LONG READ: GAA pitch in Tipperary is worthy tribute to Carrick Swan's Sean O'Shea

Above: Seán O’Shea, Carrick Swan (centre), accepts his Gradaim an Uachtaráin award from former GAA President Larry McCarthy at a ceremony in Croke Park. Included is Claire Liston, representing sponsors AIB. Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

It may have taken longer than he had hoped for, but Carrick Swan GAA Club stalwart Seán O’Shea finally achieved his lifetime ambition for the club nearly two years ago – its own grounds for the first time since the formation of the famed club in the 1920s.

The official opening of Páirc na nEalaí in April 2023 was a momentous day for the club, with the new pitch and clubhouse at Ballyrichard, on the outskirts of Carrick-on-Suir, not alone among the best in Tipperary but one of the finest in the country.

GAA President Larry McCarthy performed the official opening, when he described Páirc na nEalaí as “absolutely majestic,” paying glowing tribute to all those who had been involved in the project.

Foremost among those was Club Development Officer, Seán O’Shea, and last year the former GAA President honoured his sterling service with a Gradaim an Uachtaráin award at a ceremony in Croke Park.

The awards honour a cross section of people who have shared the common theme of making an inspirational impact on their code, club or community.

Mr McCarthy said they afforded the GAA the chance to recognise individuals who are responsible for extraordinary service to Gaelic games.

“In saluting these deserving recipients, we are mindful that they are ambassadors for the thousands of people who volunteer their time for the development of Gaelic games for the present and future generations,” he added.

The President certainly recognised the contribution of Seán O’Shea, the only Gradaim recipient from Munster, when he visited Páirc na nEalaí for the official opening.

During his playing days, Seán was a teak-tough left half back, who always wore the number seven jersey.

He won five senior divisional championships with Swan and was a member of the famous four-in-a row South Tipperary championship-winning team of 1983-1986.

When his playing days ended, he became immersed in off-field activities, with different roles on the club committee, including secretary and Field Development Officer. He was also Club Development Officer for ten years, culminating in the opening of the new grounds. But as Seán explains, it was a longer road than ten years to that historic opening.

His first involvement with Swan was through his father, John, who had been with the club since its inception and who was a former chairman. In the 1960s, Seán got more involved with the juveniles, and then the minors, but even then the fact that the club didn’t have its own grounds was a disappointment to him.

He travelled to games with his father and two of his father’s great friends, Swan legends Tom and Willie Wall, both All-Ireland medal winners with Tipperary – Willie in 1937 in the Killarney final, and Tom in 1945, both against Kilkenny.

“We’d have a conversation in the car that would always revert back to the same subject, where they played, where they trained, and it always nagged at me that we had no fixed abode.

“We had the Green in Carrick-on-Suir, but that’s a public area and the club didn’t own it.

“We shared Davin Park for numerous years with Carrick Davins, with the committees from both clubs doing their best to facilitate their own teams, but it was never a match made in heaven”.

Even though the Green is known as a public area, the Swan club have solely maintained it, and the original clubhouse was built there and is used by the club juveniles and members alike since the club’s foundation.

Then, when Seán was in his twenties he tried to start a debate on the club acquiring its own grounds.
He recalls – “I felt brave enough to raise the issue at various AGMs but unfortunately it always got the deaf ear.

“It never got anywhere during those difficult times, and through a lack of finance, to drive it on and take a chance. Carrick Swan should have had their own field forty years ago”.

Then the wheels were finally set in motion fourteen years ago when Seán became club secretary – he thought it would be for a short term but it ended up as fourteen years.

“I then had the capacity and the position in the club to influence the thinking on acquiring our own field. I went about it with the late Noel Russell and we looked at different locations, eventually settling on Ballyrichard, and we started the development,” he points out.

The land was bought through the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), set up following the banking crisis, and Seán describes some of the negotiations during the deal as “savage”. However, they eventually got it over the line, with the help of GAA grants and sports capital grants.

“We spent in the region of €1.5 million, with about €300,000 in grants. And our debt is very small, thanks to our club lotto, our 12 Days of Christmas draw and various fundraising efforts that we undertake,” Seán says.

And he has no doubt that it was worth all the effort, and all the time and toil that went into it.
“I wanted to leave a lasting legacy of what the Swan club should be all about, their own independent grounds, and that drove it all.

“Everything we did was top class, we used local businesses and contractors where we could, and we didn’t skimp on anything. It couldn’t have turned out better. I wanted to get it done, and it’s done now”.

In recent months the club added to the original pitch and clubhouse with a new astro-turf pitch and a floodlit ball wall, as it continues to grow its amenities.

The club has also submitted a planning application for a 260-seater stand, which it hopes to commence later this year.

Seán hopes that all the developments will help to secure the club’s future, but knows that you are never guaranteed success.

But one immediate benefit is the provision of the ball wall, with mentors and coaches reporting a significant improvement in the touch of players.

All Seán’s work towards the opening of Páirc na nEalaí was not for awards, but for the benefit of the club he has devoted much of his life to. Yet he was hugely honoured to be chosen by the President for the Gradaim award.

“I was shocked and wasn’t expecting anything like this. It was a great honour and we had a wonderful night in Croke Park.

“It was a proud night for the Swan club,” he recalls.

Carrick Swan is a club with tremendous community support in the town.

Quite remarkably, a town of its size can support three thriving GAA clubs – Swan, its close neighbours Carrick Davins, and St Molleran’s, who play in the Waterford championship.

“With three GAA clubs in such proximity, it’s certainly unique,” remarks Seán.

The words from Uachtaráin Larry McCarthy at the awards night sum up that sentiment.

He said - “The GAA is powered by the selfless dedication of people who commit to serving something bigger than themselves. It is an effort which has enabled the association to flourish for 140 years.

“The presence of so many GAA clubs throughout Ireland and the world is a testament to the work done by ordinary people, who through their involvement in the GAA make an extraordinary positive impact on their communities and our members”.

And as Seán O’Shea’s citation added – “Seán’s drive and vision has helped create facilities for the club that will cater for the kids and adults of Carrick-on-Suir for decades to come”.

A worthy legacy indeed and well worth waiting for in the end.

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