Athlete Courtney McGuire crowns very successful year with Tipperary Annerville award

24 stars have been chosen by the Tipperary United Sports Panel for this year’s Annerville awards, which are presented each year to the Tipperary amateur sports stars of the year.

The award winners, who hail from the length and breadth of the county, encompass a wide range of sporting disciplines.

They include showjumper Max Wachman, who was on the Irish team that captured the Aga Khan trophy for the first time in seven years in a thrilling jump-off with France at the Dublin Horse Show.

Clonmel athlete Courtney McGuire enjoyed a stunning success to be crowned Women's National Marathon champion when she was first Irish woman home in the Dublin City Marathon.

Loughmore/Castleiney’s Noel McGrath, one of the few shining lights in a disappointing year for Tipperary hurling, has also been honoured, along with Gaelic footballer Jack Kennedy, who was a key player for the Clonmel Commercials team that won the club’s third County Senior Football Championship in four years.

The Knocknagow Award, which each year is presented to a famous sportsperson of the past, has been awarded to John O’Donoghue, the goalkeeper on the Tipperary teams that won the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship in 1964 and 1965.

An accomplished golfer, he represented Ireland at international level, winning senior international caps in 2003 and 2004.

Having competed at the Olympic Games last year, Ballina swimmer Finn McGeever carried his good form into 2022 when the Irish senior record holder in the 400 metres freestyle was selected on the Irish team for the World Short Course Championships in Abu Dhabi.

Darts player Keanen Norris from Clonmel had a very successful year, captaining the Tipperary team to win the All-Ireland Youths Inter County Championship, as well as winning four of the year’s rankings, including the All-Ireland Singles title, the Irish Trophy Final, the Irish Grand Prix and the National Singles, as well as the Youths All-Ireland Indo Irish Classic.

Lorraine O’Shea has been a stalwart of the Mullinahone team that has shown a remarkable level of consistency by reaching two All-Ireland ladies football finals in the space of a year. Having reached the junior decider last February, they are now preparing for the intermediate final on December 10 against Longford Slashers.

Triathlon is a new sport in this year’s list and is the 43rd sport to be honoured by the United Sports Panel since the awards were first presented in 1959. The winner is Clonmel man Michael Scully, who was the first Irish finisher in the gruelling Ironman World Championship in Kailua Kona in Hawaii.

Cashel hockey player Caoimhe Perdue was co-captain of the Irish Under 21 team at the International Hockey Federation’s Junior World Cup in South Africa last April, and won her first Irish senior cap at the World Cup in Amsterdam in July.

Templemore boxer Shakira Donoghue was selected on the Irish team for the World Youth Championship in Spain, having won her sixth Irish title earlier this year.

Handballers James Prentice from Ballina and Jerome Cahill from Lahorna secured the All-Ireland 60 x 30 intermediate doubles title for only the fourth time in Tipperary’s history, as well as securing promotion to the senior ranks next year.

Special Achievement award winner Cillian Dunne from Kilbarron, near Terryglass, returned from the International World Amputee Sports Games in Portugal with three bronze medals won in all three of his track events - the 5,000 metres, 400 metres and 100 metres.

The selectors that guided the Tipperary minor hurling team to a dramatic All-Ireland final victory over Offaly will receive the Sports Executive Award, while the Lifetime Achievement award goes to Paddy Turner, the longest-serving committee member of Clonmel Town Football Club who has been involved with the club for the past 60 years.

Clonmel Leaving Cert student Beibhinn Butler produced the standout performances at the ICF Canoe Freestyle World Championships in Nottingham, becoming the first Irish athlete to reach both the canoeing and kayaking finals in a world series.

Carrick-on-Suir cyclist Patrick O’Loughlin topped the Cycling Ireland junior rankings for 2022, winning the Seamus Kennedy Memorial as well as the Cycling Ireland Junior National Road series.

Four in a row Tipperary senior camogie champions Drom/Inch went on to lift the Munster title, beating Scariff-Ogonnelloe in the final to exact revenge for their one-point defeat by the Clare team the previous year.  They are now preparing for the All-Ireland semi-final against Loughgiel Shamrocks on December 10.  

Ballykisteen’s Caitlin Shippam won the Munster Women and Girls Senior Open Championship at Tralee Golf Club in April, having starred on the Irish Girls’ team that beat Wales in an international match at Cardigan Golf Club, Wales, the previous month.

14-year-old Joe Franklin from Clonmel won the Munster and All-Ireland Under 16 pitch and putt championships, while defending Irish snooker champion Brendan O’Donoghue from Nenagh retained his title, with the fifth success for the number one seed setting a new modern-day record for the championship.

Clonmel soccer player Méabh Russell starred on the Ireland Under 19 team that beat England 1-0 in June, while the Wexford Youths defender also played twice against Portugal and Poland.  

Zach Murphy from Carrick-on-Suir won the Irish Under 18 national singles tennis championship and was also a finalist in doubles. 

Meanwhile, Joe Browne from Clogheen is the first Tipperary Motor Club member to win the Junior National Rally Championship. 

The awards, which are sponsored by Bulmers, will be presented at the United Sports Panel’s annual function at the Talbot Hotel Clonmel at 7.30pm on Saturday night, January 21.

Athletics - Courtney McGuire, Clonmel

Boxing - Shakira Donoghue, Templemore

Camogie - Drom/Inch club

Cycling - Patrick O’Loughlin, Carrick-on-Suir

Darts - Keanen Norris, Clonmel

Equestrian - Max Wachman, Cashel

Gaelic football - Jack Kennedy, Clonmel

Golf - Caitlin Shippam, Ballykisteen

Handball - James Prentice, Ballina and Jerome Cahill, Lahorna

Hockey - Caoimhe Perdue, Cashel

Hurling - Noel McGrath, Loughmore/Castleiney

Kayaking - Beibhinn Butler, Clonmel 

Ladies football - Lorraine O’Shea, Mullinahone

Motorsport - Joe Browne, Clogheen

Pitch and Putt - Joe Franklin, Clonmel

Snooker - Brendan O’Donoghue, Nenagh

Soccer - Méabh Russell, Clonmel

Special Achievement - Cillian Dunne, Kilbarron

Sean Lyons Sports Executive - Tipperary Minor Hurling selectors

Swimming - Finn McGeever, Ballina

Tennis - Zach Murphy, Carrick-on-Suir

Triathlon - Michael Scully, Clonmel

Jimmy Cooney Lifetime Achievement - Paddy Turner, Clonmel

Knocknagow - John O’Donoghue, Tipperary town