Tipperary sports club honours two members for decades of commitment and service

A sports club in Tipperary had honoured two of it's committee members for their decades of service and commitment to the club. 

Larkspur Park Development Committee Chairperson, Darren Ryan bestowed the first ever Honorary Life memberships in the Cashel based club to Catherine O’ Connor and Seamus King.

Darren thanked both Catherine and Seamus for their decades of services and commitment to the development of the Park and its community.

In her reply, Catherine thanked Darren for the nomination. Catherine held the position of Chairperson of the Tennis Club and Treasurer of the Development Committee. She spoke about joining Larkspur in 1970 when she first came to Cashel.

She spoke fondly of all the friendships and camaraderie that exist to this day as a result of being involved in the Park. There have been many significant improvements made to the Park over the years and it continues to be such a fantastic facility for the townspeople of Cashel.

Seamus King also expressed heartfelt thanks to the Chairman and the Larkspur committee for selecting him for the honour. It is something he will greatly treasure.

He had been associated with the Larkspur Park from the beginning in 1967, initially as a pitch and put player, and later on the committee.

The Park was a great development by the Cashel Lions Club, of which he is a member, and in the early days the main sport was pitch and putt. One of his vivid memories of the early days was the attempt to set up a record for the greatest number of holes of pitch and putt in a day.

The committee invited Guard Brown, a champion player from Mountrath, to achieve the record he started at 7 am and kept going until 7 pm, by which time he had played 666 holes. He wasn’t alone.

The local flag was flown by Joe Fahey and Michael Tatten, with Jim Devitt as a caddy and encourager, and they completed 576 holes.

It was a great occasion at a time when the game of pitch and putt was dominant in the park. Many of the men playing pitch and out then drifted away to golf.

Larkspur flourished in the meantime with tennis becoming the dominant game, but as a recreational area Larkspur is an outstanding facility to have in the town.

For Seamus, who was Chairperson of the Park for many years, it was great to have been associated with it for so long and it was an absolute privilege to be made an honorary member, together with another wonderful supporter of the place, Catherine O’Connor.

Larkspur Park congratulate Catherine and Seamus on their honorary life memberships and thank them again for their service to the Park.