Those in attendance at the Intermediate Hurling Championship on Saturday night would have noticed a welcome addition of a new digital display scoreboard attached to the Clubhouse.
The Club would like to thank Clean All Over (Sean and Geraldine O Connell) for their generous sponsorship of the scoreboard and their continued support.

DUBLIN MINOR LEINSTER FINAL

Best of luck to our very own Hannah Leahy and the Dublin Minor Girls team who take on Meath in the Leinster Final this Sunday, 29th April @3.45pm in Coralstown Kinnegad GAA club. #COYGIB

MEET ALAN CRONIN

How long have you been involved in Scoil Uí Chonaill?
25 years…my word I’m getting on. One of my earliest childhood memories is actually that first morning the nursery started in the Club

Do you have any nicknames? How do you like to be addressed?
Cronin was always the most common. Tommy Naughton first coined ‘Alser’ which a few people picked up but as I’ve aged it’s settled to a much more neutral ‘Al’. I’m very open to some reinvigorating new nicknames

Where do you hail from?
Born & bred in Clontarf but have a bit of ‘all over’ in me as spent much of my childhood between Clontarf and Finglas and going to secondary school in Whitehall. Currently Killester in the infamous Abbeyfield Manor.

How did you come to be involved in Scoil?
My dad Peter – a Cork man – was close friends with Mick Purcell when working in London. When he was moving back to Ireland Mick gave him the aul ‘fancy being a Scoilchie’ charm and recruited him for the Club. My parents settled in Clontarf and the rest is history.

Briefly describe your Scoil career as a player / mentor / contributor, if any.
Been lucky enough to be a hurler & footballer in an era which has seen us return to Senior League in both, and plan to see it through to Senior Championship in both. Have a done a bit of captaining, PROing & whatnot over the years.

What was the funniest thing that has happened to you in Scoil?
Too many to count. I’m that guy that draws attention to himself so embarrassment generally follows. I do however have very fond memories of a few of us – after a few sherries in The Stag Bar – thought it’d be a great idea to lift Eoin O’Carroll’s car at the time – a green VW Polo named ‘The Green Dragon’ – onto one of the carpark sleepers so that it was just balancing like a seesaw. I think that was actually the last of that car.

What would you say you are most known for within Scoil?
Easy. Talking (see answers length in this survey) & forever battling injury.

What has been your greatest Scoil moment / achievement?
I’ve had many. Strictly was great, beating Skerries (AFL2) when we were AFL5 in champo was the start of something special. I wept like a baby at the final whistle vs Na Fianna in the AFL3 final win. And the AHL3 final last year was indescribable. However there was a moment when my nephew Jake (now 8) stopped referring to the Club as some place he was taken on a Saturday morning for torturous sessions to train in the cold for reasons unbeknownst to him, to ‘the Club’ and ‘Scoil’ and began to say ‘we’. That made me incredibly proud.

If Scoil was a country, what would it be? Why?
Dave Condon already got there but I reckon it really is Ireland. He said: “Small, easy-going country, full with proud people and over achievers compared to countries twice it’s size”. We’re also a Club full of different nationalities, have a flat social structure, don’t quite own all of our own land (yet!) and admittedly have some questionable infrastructure (ahem, carpark surface!)

What is your profession / field of study / passion?
Sticky topic right now. I work in marketing & communications currently but foresee a change! I love to write.

What are your favourite hobbies outside of GAA?
I love to cook. Writing is a genuine hobby I would like to make more time for. I’m also learning to speak Spanish at the moment.

What is your favourite sporting moment / sportsperson?
I’ll get ruined for this but watching Munster win the ‘miracle match’ in Thomond Park against Gloucester in 2003 was incredible. It was at a time when I didn’t know or care much about rugby and watching your aul lad have a glint of a tear in his eye (sorry Pedro) watching a team win leaves an impression. I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of some epic Scoil comebacks and giant-slayer type matches through the years and always appreciate what it takes to muster up wins like that.

What is your favourite Scoil ‘quirk’?
There’s a closeness and sense of pride in the Club that is just something to be experienced. I think it can be summed up by the fact that we’re probably the only Club in Dublin without someone talking rubbish on Resevoir Dubs. We’re quietly confident with what we’re at and tend to keep things in-house. Bart, if you’re reading this – show yourself or pay your subs!

If you could make one addition to Scoil in any way, what would it be?
A pet peeve of mine has always been all the different colours and gear – I feel like we’re getting somewhere with that now. Now my big thing is the entrance / carpark. I envisage an entrance way with a lower front wall so passersby can see our beautiful grounds, an iron archway over the gate with a mighty stags head on top and ‘Welcome to Stag Park’ underneath, a mural of our history from 1828 to present day (and space for members to ‘write the next piece of history’) along the driveway wall and then immaculate tarmac carpark.

Oh and digital signage outside so we can have updated messages of what’s on. Just the basics, ya know 😉

OTHER NEWS

Take a read of this article written by Griffith College student, Josh Crosbie capturing the unique and special spirit of our club. The article is available to read here.
Scoil Walking Club will head to Howth for their next outing on Saturday 28th April meeting at Kilester Dart Station @1:30pm. All welcome.
Best wishes to all our members making their first Communion with Scoil Neassain on Saturday morning.
Scoil Summer Camps: Mon 16th – Fri 20th July: Cúl Camps (6-12yrs) & Tues 24th – Thurs 26th: Advanced Camp (12-16yrs). Save the Date!

TEAM NEWS

Well done to the Adult Hurlers, both first and second teams won their championship games at the weekend against Fingallians and St Brigids.
A great win for our Ladies first team against O’Dwyers in Balbriggan last Wednesday evening.
Well done to our Minor boys on their 2 goal win against local rivals, Clontarf.
A great win for our Under 16 Girls against Cuala.
Under 14 boys put on a strong performance for the Féile competition last Saturday. Great to see such a good support from the club!
The Under 13 boys would like to thank the 6 adult players who shared their experiences and gave them great advice on how to always keep on top of their game during a short meeting in the clubhouse last Thursday!
A super performance by our Under 10 Hurlers against Beann Eadair last Saturday morning.
Nursery continue to train in Scoil every Saturday morning from 9:30am – 11am. All newcomers welcome as always!

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Congratulations to the Nursery Players of the Week -Ben, Conall and Donagh.
Our Under 11s hanging around after their Camogie match in Scoil on Sunday morning.
Dublin Camogie Star Siobhan Kehoe paid a visit to the Scoil U10 & U9’s camogie teams last Wednesday evening.
Our U9 hurlers put in dazzling performances away to Beann Eadair on a glorious sunny morning.

LADIES DIVISION 3

v O’Dwyers 18/4/2018

When the two teams met in the semi final of last year’s championship the final score was O’Dwyers 8-19 Scoil 3-1. This time a great team performance from the Scoil players produced a well deserved victory.

A revamped half-back line of Molly Power, Hannah Leahy and Caelinn Ni Bhroin dominated the opposition’s much vaunted attack. Starting off quick counters led to the opening score, with Hannah breaking through the centre to give Scoil the lead. Both defences were very solid and hard to break down, which led to a half-time scoreline of O’Dwyers 0-5 Scoil 0-3.

The second half continued in the same vein. Then Susie O’Flynn, making her Scoil Adults debut, raced through the O’Dwyers defence to set up Naoise Ni Bhroin to break through to get the crucial score of the game, a well placed goal into the bottom corner. Scoil’s momentum quickly gathered as they pushed up on the next two kickouts to good return, with a point from each for Aoife and Sinead De Burca.

O’Dwyers laid siege to the Scoil goal, but tenacious tackling and great reads, in particular from Katie Doolin, kept them out. In the last play of the game, a short free kick reached an O’Dwyers forward 14 yards out. The shot was racing towards the top corner, but as she has done on so many occasions, Hannah Costello reached out to make a finger tip save and secure victory.
O’Dwyers 0-8 Scoil 1-7

Next up is a league game vs St Pats Wicklow in Clontarf Road on 25th April at 7.30pm.

#UpScoil

LADIES DIVISION 7

v Robert Emmets 18/4/2018

A home debut for the Scoil Ladies B team. Although the result went against Scoil, a great achievement for the club as the panel of 23 strong Scoil Ladies banded together in this early season game.

The game saw the much anticipated returns to the famous jerseys for Alva Cushen, Aideen Naughton, Aisling O’Leary, Maggie O’Donovan, Ellie Breen, Siun Glacken and Mary Egan, who have returned to the club for 2018. Debuts were handed out to Aoife Maguire and Aoife Murphy, playing their first competitive games for the club. The team was graciously aided by minors and U16s Sarah Keohane, Lili Kavanagh, Anna Williams, Aisling Abernthy, Katie O’Rourke, Caoilfhinn Pollock, Caoimhe De Buitlear, Caoimhe Mulligan and Eve Courtney. Finally added into this we had Scoil stalwarts Kate Egan, Ellen McGowan, Kate Walley, Emily McMullen and Melissa Courageot.

Still only getting to know each other, the team are excited for the season ahead with much more football in store. Despite the result, there were still smiles and laughter coming off the pitch, displaying the great social side to the team, always supporting and welcoming new faces!

#UpScoil

UNDER 16 GIRLS

v Cuala 22/4/2018

The sun shone at long last and 21 keen girls set out to Cuala on Sunday. The trouble was that only 9 of the opposition were there for the throw off although three did appear later. It was agreed that we would get the points and simply play a friendly. So six of our girls wore the Cuala jerseys and a very mobile game got under way. Aine got us off to a start with a point and after that it was points all the way with scores from Abby R, Ella , Catherine and Siofra M. The excellent Cuala goalkeeper, nearly as good as Isabelle, made lots of saves and was kept on her toes by wave after wave of Scoil attacks. It is heartening to see how our Feile girls have improved with their extra training. Sadhbh P got plenty of ball and Meadhbh and Amelia were very evident all the time. Sadhbh M showed her keen eye for the ball and Jody it appears can play anywhere. In fact all our girls were a pleasure to watch in their various positions, our backs defending valiantly. Our thanks had to go to the parents who gave lifts out to what seemed to have been perceived as foreign parts.

Scorers on the day were Aine, Abby R, Catherine, Ella Meadhbh O and Siofra M but Cuala must have been impressed by the Scoil girls who played for them. It’s great to see them playing their best even for the opposition. Sophia was excellent and Kellyann made some very direct passes. All in all a most enjoyable game ending Scoil 2.14. Cuala 1.5

#UpScoil

UNDER 10 BOYS FOOTBALL

v Na Gael Óga 21/4/2018

The Under 10 boys played a home game on Saturday against Na Gaeil Oga after a long lay off with the bad weather. Despite missing a few players the lads put in a great performance winning 4 goals to 2 goals. Playing against a strong wind in the first half they managed to score two goals to the oppositions one. In the second half playing with the wind the team were helped by Blaines long puck outs with Temi getting two goals. We are hoping that the season will get a bit more momentum as the weather improves.

#UpScoil

UNDER 9 BOYS HURLING

v Beann Eadair 21/4/2018

In glorious sunshine, our U9 hurlers put in dazzling performances away to Beann Eadair. The speed and length of our ground strikes has greatly improved in recent weeks which shows that the hard work in training is paying off. Every single player on all three teams was hungry for the ball and showed great determination and technique. Goalkeeper Fionn made a number of excellent saves and delivered long, accurate puc outs into space.

Sam made some super long clearances by keeping his head down and following through with his swing. It is clear that he has been practicing hard at home as he did a number of perfect jab lifts and also got up the pitch in the second half to score a wonderful goal. Fionan had a great game in defence getting to the ball before his opponent before making long accurate clearances into his forwards. Paddy had his best hurling match of the season and kept getting in close to his opponents to tackle and clash. Hugh O’D doubled on a moving ball three times to move the sliotar quickly into the forwards. He also scored a cracking goal which was a just reward for his hard work.

In the forwards, Cian kept showing for the ball, winning possession and stopping the opposition from clearing the ball. He also did a perfect hook which really pleased the coaches. Conor O’F kept getting close to his opponents to prevent them from lifting the ball. Caleb put in some great challenges and long clearances.

All-in-all, Saturday was a fantastic occasion which was greatly enjoyed by all our players and supporters. There will be many similar days ahead if we continue to practice our skills at home or in the park.

#UpScoil