria O’Dea – excelling with their respective Dublin teams, there’s been plenty to be positive about right around the Club. Our intermediate and junior footballers have got their league season off to a bright start, while the senior hurlers go in search of a second Leinster hurling league title in as many years.
Clanna Gael Fontenoy is generously sponsored by Dublin Port Company.
Above: Alice Larkin, doyenne of the cage at the club’s academy and a most deserving recipient of a Sean Moore Community Award.
Picture courtesy Felix O’Regan.
By Felix O’Regan
