Good Counsel GAA & Camogie club celebrated its 54th year in existence in 2008 and in doing so fielded thirteen juvenile teams and six adult teams. There are boys and girls playing hurling, football and camogie from nursery up to minor level. The club is represented at Junior Hurling, Senior A & B Camogie and at Intermediate Football level with Junior teams also in Football and Camogie. It also has an ongoing commitment to a comprehensive coaching programmes, with the focus firmly fixed on the future.
The Juvenile section is thankfully ever increasing with tireless work being done by GPO Peter Elliot and the many juvenile mentors both on and off the field in the local schools. Each Saturday morning the nursery attracts 30+ boys and girls and even from such an early age it's easy to see where the clubs next Paul Mulhere or Kevin Moran will come from. The Under 12 camogie team had a very successful year having begun very slowly; completing the league and championship double. The Under 16 hurling team had an exciting year having amalgamated with Kevins but had disappointing losses in the championship and in the A shield final.
This year Good Counsel was very well represented by teams in Feile competitions. In Camogie, after three wins and one loss in the group stages the team progressed to the semi finals where another win set up a final place against Naomh Mearnóg. Sadly for the girls it wasn't to be Counsel's day with a narrow loss but with so many of them playing next year the experience should hold to them. The team mentors were Stephen Hoary, Mary Flood, Deirdre Conway and Miriam Murphy and team captain was Shannon Fitzpatrick.
The hurling team trained all year long with the Feile in mind and got their just rewards with a faultless path to the final. The final itself was contested with a gutsy Na Fianna team which went all the way to the final whistle with Counsel deservedly winning in the last couple of minutes to wrap up a great year for all involved. Team mentors were Finbar Stoneham, Andy Molloy, Paddy McGrane and JB Dowling and team captain was Darren Roche.
The Under 13 camogie team traveled to Carlingford Lough for an end of season trip while the Under 16 hurlers travel to Switzerland skiing in early January.
The Senior A camogie team reached the semi final of the championship this year eventually losing to eventual Leinster champions Ballyboden. Some grueling early morning weekend sessions stood to them in the group stages but in the end the girls were unable to add another championship trophy.
In August of 2008 Good Counsel hosted a seven a side football tournament in memory of the late Tomás Mulligan who played for the club for many years at juvenile and adult level, and also proudly represented the Dubs on both NFL & Championship days. Tomás sadly passed away in August of 2007, and is still deeply missed by his family, friends, teammates and former mentors. Twelve Dublin senior teams played out the tournament with Ballymun Kickhams facing Thomas Davis in an exciting & competitive final. Tomás' father proudly presented the winner's trophy to Davis's manager Paul Curran that evening. Also on the day, an exhibition game took place between the Dublin Masters and a reservoirdubs.com team, which was enjoyed by all in attendance. The ReservoirDubs also had a specially designed jersey printed to mark the occasion, again with all the proceeds going to the charity. All proceeds from the day and night celebrations were donated to the very worthwhile charity Console.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone in Dublin GAA & ReservoirDubs.com for the support they gave to this tournament. So successful was the tournament, that the wheels have already been put in motion for 2009 and anyone looking for information or willing to help out should contact Thomas Byrne, Hugh Cullen or Paul O'Brien.
As usual, the clubhouse hosted many social nights throughout the year, with The Wolfe Tones played in the main hall to a big crowd during the summer and a night of fun and games was had by all at the Halloween fancy dress party, while the day at the Punchestown races was better to some than others! The annual Bernard Roche memorial golf tournament was won in Portugal this year by Ciarán Foley , while Castlewarden hosted the golf classic this year on what proved to be the sunniest day of a rainy summer.
