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FOOTPRINTS ON
THE SANDS OF TIME
Lives of great men all remind us,
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labour and to wait.
H.W. Longfellow
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FOOTPRINTS ON THE SANDS OF TIME
“FOOTPRINTS ON THE SANDS OF TIME”
A celebration of thirty years of No Name Club
1978 – 2008
www.nonameclub.ie
Foreword:
No more than Fr. Tom or Eddie, I had no notion back
in 1978 when we started a No Name Club, that 30
years on, not alone would the Club still be active,
but that there would now be a national dimension
to it.
Our idea at the time was not about seeing dimly
what might be in the future, but all about doing
something positive and practical with a problem
clearly at hand. And it was obvious to us very early
on, that once we considered there was a difficulty
concerning young people and alcohol abuse, what
better resource would there be to help deal with
that problem than young people themselves.
Everything that happened since in the Organisation
has convinced me that that consideration was
absolutely correct and 30 years on I salute in a special way, the 1500 or so young people who over
those years were hosts and hostesses at my own club
in Kilkenny, and who gave life, vitality and energy to
everything that went on.
It has been my great pleasure also in the intervening years to have met, engaged with and admired
many fine people throughout the Organisation and
throughout the land.
Extraordinary committed adults have given, and
continue to give, their time, talents and energies at
No Name Club with generosity, kindness and effect.
Successive generations of young people have
played their part as informed leaders in their clubs
and communities and have also worked throughout
with dignity, meaning and impact. It is nice now to
realise that these Hosts and Hostesses range in age
from 16 to 46 with many having moved on in life to
now contribute handsomely in society. It is my
earnest wish that if all of these bring only some of
what they’ve experienced at No Name Club to bear
on those they meet, and in life generally, neither
they nor No Name Club will have failed.
Eamonn Doyle – Founder member of No Name Club
Eamonn Doyle.
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MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR
I
The Editor
– Tommy Hannon
n September 2008 No Name Club was thirty years old. During those thirty years many, many adults in this country involved themselves in its
growth and development as a national youth organisation. Through
that involvement those same adults played a significant role in the
growth and development of hundreds of thousands of young people
throughout Ireland.
The young people who became Hosts and Hostesses in No Name Clubs
down through the years were remarkable young people.
They enriched their own lives and the lives of their peers through their
interest, enthusiasm and energy and through their willingness to do their
very best to make really worthwhile contributions to the communities in
which they lived and to Irish Society as a whole. Most of them have gone
on to make their mark in the world with the kind of empathy and understanding that was nurtured during their time in No Name Club.
Millions of hours were devoted to enhancing the quality of life of community after community throughout this little island of ours. Ireland is a
better place today because of what those young people have done and
because of the help and guidance they got from the wonderful volunteers who worked hand in hand with them down through the years.
Many of the adults who
involved themselves in the
work of their No Name Club
during all those years would
be surprised to hear that
they did anything so remarkable. They gave their time,
their expertise, their caring
so that young people could
have opportunities to enjoy
the days of their youth happily and safely. It is possible
that many of those adults saw nothing remarkable in that.
They did the work and gave their time in a selfless way, not thinking of
any reward and not feeling that their work was in any way remarkable.
But it was remarkable and it was significant and it did make an invaluable
contribution to the quality of life of many young people in Ireland. If you
doubt this read the contributions made to this magazine by various young
people who were hosts or hostesses at various times.
This publication is intended to celebrate those young people and adults
who have done so much. IT IS NOT MEANT AS A HISTORY OF NO
NAME CLUB. It is hoped that the contents of the magazine will give a
flavour of the magnificence of the work that has taken place over the
past thirty years. In places the good humour with which the work was
undertaken will shine through. In other places it will be noticed how seriously the organisation worked to provide the very best service it could.
When you read through it you will notice the very significant achievements of so many people. You could not think about all that has been
done without strong feelings of gratitude to all those who gave so much
to make so many wonderful things happen. Eamonn Doyle, Eddie Keher
and Fr. Tom Murphy have every right to be proud of the organisation they
founded thirty years ago. They have a right too, to be thankful and
appreciative of all those others who built on the foundations so well laid
by them.
They have a right to be pleased with
the fruit of their thoughtfulness, their
mindfulness, their caring, their foresight and their determination to provide us with the opportunities to do
the work of God. We thank Eddie,
Eamonn and Fr. Tom and we salute
you, each and every one of you, who
have involved yourselves in the good
work of No Name Club down through
the years. You have, indeed, left your
footprints on the sands of our time.
Lives of great men all remind us,
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again
May God bless each of you.
NOTE; Our records are incomplete and we do not have the names or photographs of all the finalists in our National Youth Awards. If anyone can help us to complete the lists or can make photographs available to us we would be delighted. The information we have available
to us is included in this publication..
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The Development of National Youth Awards
5
The 2008 Youth Award Finalists and the Awards Compere, Ruth Scott, Siobhán Ryan, Thurles, Jamie Staunton, Cobh, Marie Kinsella, Kilkenny, Mark Rossiter, Ring of Hook
and Michael Noonan, Gort. Rochelle McIntyre, Tuam, Ruth Scott, Compere, and Andrew Finn, Claremorris. This is the 25th group of finalists in the history of No Name
Club
T
he idea that the magnificent contributions made by Hosts and Hostesses in all
No Name Clubs throughout the country
deserved to be honoured in some significant
way had been discussed for some time at
various levels within No Name Club.
Thus, The National Youth Awards were
conceived and came into being in 1984,
when following nationwide heats, the first
such honours were awarded at a Gala Event
in Thurles. The criteria by which the winners
were judged reflected all that’s best about a
young person whose philosophy in life centres more on what he/she can do for themselves and society rather that what society
owes or can do for them.
From the very beginning excellence has
been an outstanding hallmark of all those
who have participated in the awards. Those
who have been awarded the titles of
Host/Hostess of The Year have been wonder-
ful ambassadors for No Name Club and are
more than worthy to be included in the Roll
of Honour.
The first winners were Joyce Fitzgerald
from the Dundalk No Name Club and John
Tuohy from the Castlebar No Name Club.
“
From the very beginning excellence has
been an outstanding hallmark of all those
who have participated in the awards
The Joyce Fitzgerald Memorial Award
“
in a road traffic accident, made more
poignant as it was a so called ‘hit and
run’ incident.
This naturally was a devastating
blow to all who loved and knew her
and to the entire No Name Club family
also.
It was decided, as a mark of respect,
that the Award for Host/Hostess of the
Year be now presented in her memory
and would include a further Education
Grant. The Award is known as The
Joyce Fitzgerald Memorial Award.
J
oyce Fitzgerald was a
Hostess in the Dundalk No
Name Club who epitomised all that’s best in a
young person. She had
talent and ability, a lively
charming personality, a care
and concern for others and a
deep generosity of spirit. She
won the award at a function
hosted by Thurles No Name
Club. Her performance in
Thurles endeared her to all.
Joyce finished her Leaving
Certificate shortly afterwards in
1984 and went on to UCD in
September. A bright future lay
ahead. But God’s ways are
often strange and later that
year, Joyce was tragically killed
The 25th Hostess of the Year,
Rochelle McIntyre from Tuam No
Name Club holder of the title in
the 30th year of No Name Club
25th Host of The Year, Andrew Finn
from Claremorris, holder of the title in
30th year of No Name Club
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ROLL OF HONOUR
THE AWARD WINNERS
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becoming a Secondary School
Teacher of Irish and History. Her
great passion is dance and she is
very involved in dance both at
College and in Dungarvan No Name
Club
2008 Rochelle McIntyre is the
current Hostess of the Year and is a
member of Tuam No Name Club.
She is a student of Presentation
Convent Tuam where she is in the
Leaving Cert Class. Rochelle is
interested in the French Language
which is not all that unusual but
she is also taking Japanese for her
Leaving Cert and that puts her into
a minority category straight away.
She is also the proud owner of the
“Fáine Óir” because of her proficiency in spoken Irish. She is very
interested in Biology and would
like to do something in that line
when she finishes in College
2007 Laura O’Sullivan is from
the Celbridge No Name Club and is
a student at St. Wolstan’s
Community School where she is in
the senior cycle. She is an excellent
Irish Dancer and has taken part in
the World Championships. She was
selected as Hostess of The Year on
her 16th birthday in 2007. She
hopes to become a Primary School
Teacher
2006 Richie Ryan is from the
Kilkenny No Name Club and was
Host of The Year in 2005. He is a
past pupil of St. Kieran’s College,
Kilkenny. He is a fluent Spanish
speaker and has a great interest in
maths. He is interested in football
and hurling. All his life he has been
working with animals on his
father’s farm. At present he is a
Veterinary Student in University
College Dublin. He was a judge in
the Regional Awards in 2008.
2007 Paddy Burke is a member
of Claremorris No Name Club and a
past pupil of St. Coleman’s College,
Claremorris. He is intensely interested in Gaelic football and has 5
under age South Mayo titles to his
credit. He is a gifted singer and
comedian and has taken part in
several of the Claremorris No Name
Club variety shows. He is a student
in Letterkenny IT where he is
studying Sports Management.
2005 Sean Jones is from the
Shannonside No Name Club and is a
Theology Student in the National
University of Maynooth. He has a
big interest in Politics and greyhounds. Sean acted as a judge in
the Regional finals of 2006 and
2007
2008 Andrew Finn, Host of the
Year 2008, is from the Claremorris
No Name Club and when he was
selected at the Youth Awards in
Castlebar in March 2008 his parents Andrew and Pamela and his
Grandparents, Stephen and Rita
Walsh, were there to support him.
He is a Leaving Cert student in St.
Coleman’s College, Claremorris.
2006 Jenny Murphy from the
Dungarvan Club was Hostess of the
Year in 2006. She is a student at
University College Cork where she
is studying Arts with a view to
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ROLL OF HONOUR
7
has acted as compere in the
Regional finals in 2006 and was a
member of the National Judges
panel in 2008.
2005 Sinead Curley is from the
Mountbellew No Name Club. She is
a student in NUIG where she is
studying Geography, Politics and
Sociology and hopes to become a
teacher. Sinéad acted as compere at
the Regional Finals of 2006 and
2007 and also acted as a judge in
the Regional finals of 2007
2003 Lisa Hickey from Nenagh
was Hostess of the Year 2003. She is
a student in UCC where she got a
BA in Economics and Sociology. She
is now studying for her Masters in
Health Economics in Cork and is
writing a thesis on the health and
economic implications for social
exclusion of the elderly. Don’t be
surprised to see her return to UCC
as a Lecturer in the near future. Lisa
has worked very effectively for No
Name Club in the Cork area during
her time as a student there.
where she makes regular valuable
contributions. She worked part-time
as a Development Officer with No
Name Club in the South Wicklow,
Wexford and Waterford areas. In
recent times she has been responsible, with others, for organising
National Youth Conferences for No
Name Club Hosts and Hostesses. She
was a judge at the Regional Awards
in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
2004 Maria Walsh is from the
Headford/Caherlistrane No Name
Club. She is studying Journalism in
Griffith College, Dublin. Maria is the
National P.R.O. of No Name Club
and Chairperson of her club in
Headford. Maria is a member of the
Board of Directors of No Name
Club. She acted as a judge in the
Regional finals of 2006, 2007 and
2008.
2002 Peter Fay from the Naas No
2003 Diarmuid O’Connor was
Host of the Year 2003 and was a
host in the Lucan No Name Club
when he won the National Award.
While at Secondary School in
Coláiste Phádraig he represented
Ireland at Basketball and Table
Tennis. At present he is in UCD
studying Electronic Engineering and
still has a great interest in hurling –
that’s the Clare breeding. His father,
Pat, is a Clareman don’t you know!!.
Name Club was Host of the Year in
2002. Peter completed his Leaving
Cert at Naas CBS and has recently
qualified as a General Nurse at Our
Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda,
where he is now employed and
embarking on his new career. He
still commutes between Naas and
Drogheda and finds it difficult to
work out which is now his abode.
He has managed to remain loyal to
his musical career and continues to
be deeply involved in Naas Musical
Society.. Peter has acted as
Adjudicator at recent National
Youth Awards. He continues his
interest in Drama and sport
2002 Lisa Ann Roche from New
2004 Cian McCormack is from
the Raheen No Name Club in
Limerick City. He is studying journalism at the moment and spent
some years engaged in the catering
industry in Ireland and in Spain. He
Ross was Hostess of the Year in
2002 and at the time was a hostess
in the New Ross Club. Since then
she has qualified as a Speech
Therapist and now works with the
HSE Midland Region and is based in
Athlone. She has continued her
association with No Name Club in a
variety of roles. She is one of the
Youth Representatives on the
National Management Committee
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2001 Caitriona Whelan was
Hostess of the Year 2001 and was a
member of the Portlaoise No Name
Club at the time. After completing
her Leaving Cert in 2002 she went
on to do a degree in Business
Studies in Dublin City University
specialising in Marketing. She graduated from DCU in 2006 with First
Class Honours. Caitriona then decided to follow a dream of hers and
enrolled in a Fashion Design Course
and that's what she is currently
studying. In May of this year she
hopes to graduate and receive a
Diploma in Fashion Design.
Caitriona is not quite sure yet what
her plans are after that, but she
hopes to pursue a career in fashion
and wants, eventually, to open her
own boutique, selling her own
designs. Although she has been in
Dublin for the past six years, and
likes it there, she says it’s nice to
get home to Portlaoise every now
and again. There’s no place like
home, Caitriona!!
2001 Shane Fahy was a member
of Tuam No Name Club when he
won the 2001 award. In 1997 he
won the All Ireland Bodhrán
Championship and in 1996 was
sixth in the World Figure Dancing
Championships. From an early age
he was part of several traditional
music bands in the Galway area. All
the members of his family are musicians.
2000 Kate Donnachie Was a
hostess in Cobh No Name Club. For
several years Kate wrote articles for
“Kate’s Music Corner” in our magazine “No Name Club News”. Kate did
her Leaving cert in 2001 and afterwards went to CIT where she studied Medical Laboratory Science for
3 years. She then went to UCC
where she got an honours degree in
Biomedical Science. She went to
work in Waterford Regional Hospital
where she works as a Medical
Scientist in the Microbiology
Department. As well as working full
time Kate is now studying for her
Masters in Biomedical Science. She
lives with her partner, Graham who
is a former No Name Club member,
in a village just outside Dungarvan.
Great to hear from you, Kate.
2000 James Barry was a member
of Baltinglass No Name Club when
he won the National Award. He has
an intense interest in all sports
including hill walking, camping,
canoeing, sailing, rugby and Gaelic
football. In 2001 he did a Fás course
in Outdoor Education followed by a
PLC Course in Sports and Recreation
in 2002. He did a Degree in Health
Fitness and Leisure Studies in Tralee.
He was Welfare Officer for the
Students Union in IT Tralee in 2006
and 2007 and is President of the
Students Union in 2008 – a full
time position. He returned to do an
Honours Degree in Physical
Education in September 2008.
James really appreciates all
Baltinglass No Name Club did for
him as a person when he was a
member there.
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1999 Paula Higgins was a hostess
in Mountbellew when she won the
National Award in 1999 and led the
No Name Club into the new
Millennium. When Paula completed
her Secondary Education she went
to Limerick University where she
studied Law and Accounting for
four years. She worked with AIB
Business Bank in Galway for two
years. She then returned to College
to complete a Masters in Music
Therapy. She runs a programme for
parent and child bonding through
music in Ballyfermot. She lives in
Limerick where she is leading a very
busy life indeed. Paula’s work for No
Name Club during her year as
National Award Winner was outstanding.
1999 Brian Dooley Was a host in
Lucan No Name Club when he won
the 1999 Award. A native of
Palmerstown he represented his club
at both Basketball and Table tennis
in the All Irelands. He plays the
piano, keyboard and guitar.
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ROLL OF HONOUR
1998 Aine Geraghty was a host-
ess in the Kilkenny No Name Club
when she won the National Award
in 1998 and at the time she wanted
to be a nurse. Well, she is a nurse!
Aine fulfilled her life ambition
when she qualified as a paediatric
nurse and she now works in the
Children’s University Hospital,
Temple Street, Dublin. A letter from
Aine appears elsewhere in this publication.
1998 Alan Malone was a member
of New Ross No Name Club when
he won the Award. On completion
of his Leaving Certificate, he wasn’t
very fond of the idea of going
straight to college so he decided to
do a National Vocational Certificate
Level 2 course in Business administration. That course lasted a year
and he passed with merit. He then
went to WIT for a year. On completion of his first year he still wasn’t
convinced that College was right
for him and he knew he had to
make a major decision. He decided
to leave College. He took up a position in “Sales”. He enjoyed it but he
really wanted to do a trade.
Bricklaying and stone masonry were
in his family’s blood for generations
and he always had an itch to work
outdoors and the rest as they say is
history. Alan is “going out” with Liz
who is a Quality Control Analyst in
Waterford. We may hear more
about this soon!!!
1997 Aimie Harris was a member
of Lucan No Name Club when she
won the National Award. She had
the distinction of having the
President of Ireland, Mrs. Mary
Robinson, present her with the
Award in Jury’s Hotel in Dublin.
Aimie played lead roles in School
musicals and had great interest in
music, swimming, cycling, drama,
hockey and dancing..
1997 Fintan Costelloe was a
member of Baltinglass No Name
Club when the President of Ireland,
Mrs. Mary Robinson, presented him
with the National Award. Fintan cut
a real dash in his kilt on the occasion. At the time he was very interested in outdoor pursuits including
kayaking, Mountain climbing, orienteering, and scuba diving..
1996 Richeal Burns was a mem-
ber of Ballyshannon No Name Club
when she won the National Award.
At the time she had a great interest
in singing, dancing and drama.
9
1996 Derek Monaghan from
Cabra No Name Club was the
youngest ever host of the Year
when he won the National Award.
As a result of winning he hosted a
local radio show on 9-7-11fm. It
was called THE NO NAME show.
Kevin Kerrigan, another Cabra host,
produced the show. It ran for
almost a year and was very popular
in the Cabra area. This gave him a
feel for radio and he continued
with this line of work. He started to
DJ at partys and when he finished
school in 1998, having completed
his Leaving Cert in “Brunner” he
went on to college where he studied Radio/TV/Film productions. He
really loved doing this and was
learning something new everyday
and making new friends. During his
time in College he went to USA
twice on the J1 visa programme,
living in New York and New Jersey.
This was one of the best times of
his life (up to that point). The
friends he made there are still
friends today. Derek still lives in
Cabra where he lives with his partner, Elayne, and their two children,
Adam and Zara
1995 Nathalie Carty was a host-
ess in the Portumna No Name Club
when she won the National Award.
When she finished Secondary School
she went to NUIG where she studied
Medicine. She is now a Doctor
attached to Portlaoise Hospital in
Co. Laois. Nathalie is an accomplished musician and plays the
piano, piano accordion, button
accordion, flute and tin whistle and
is interested in both traditional and
classical music.
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In 1995 Gavin’s dad, unfortunately
died. As a result Gavin was dissatisfied with his Leaving Cert results
and repeated the exam in 1996. He
got the course of his choice and
went to Northern Ireland to study
Hotel Management. On graduation
he went straight into a management role. He took a year out in
Australia then returned and took up
employment in the Hotel Industry.
In March 2007 Gavin opened his
own business called Belvoir
Letting Agents and now lives in
Portadown where his business is
thriving.
1995 Gavin Molloy was a mem-
ber of Lucan No Name Club when
he won the Award in 1995 and was
a student at Lucan Community
College. He was unusual in that he
was Captain of his class in school
for each year he was a student
there and was student of the year
in 1993. He represented Leinster in
the Irish Red Cross Cadet Section
finals and was 3rd in 1991, 4th in
1992 and 2nd in 1993.
1993 Brenda
O’Beirne was a
hostess in the
Finglas No
Name Club.
After she finished her
Secondary
Education Brenda went on to Dublin
City University where she studied
Telecommunication Engineering.
After graduation she joined the
Ericsson firm as Technical Trainer
and traveled the world in this
capacity with the firm for two years.
She spent some time in Australia
and then returned to Ireland where
she worked in Education and IT.
Brenda is now back with Ericsson as
an Integration Engineer and lives
happily with her partner, Thomas,
and their dog, Daisy.
Conor O’Hanlon and his wife Shirley
1993 Conor O’Hanlon from The
Rosses No Name Club in County
Donegal was the second in that
“Three in a Row”. He was presented
with his Award by Twink on a night
when Gareth O’Callaghan of RTE
was the compere at the National
Youth Awards. He went on to qualify as a Civil Engineer and now lives
in Manchester in England with his
wife Shirley who is a professional
Photographer
1992 Jacqui Sutton was a hostess
in Finglas No Name Club when she
won the National Award. Jaqui still
lives in Finglas where she is married.
She was an excellent student during
her second level education and got
an excellent Leaving Certificate. At
third level she studied Computer
Science and continues to work in
that field.
Milestones
1994 Margaret Murphy lived on
a farm and was a member of
Tullow No Name Club when she
was selected as Hostess of the Year.
Her mother died when Margaret
was 14 years of age and she and
her father now look after the farm.
When she had finished her Leaving
cert Margaret went to
Warrenstown Agricultural College
where she did a course in
Agriculture. She later did a Business
Studies Course and now works with
FBD Insurance Company in Carlow
where she makes sure that all the
local farmers are properly insured.
1978
1978 – The first No Name Club opens in the
Newpark Hotel in Kilkenny
Milestone
Founders of No Name Club Eamonn Doyle, Fr. Tom Murphy and Eddie Keher
1982
Eamonn Doyle is Awarded National
People of The Year Award
1994 Gavin Boyle from The
Rosses No Name Club completed
that Three in a Row when he
became the 1994 Host of The Year.
This prestigious award was given for
Eamonn’s outstanding community work
which included his work with No Name Club
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11
an Engineer. After qualifying, one
of his first projects was on the then
New Women's Prison in Mountjoy.
Another notable achievement was
on the wonderful Doonbeg Golf
Links when employed by Contractor
John Paul and Co. He is married to
the former Clara Mangan from
Ennis and they now live in Ennis
with three daughters. In recent
years he has involved himself in
charitable work and has completed
many cycling marathons for these
causes.
1989 Joan Coffey was a hostess
Damien Brennan with Aonghus McNally and Pat “The Cope” Gallagher, T.D.
1992 Damien Brennan – Damien
was a host in The Rosses No Name
Club in County Donegal. He was the
first of a “Three in a Row” success
for The Rosses No Name Club in the
No Name Club National Youth
Awards and was an excellent
ambassador for the Organisation.
He is now an IT Consultant for BT.
He married Joanne who is a teacher
and in August 2007 they were
blessed with the arrival of a lovely
little Daughter, Ciara. They live in
Silverbridge, Newry, County Down
1991 Denise
Duffy was a
hostess in the
Letterkenny No
Name Club
when she won
the National
Award in 1991.
After doing her
Leaving
Certificate she went to St. Patrick’s
Training College in Drumcondra and
qualified as a National School
Teacher. Denise married Brian
Higgins in 1999 and now teaches in
Lurgybrack National School near
Letterkenny
1991 Adrian
Cummins was
a host in the
Portumna no
Name Club
when he won
the Award. He
was the fourth
member of the
club to win a National Award.
Adrian has over 12 years experience
in the tourism and marketing sector, having previously worked as
Sales and Marketing Manager for
the Shannon Oaks Hotel & Country
Club and as Business and Marketing
Consultant.
He has also acted as special media
advisor to Minister of State, Noel
Treacy. He works as a Chief
Executive Officer and a Political
Lobbyist. for the International
Education Sector. A graduate of
NUIG, GMIT, and the Institute of
Languages and Business, Galway,
Adrian has represented Ireland in
the US through the Tourism Policy
Makers Programme under the Good
Friday Agreement.
1Adrian was appointed in 2004 by
the Irish Hotel and Catering
Institute as its new Chief Executive.
He works in Dublin but returns
home to Portumna every weekend.
in the Wexford No Name Club.
When she finished her secondary
education Joan completed a
Secretarial Course. She went to
London where she studied Technical
Theatre in the London Academy of
Music and Dramatic Art. She gained
her Diploma in Stage Management
and Sound Production. She subsequently worked in many West End
Theatres on various productions
and now is attached to the
Bloomsbury Theatre Company
which is allied to London
University. She has enjoyed her
own significant musical career,
plays guitar and has released a
number of CDs. Joan is single and
lives in Finsbury Park.
1989 Declan Kenny was a host in
the Ballinasloe No Name Club.
Declan was very interested in writing poetry and in Drama and works
as a Systems Analyst in the
Computer Industry.
1988 Maureen O’Hara was a
hostess in the Portumna No Name
Club when she won the Award.
When she finished her secondary
education she went to college and
got her B.Sc. Degree in 1993 and
her M.Sc. in 1996. She specialized
in microbiology and now works as a
Senior Scientist in the Mid-Western
Regional Hospital in Limerick. She
married Eamonn McGuinness, an
Engineer who works for a global
manufacturing company in
Shannon and they have 3 children,
Stephen, Kate and Aileen
1990 Marie Grenham
was a member of
Ballinasloe No Name
Club. She went into the
hotel business and
worked in the
Shelbourne Hotel in
Dublin for many years.
1990 Lorcan Hoyne
was a member of
Kilkenny No Name Club.
When he finished his
secondary education he
went to College in UCD
Maureen O’Hara and her husband, Eamon McGuinness
where he qualified as
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ROLL OF HONOUR
THE AWARD WINNERS
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1983
1988 Don Sheedy despite our
1985 Paul O’Donnell is the
best efforts we have been unable to
trace Don who was a member of
Roscrea No Name Club at the time
he won the National Award.
“other half” of the pair that won
the Awards from the Letterkenny
No Name Club on the only occasion
on which both winners were from
the same club in the same year.
What is even more coincidental is
that both winners were named
O’Donnell. They are not related to
one another. Paul attended Queens
University in Belfast and qualified
as an Accountant and lives in
Dungannon.
1986 Jacqueline Tedford was a
1987 Niamh Martin was a hostess in the Donegal No Name Club
when she won the National Youth
Award in 1987. At the time she was
student in Abbey Vocational School.
She went to College and is now a
Secondary School Teacher in
Carndonagh Secondary School
where she teaches English. She
married Paul Mulhern who is a
Bank Official and they live in
Letterkenny where Niamh continues
her interest in Drama and Theatre
and has already produced two
musicals.
hostess in Kilkenny No Name Club
when she won the award. She says,
“After my time in the No Name
ended and I did my leaving certificate I went to Dublin and trained as
a nurse. I can’t say whether winning
the youth award or being part of
the club influenced the direction I
took after I finished school but during my teenage years it was a major
part of my life and I will always
have many happy memories of
those days”.
1986 Liam Conroy was a host in
the Portumna no Name Club and
was the first of five people from
that club to win the National Youth
Award.
1987 Eamon Dervan was a host
in Portumna No Name Club when
he won the National Award. He
trained as an electrician after
school and then worked as an electrician for 8 years. In 1995 he
joined a Wholesale electrical company and worked with them for
eleven years before setting up his
own electrical wholesale company
in 2006. The company is based in
Galway City and employs 30 people.
While Eamon was a host in the No
Name Club he met Anna who was a
hostess at the time in the same
club. They went out together for
the next 8 years and married in
1993. Twenty three years later Anna
is working in the Bank of Ireland
and they have 2 children – Alison
and Gavin. Eamon is big into cars
and motor sport and races cars as a
passtime
1985 Mairéad O’Donnell was
Hostess of the Year in 1985 and
Paul O’Donnell from the same club
won the Host of The Year Award in
the same year. This is the only
occasion on which both winners
were from the same club. Mairéad
went to the University of Ulster,
Jordanstown and qualified as an
Occupational therapist and now
lives and works in Belfast.
1983 First Cabaret National Finals
Three clubs contested the final which was won by the Country
Club Hotel No Name Club from Blackpool in Cork. The other
finalists were Kilkenny and Cavan. The Adjudicators on the
occasion were famous Model, Grace O’Shaughnessy, Director of
the Cork Examiner George Crosbie and Barry Daish of the “John
Player Tops”. Alf Murray of RTE was the compere.
1984 John Tuohy was the very
first winner of the Host of The Year
title. He was a member of the
Castlebar No Name Club and at the
time the award brought him a fair
share of publicity. John qualified as
an Electrical Engineer and now
works with the ESB and lives in
Sligo.
1984 Joyce Fitzgerald had the
distinction of being the first ever
winner of the National Award. With
deep regret we have to report that
Joyce was killed in a hit and run
traffic accident while a student in
UCD. An educational grant in her
name is now presented to each
winner of the National Youth
Award. Former President of No
Name Club, Joe Mullane, has written a piece about Joyce elsewhere
in this publication.
1983
1983 First time people other than
Kilkenny on National Executive.
Slowly but surely between 1978 and 1983 No Name Club
expanded the number of its clubs and had now become a
national organisation. Up to 1983 the members of the Adult
Committee of the Kilkenny Club looked after the expansion
and the setting up and servicing of new clubs. In 1983 a
National Executive Committee was set up with members from
other clubs in addition to the Kilkenny club. The new National
Executive Committee was Eamonn Doyle, Fr. Tom Murphy,
Eddie Keher, Joan Murray all from Kilkenny with Cathal
O’Gara, Wexford, Fr. Pat Mullan, Buncrana, Wesley Anderson
and Gene Murphy, Cavan, Joe Mullane, Cork, Fr. John
Naughton, Ballinasloe and Michael Grainger from Thurles
Milestone
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CABARET ROLL OF HONOUR
2007 Tuam NNC, Co. Galway winners (Held in the University
Concert Hall, Limerick on Sunday May 27th)
Runners Up Dungarvan Co. Waterford. Other finalists:
Shannonside, Co. Kerry; Claremorris, Co. Mayo;
Headford/Caherlistrane , Co. Galway; Westport, Co. Mayo;
2006 Dungarvan NNC, Co. Waterford winners (Held in the
University Concert Hall, Limerick on Saturday May 13th)
Runners Up Tuam, Co. Galway; Other finalists: Kilbride, Co.
Roscommon; Thurles, Co. Tipperary; Celbridge, Co. Kildare;
Claremorris, Co. Mayo; Headford, Co. Galway
2005 Tuam NNC, Co. Galway winners (Held in Limerick's
Millennium Theatre) Runners Up: Dungarvan (Co. Waterford) .
Finalists: Mountbellew (Co. Galway) & Trim (Co. Meath)
2004 Trim NNC, Co. Meath winners (Held in Silver Springs Hotel,
Cork)
other finalists: Tuam (Co. Galway); Mountbellew (Co. Galway)
& New Ross (Co. Wexford)
2003 Lucan NNC, Co. Dublin winners. (Held in Galway)
2001 Mountbellew NNC, Co. Galway winners. (Held in Tullow,
Co. Carlow)
Finalists: Leixlip, Borrisokane & Midleton
13
2000 Tuam NNC, Co. Galway winners. (Held in Portumna, Co.
Galway).
Finalists: Tullow, Midleton & Mountbellew.
1999 Mountbellew NNC, Co. Galway winners
Finalists Maynooth/Kilcock (Co. Kildare) & Kilkenny NNC.
1998 Baltinglass NNC, Co. Wicklow winners
Finalists: Finglas (Co. Dublin) & Mountbellew (Co. Galway)
1997 Cobh NNC, Co. Cork winners
Finalists: Finglas (Co. Dublin); Maynooth/Kilcock (Co. Kildare)
& Carrickmacross (Co. Monaghan)
1996 Saggart/Rathcoole NNC, Co. Dublin winners
Finalists: Kilcullen (Co. Kildare); Tullow (Co. Carlow) & Finglas
(Co. Dublin)
1995 Kilcullen NNC, Co. Kildare winners
Finalists Cobh (Co. Cork); Navan (Co. Meath) &
Saggart/Rathcoole (Co. Dublin)
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
Saggart/Rathcoole NNC, Co. Dublin won 3 in a row.
Saggart/Rathcoole NNC, Co. Dublin.
Saggart/Rathcoole NNC, Co. Dublin
No Cabaret competition held this year.
Letterkenny NNC, Co. Donegal winners (Held in Kilkenny)
Saggart/Rathcoole won the cabaret Award in 1992, 1993 and 1994.
Cobh Cabaret Winners 1997.
Tuam won the Cabaret Award in 2000.
Mountbellew Cabaret winners 1999.
Dungarvan won the Cabaret Award in 2006.
Trim won the Cabaret Award in 2004
** 1983 Blackpool Youth Club, Cork winners (Held in Jury's Hotel, Cork)
Finalists: Kilkenny NNC, Cavan NNC. This was a one off event as the National Cabaret Awards proper did not appear until 1990.
** In 1983 the format of the Cabaret competition was completely different to the present format. In those days each club held a competition involving groups from the local area. The winners then went forward to represent the No Name Club at which they won the local competition. Blackpool Youth Club, representing Cork’s Country Club No Name Club won the award. This is further explained under “Origins
and early days of Cabaret” elsewhere in this publication.
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SOME OF THE NATIONAL FINALISTS
IN THE NO NAME
CLUB YOUTH AWARDS
Judges who have been involved in the Regional and National Finals
down through the years are unanimous in their belief that any one
of the finalists from the earliest years to the present day would
have made worthy representatives of No Name Club as National
Winners. There is so little dividing the winners from the other finalists that we feel they should all be honoured. We honour them in
this publication. Unfortunately we do not have photographs of the
finalists prior to 1993 but we include all of them in our appreciation and we honour all of them
1993 Host of the Year 1993 was Conor O’Hanlon from the Rosses in Co. Donegal
and he is seen here on the extreme right at the back. Hostess of the Year was
Brenda O’Beirne from Finglas and she is on the extreme left in the front row with
the other finalists.
1994 The finalists in 1994 were; - Gavin Boyle, Josephine McDonald, Glenn
Malone, Thelma Hannigan, Stephen Mullen, Sinead Bonner, Richard McCarthy and
Margaret Murphy. Gavin and Margaret were the Winners.
1995 The finalist in 1995 included Nicola Mullen, Drogheda, Michael Burke,
Finglas, Cathal Moran, Gort, Collette Darcy, New Ross, Ellen O’Carroll,
Blanchardstown, Conor Newman, Maynooth and winners Nathalie Carty, Portumna
and Gavin Molloy, Lucan
1996 Host of the Year 1996 was Derek Monaghan, Cabra seen here with Gary
Mahon, Ballyshannon, Damien Malone, Tullow & Ml. Jones, Cobh. Hostess of the
Year was Richeal Burns, Ballyshannon, with Sheelagh Brady, Maynooth, Laura
Hawkins, Ballyfermot & Joan Lynch, Portumna. Then President Michael Browne is
seated with them
1998 In back row are;- David Meehan, Tuam, Paula King, Lucan, Ramona Quinn,
Drogheda and Winner Alan Malone, New Ross. In the front are, Stephen Byrne,
Tullow, Winner Aine Geraghty, Kilkenny, Marie Ruane, Mountbellew and Gary
Farrell, Finglas
1997 Host of the Year 1997 was Fintan Costello Baltinglass and the Hostess was
Aimie Harris, Lucan. The other finalists included Declan King Carrickmacross,
Brenda Doody, Baltinglass Ruth Smith, Portumna, Ailbhe Hackett Finglas, Barry
Rafter Lucan & Diarmuid O’Connor Cobh Founders Eddie, Fr. Tom and Eamonn are in
the photo with Ml Browne, President
1999 The winners this year would lead us into the new Century. Finalists are
seen here with President Fr. John Brickley. They are; - Seamus Hogan,
Mountbellew, Paula Higgins who was Hostess of the Year and from Mountbellew,
Gina Honeyman, Finglas Deirdre Hickey, Tullow, Brian Dooley winner and from
Lucan, and Stephen Hogan from St. Joseph’s [Mayfield] in Cork City.
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SOME OF THE NATIONAL FINALISTS
2000 The finals were hosted by and held in Portumna. Here we see, winner Kate
Donnachie, Cobh, Stephen Higgins, Tuam, Orla Feeney, Leixlip, Ray Darcy RTE
Compere, Winner James Barry, Baltinglass, Bláithín Walsh, Mountbellew and Evan
Walsh, Kilkenny. They had the distinction of being the first finalists of the new
Century.
15
2001 Finalists this year included Susan Kelly, Mountbellew, Winner Shane Fahy
from Tuam, Michael Keane from Leixlip, Bridget Harney from the Naas Club,
Caitriona Whelan, Winner from Portlaoise No Name Club and Robin O’Shea from
Midleton No Name Club.
2003 The finalist with President Fr. John Brickley are, Gavin Lynch from Cobh,
Sinead Monaghan from Tuam, Winner Diarmuid O’Connor, Lucan and Winner and
Hostess of The Year Lisa Hickey, from Nenagh No Name Club, Adrian McVann from
Claremorris and Laura Canavan, Lucan
2002 The President of No Name Club, Fr. John Brickley with the finalists, Seamus
Broderick, Portumna, Peter Fay the winner is from Naas No Name Club, Ger
Swayne, Midleton, Nessa Henry, Lucan, Winner Lisa Ann Roche from New Ross No
Name Club, and Cathy Crowe from Mountbellew. Both Peter and Lisa Ann have
since been judges at Regional & National Finals
2004 Winner Cian McCormack, Raheen, Limerick, Maria Walsh winner and from
Headford/Caherlistrane Alan O’Connor, Clane, Aoife O’Donovan, Bishopstown, John
Gilmore, Mountbellew, Aisling Heaney, Portlaoise, Colin Kirwan, Finglas.. Maria is
now National P.R.O. and Cian & John have compered Regional Finals in 2006 and in
2007.
2006 The finals this year were held in Ennis and the finalists were, Meghan
Scully, Gort, Gavin Kneafsey, Castlerea, Caroline Kenna, Claremorris, Richie Ryan
the winner from Kilkenny, Brendan Walsh, Dungarvan, Brigita Tyschenko, New Ross,
Compere Síle Seóige RTE, Fergal Quinn, Tuam and winner Jenny Murphy,
Dungarvan. Brigita, a native of Lithuania, is the first Non Irish person to reach the
finals.
2005 Seated in the front row in this photograph are the 2005 National Award
winners, Sean Jones from Shannonside No Name Club and Sinéad Curley from
Mountbellew with Aidan Farrelly, Clane, Alex Duff-White, Dungarvan, David Curley,
Tuam, Amy McKenna, Trim, Cathal Sweeney, Ballinasloe and Lisa Canny
Claremorris. Sinéad and Sean have acted as Judges at Regional Finals in 2007.
2007 The finalists with the judges and the National Chairman, Paddy Burke,
Winner from Claremorris, Aisling Ní Fhlatharta An Cheathru Rua, Sinead
McDermott, Kilbride, Winner Laura O’Sullivan, Celbridge, Linda Bryan, Thurles,
Jonathon Buckley St. Joseph’s, and at the back, Mikey Walsh
Headford/Caherlistrane, Judge Peter Fay [2002], Chairman Anthony McCormack,
Judges Liz Howard and Paul Moran with Keith Doherty Athboy
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SOME OF THE NATIONAL FINALISTS
1984
1984 First National Youth Awards
The first National Youth Awards were hosted by the Thurles
Club and were held in the Premier Hall in Thurles. There
were ten finalists – 5 hosts and 5 hostesses. The Hostess of
the Year was Joyce Fitzgerald from Dundalk No Name Club
and the Host of The Year was John Tuohy from Castlebar No
Name Club. The other finalists were Gerard O’Carroll,
Waterford, Gerry Doyle, Donegal Town, Paul Ruddy, Dundalk,
Michael Lowney, Nenagh, Linda O’Neill, Wexford, Deidre
Murray, Nenagh, Ann Marie Horan, Ballinasloe and Barbra
Murphy, Buncrana
Milestone
2008 Finalists 2008 Siobhan Ryan, Thurles, Jamie Staunton, Cobh, Marie Kinsella
Kilkenny The M.C. Ruth Scott RTE, Mark Rossiter , Ring of Hook, Michael Noonan,
Gort, Siobhán Tully, Kilbride, Rochelle McIntyre, Winner from Tuam, Judges Michael
Browne, Crona Ester and Cian McCormack and Andrew Finn, winner from
Claremorris
SOME REGIONAL FINALISTS
1984 Winners John Tuohy, Castlebar and the late Joyce Fitzgerald, Dundalk.
The other finalists were Gerard O’Carroll Waterford Gerry Doyle Donegal Town
Paul Ruddy Dundalk Michael Lowney Nenagh Linda O’Neill Wexford Deidre
Murray Nenagh Ann Marie Horan Ballinasloe Barbra Murphy Buncrana
1985 Winners were Paul O’Donnell and Mairéad O’Donnell, both from
Letterkenny but not related. The other finalists were Jennifer Bannin
(Kilkenny), Tommy O’Leary (Wexford) Mary Spillane (Roscrea) Michael
Delaney (Nenagh) Mary Carthy (Portumna) Brian Horan (Castlebar) Maria Bell
(Dundalk) Cormac Gartlan (Dundalk)
1986 Liam Conroy, Portumna Award winner and Jacqueline Tedford,
Kilkenny, with Ann Walsh, Ballinasloe, Conor O’Neill, Kilkenny, Paul Keenan,
Dundalk, Desmond Gough, Nenagh, John Mullen, Letterkenny, Cristobel
Clifford, Dundalk, Fiona McDonnell, Roscrea, Marie Simmons, Letterkenny.
Martin Finn (Blanchardstown) Aine Fitzpatrick (Blanchardstown) Conor O’Neill
(Kilkenny)
West Region 2006
Judges and organisers, Anne Whittle, Aine McGrath, Noirín Nic Dhonnachada,
Frank, Esther. John Geraghty and Tommy Reilly. Peadar Brick, Dominica Healy,
Sean Kenna, Cian McCormack, Jo Hannon, Sean Jones
1987 Eamon Dervan winner from Portumna, Niamh Martin winner from
Donegal town, Paul Goodwin, Blanchardstown, Ita Craughwell, Ballinasloe,
Gavin O’Brien, Letterkenny, Stephanie Bolger, Kilkenny, Linda Dillon,
Drogheda, Richard Lett, Wexford, Louise O’Brien, Blanchardstown, Paul Rice,
Dundalk, Paul Hogan, Roscrea and Mary England, Roscrea)
1988 The winners were Don Sheedy, Roscrea and Maureen O’Hara,
Portumna
Triona Dunne (Letterkenny), Anthony Roche (Wexford) Rosemary Hartigan
(Wexford) David Gallagher (Letterkenny) Joseph Treacy (Portumna)
1989 Winners were Declan Kenny, Ballinasloe and Joan Coffey, Wexford
Other clubs taking part in the final were Milford [Frankie Ward] Gweedore
[Carina Ni Fhearraigh] Roscrea Drogheda and Blanchardstown
South Region 2007
Claire Shine, Jonathon Buckley, Anthony McCormack, Linda Bryan, Karen Barry.
Back Martin Galligan Niall Connolly, Shane Hannon, Kelly O’Flaherty, Aisling
Flaherty and Rory Moloney
1990 The winners were Lorcan Hoyne, Kilkenny and Marie Grennan,
Ballinasloe
Other clubs in the final were– Letterkenny [Sharon Doherty] - The Rosses
[Kevin Connors] - Drogheda – Wexford - Portumna -Celbridge
1991 The winners were Adrian Cummins, Portumna and Denise Duffy,
Letterkenny. Finalists included Sean Bosco Gallagher, Gweedore Sean O'Toole,
Palmerstown, Pat Phelan New Ross, Lisa Levins, Drogheda, Deirdre Little –
Kilkenny and a Hostess from Ballinasloe
1992 The winners were Damien Brennan, The Rosses, Donegal and Jacqui
Sutton from Finglas and the other finalists were Anne McClean, Wexford,
Raelene McAteer, Letterkenny, Olivia McLoughlin, Lucan, George Fox,
Clondalkin, Adrian Quinn, Gort, Brian Dunphy, Howth/Sutton.
West Region [group 2] 2006
1993 Photographs of all finalists from 1993 on are included in this magazine.
Diarmuid Finnerty, Owen McKenna, Fergal Quinn, James Coen, Caroline Kenna,
Daniel O’Toole and former National winners Sinead Curley, Sean Jones & Cian
McCormack Aimee Munroe, Aisling Lavelle, Breda McDonagh, David McGing. Sinead
Flanagan and Katie Nic Dhonnachada
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SOME REGIONAL FINALISTS
17
West Region [group 1] 2006
Ciara Gleeson, Sinead Flanagan, Gavin Kneafsey, Sinead McDermott, Claire Kelly,
Meghan Scully, and at back, John Morrissey, Jason McDonagh, Caitriona Redmond,
Raymond Quinn, Stephen Murphy. Frank Kenny from Headford/Caherlistrane also
reached the final but is absent from the photograph.
East Region 2006
Brigita Tysencko, Collette O’Donoghue, Conor O’Donoghue, Richard Ryan, Lorcan
Murphy, Caitriona Keevans, Bríd Rafter and Brian Kenny
South Region 2006
Cian McCormack [Judge & former National Winner] Jennene Coady, Brendan Walsh,
Jenny Murphy, Stephanie Hanna Sinead Curley [Judge & former National Winner].
Back;- Lisa Ann Roche [Judge & former National Winner] Gus Molumby, Sinead
O’Hara, Kirelle Heaphy, Jerry O’Keeffe, Colin McDonnell, Sean Jones [Judge & former National Winner]
East Region 2007
Michelle O’Neill, Keith Doherty, Laura O’Sullivan, Alanna Tyrrell. At back, David
Buggy, Rory McSweeney, Ciara Beirne, Anthony McCormack Chairman of the Board
of No Name Club Ltd, and Darren Leahy
West Region 2003
Adrian McVann, Claremorris, Sinead Monaghan, Tuam, a hostess from Gort, and
Alan Naughton, Portumna
West Region 2006 [Group 2]
Colm Glynn, Shane McDonagh, Mikey Walsh and Cathal Daly. Back; Jo Hannon,
[Judge] Tommy Hannon [Judge], Aine Ni Fhlatharta, Fiona Conneeley, Katie
Munroe, Anthony McCormack Chairman of the Board of Directors of No Name Club
Ltd, Nicola Sheridan, P.J. Hastings, and Lisa Ann Roche [Judge and former National
Winner]
1985
1985 First edition of No Name Club News
West Region 2004
Mary Rose McLoughlin, Claremorris, Maria Walsh Headford/Caherlistrane, Lorraine
Ryan, Castlerea, Louise Davin, Tuam, and at back; David Connor, Tuam, Shane
Mannion, Claremorris, David Glynn, Castlerea and Sean Conneeley,
Headford/Caherlistrane
Jack Menhenneot from Portumna No Name Club, later to be
awarded the New Ireland Pensioner of the Year, was the
National P.R.O. in 1985 and he produced a newspaper in a
broadsheet format with the Title, “No Name Club News”. It
was the only broadsheet that was produced and from then
on the format changed to a magazine type publication.
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SOME REGIONAL FINALISTS
1994
1994 First Video launched
– 22nd October 1994
Eamonn Doyle was the driving
force behind the production of
the first No Name Club promotional video. The title of the
Video was “The Challenge of
Change” and it was filmed and
produced by John Cook. It was
launched in the Newpark Hotel
in Kilkenny on the 22nd October
1994 by the Minister of State at
the Department of Education,
Mr. Liam Aylward, T.D., and
proved to be an invaluable
resource for clubs and development Officers for many years.
Milestone
19996
West Region 2007 [Group 1]
Suzanne Quinn, Gort, Aisling Finnerty, Athenry, Sinead McDermott, Kilbride, Paddy Burke, Claremorris, Rochelle
McIntyre, Tuam, Laura Clarke, Mountbellew. Back;- Sandra Colleran, Claremorris, Jason McDonagh, Kilbride, Chris
Britton, Donegal, Jack Burke, Athenry, Niall Dempsey, Mountbellew, Eoin McMenamy, Tuam and Hannah Carr, Donegal
1994
1994 Development of Logo – Launched 22nd October 1994
For many years No Name Club wanted to develop a logo which would indicate the kind of
organisation No Name Club was. Competitions were held but no suitable logo was found. In
1994 Eddie Keher and Tommy Hannon consulted with Ian Redmond, Managing Director of
the firm Bright Print and Promotions. The meeting was held in the Montrose Hotel in Dublin
and the present logo, which was later approved by the National Executive Committee, was
designed.
1996 Better Ireland Awards
– 9th January 1996
The new Youth and Adult training
programme designed by No Name
Club to be implemented within
the organisation was given an
Award at national level by the
Allied Irish Banks “Better Ireland”
Awards. The Award was presented
on National Television on 9th
January 1996.
Milestone
Milestone
Going National
We never meant to go National. That’s just the way it
happened.
Word got round that something was happening in The
Newpark Hotel, Kilkenny on Sunday Nights to which
crowds were flocking – young and not so young.
A piece written by Trevor Dankar –columnist in the
Sunday Press – helped spread the concepts of No Name
Club and that paper later sent a photographer along,
whose pictures propagated the news even further. Our
Committee and the Hotel began to get phone calls, letters etc from interested people in communities all over
the country and it became imperative that we then have
some strategy to deal with it.
Initially, we began to invite these people to see the
Club in operation and to come early on a Sunday Night
to view preparations and allow time to talk to some of
our Committee.
Many availed of the opportunity and went back to
endeavour to start No Name Clubs in their own areas. We
gave them all the help they required which entailed quite
an amount of time and travel – still not envisaging a
National Organisation. Clubs sprung up in Cork, Galway,
Wexford, Dublin, Tipperary, Waterford, Cavan and Louth.
Coca-Cola came on board as sponsor and saw an immediate advantage, and with so much happening so quickly,
we needed to protect the title ‘No Name Club’. The name
was duly registered and the notion of forming a National
Organisation was spawned. We took legal advice on how
best to do this and in 1980 at a Meeting in Newpark
Hotel attended by representatives of all clubs, the
National Organisation was formed. The Kilkenny committee initially doubled as the National Committee for a
period of two years, after which an AGM would further
decide. Eamonn Doyle was first Chairman, Bobby Kerr
(RIP) its first Secretary and Eddie Keher its first Treasurer.
1995 National Secretary Anne O’Doherty, Cabra, Joe Cunningham, Drogheda, National President
Michael Browne, Baltinglass and Ray Darcy of RTE
The first National Executive Committee. Eddie Keher, Bobby Kerr, Eamonn Doyle, John Enright,
Myra McCarthy, Fr. Tom Murphy.
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CLUBS AT THE AWARDS SOME REGIONAL FINALISTS AND THEIR CLUBS
Tuam 2006
Deirdre Henaghan and Fergal Quinn with members of their Club, Tuam
Celbridge 2007
Laura O’Sullivan and David Buggy with members of their Club, Celbridge
19
Thurles 2007
Linda Bryan and Niall Connolly with members of their Club, Thurles
An Cheathru Rua 2007
Aisling & Shane with some members of their Club, An
Cheathru Rua
Headford/Caherlistrane 2007
Finalist Mikey Walsh with his sister, Maria, National Winner 2004 His parents
Vincent & Noreen with Bernie Divilly and members of the club
Dungarvan 2006
Mountbellew 2007
Kilbride, Co. Roscommon 2007
Finalists Laura Clarke and Niall Dempsey with members of their Club in
Mountbellew
Finalists Jason McDonagh and Sinead McDermott with members of the Kilbride No
Name Club
National Award winner Jenny Murphy and members of her Club, Dungarvan after
the National Finals 2006
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CLUBS AT THE AWARDS SOME REGIONAL FINALISTS AND THEIR CLUBS
Claremorris 2007
Finalist Paddy Burke who went on to win the National Award with members of his
Club
St. Joseph’s [Mayfield] 2007
Finalists Karen Barry and Jonathon Buckley with members of the St. Joseph’s
Club, Cork
Club members in the audience at the East regional Final 2007
Judges at the West Regional Finals 2007 - Jo Hannon, Tommy Hannon and former
National Award winner, Lisa Ann Roche
1996
National Award Finalist 2006
Brigita Tysencko a native of
Lithuania and a member of New
Ross No Name Club
1996 Training The Trainers Teams established in Castletown Retreat Centre
Dia dhuit, Aisling Ní Fhlatharta, ó
Club Gan Ainm An Cheathru Rua,
a shrois an babhta dheire sa
bhlian 2007
In order to develop and expand the service to clubs throughout the country it was decided to
establish teams of trainers who would, in turn, train other volunteers in clubs it wanted to develop
sufficient training expertise to be able to provide effective and quality training for their fellow
adult committee members and their hosts and hostesses at club level. Michael B. Cleary, Director
of Foróige, facilitated the “Training the Trainers” workshops which were held in Castletown
Pastoral centre in County Laois.
Milestone
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National Executive Committees
21
In the magazine “From Little Acorns” published in 1999 to celebrate 21 years of No Name Club the members of the National Executive
Committee from 1980/81 to 1999/2000 are listed. Rather than duplicate that list and, in the interest of economy of space, the Editor decided
to simply continue the list from 2000/2001.
2000/2001
President
Vice-President
Secretary
Treasurer
Executive Officer
P.R.O.
Resource Officer
Regional Reps
Training Officer
Entertainment Officer
Development Officer
2002/2003
Fr. John Brickley
Joe Mullane
Anne Donohue
Eddie Keher
Eamonn Doyle
Tommy Hannon
Paul Burke
John McDonnell
Tommy Reilly
Liam Leahy
Michael Hutchin
Olive Sandes
Pat Cooney
Sheila Dowling
Arthur Kiely
Michael Browne
Paul Power
Sean Twomey
John Joe Kinsella
Oliver King
Naas
St. Joseph’s Mayfield
Portumna
Kilkenny
Kilkenny
Portlaoise
Athlone
Finglas
Tuam
Cobh
Lucan
Tullow
Leixlip
Blanchardstown
Newbridge
Baltinglass
Lucan
Cobh
New Ross
Mountbellew
President
Vice-President
Secretary
Treasurer & National
Development Director
Executive Officer
P.R.O. & Training Officer
Resource Officer
Regional Reps
Entertainment Officer
Development Officer
2001/2002
President
Vice-President
Secretary
Treasurer & National
Development Director
Executive Officer
P.R.O. & Training Officer
Resource Officer
Regional Reps
Entertainment Officer
Development Officer
Fr. John Brickley
Majella Ryan
Anne Donohue
Eddie Keher
Eamonn Doyle
Tommy Hannon
Paul Burke
John McDonnell
Tommy Reilly
Liam Leahy
Michael Hutchin
Olive Sandes
Pat Cooney
John Roche
Laura Deehan
Arthur Kiely
Michael Browne
Paul Power
Sean Twomey
John Joe Kinsella
Oliver King
Lorraine Kearns
John Sheerin
Naas
Leixlip
Portumna
Kilkenny
Kilkenny
Portlaoise
Athlone
Finglas
Tuam
Cobh
Lucan
Tullow
Leixlip
New Ross
Claremorris
Newbridge
Baltinglass
Lucan
Cobh
New Ross
Mountbellew
Lucan
Lucan
Fr. John Brickley
Majella Ryan
Anne Donohue
Eddie Keher
Eamonn Doyle
Tommy Hannon
Paul Burke
John McDonnell
Tommy Reilly
Liam Leahy
Michael Hutchin
Olive Sandes
Pat Cooney
John Roche
Laura Deehan
Arthur Kiely
Michael Browne
Paul Power
Sean Twomey
John Joe Kinsella
Oliver King
Lorraine Kearns
John Sheerin
Naas
Leixlip
Portumna
Kilkenny
Kilkenny
Portlaoise
Athlone
Finglas
Tuam
Cobh
Lucan
Tullow
Leixlip
New Ross
Claremorris
Newbridge
Baltinglass
Lucan
Cobh
New Ross
Mountbellew
Lucan
Lucan
2003/2004
President
Vice-President
Secretary
Treasurer & National
Development Director
Executive Officer
P.R.O. & Training Officer
Resource Officer
Regional Reps
Entertainment Officer
Development Officer
Joe Mullane
Fr. John Brickley
Anne Donohue
Eddie Keher
Eamonn Doyle
Tommy Hannon
Paul Burke
John McDonnell
Padraig Coburn
Dominica Healy
Pat Heeney
Jennifer Donovan
Stephen Murray
Pat Cooney
John Roche
Laura Deehan
Arthur Kiely
Carole Goulding
Paul Power
Sean Twomey
Olive Sandes
Oliver King
Tommy Reilly
John Sheerin
St. Joseph’s Mayfield
Naas
Portumna
Kilkenny
Kilkenny
Portlaoise
Athlone
Finglas
Lucan
Mountbellew
Donegal
Trim
Cobh
Leixlip
New Ross
Claremorris
Newbridge
Cork
Lucan
Cobh
Tullow
Mountbellew
Tuam
Lucan
In 2005 the Organisation changed from No Name Club to No Name Club Ltd. And the Board of Directors became the governing body.
The National Executive Committee ceased to exist and the structure of No Name Club Ltd. was changed to increase efficiency and improve
communication. New Management Committees were set up including Training, Communications and Public Relations, Events and Finance.
The office of President no longer exists and Joe Mullane from St. Joseph’s Club in Mayfield in Cork was the last person to occupy that office.
Under the new structure the role of the National President is now exercised by the Chairman of The Board of Directors
In 2006 the structures were further modified and now consist of The Board of Directors which is the governing body, a Management
Committee and an Events Committee.
The No Name Club Limited was formed in April, 1989 with Directors as follows: Eddie Keher, Fr. Tom Murphy, Eamonn Doyle (Founders),
John Cregg (Roscrea), Oliver Beirne (Cabra), Maura Scott (Portumna) and Linda O’Neill (Wexford). The Company held an AGM each year and
one function it had was to grant permission to an Executive formed from Clubs to use the title ‘No Name Club’ and allow Clubs who filled
certain requirements also use the title for the coming year.
In 2005, following legal advice, The Memorandum & Articles of Association of the Company was updated.
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THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2005
2005: Eddie Keher (Chair), Kilkenny Eamonn Doyle,
Kilkenny (Sec), Sheila Dowling, Blanchardstown, Anne
Donohue, Portumna, Fr John Brickley, Naas, Fr. Tom
Murphy, Kilkenny Anthony McCormack, Ballinrobe, Joe
Mullane, Mayfield, John Joe Kinsella, New Ross, Ml
Browne, Baltinglass.
2006: Chair, Anthony McCormack, Ballinrobe,
Secretary Anne Donohue, Portumna, M Browne,
Baltinglass, E. Doyle, Kilkenny, Joe. Mullane, Mayfield
Fr. John .Brickley. Naas, Fr. Tom Murphy, Kilkenny, E.
Keher, Kilkenny, John Joe Kinsella, New Ross, Sheila
Dowling, Blanchardstown.
2007: Chair Anthony McCormack, Ballinrobe, Anne
Donohue Sec, Portumna, Eamonn Doyle, Kilkenny,
Michael Browne, Baltinglass, John Murphy, Limerick, Joe
Mullane, Mayfield, John Joe Kinsella, New Ross, |Maria
Walsh, Headford/Caherlestrane, Tommy Hannon,
Portlaoise, John Twomey, Mayfield, Oliver King,
Mountbellew
2008: Michael Browne, Baltinglass, Anne Donohue,
Portumna, Oliver King, Mountbellew, Joe Mullane,
Mayfield, John Murphy, Limerick, Maria Walsh,
Headford, John Donovan, Dungarvan, John Gilmore,
Mountbellew, Carole Goulding, Cork, Liz McCormack,
Athboy and Lisa Ann Roche, New Ross
OPEN
HOUSE
ON NO NAME CLUB
N
ational Development
Director, Eddie Keher, with
Host and Hostess of the year
2001, Shane Fahy [Tuam No Name
Club] and Caitriona Whelan
[Portlaoise No Name Club] accompanied by Orla Feeney from
Leixlip and Seamus Hogan from
Mountbellew were guests of
Marty Whelan and Mary Kennedy
Eddie Keher with RTE Presenter Mary Kennedy on the
“Open House” T.V. Show
Members of the 2007 Board of Directors with the Host and Hostess of the Year 2008 – Rochelle
McIntyre and Andrew Finn and the compere at the Awards Ruth Scott.
on the RTE Television Programme
“Open House” during the year
2001. At that time “Open House”
was one of the best known television programmes in the country
and had a very wide audience.
Shane, Caitriona, Orla and
Seamus spoke about the benefits
of being involved in a No Name
Club and what their experience in
the club was like.
They portrayed the No Name
Club in a very good light and
their accounts of their experiences were very interesting and
well articulated. As usual, Eddie
Keher, gave a very clear explanation as to what No Name Club is
about and gave a clear idea of
the fun and enjoyment young
people get out of being involved
as well as mentioning some of
the very tangible other benefits
they gain from their membership
of the club.
As a result there were several
enquiries seeking more information about the No Name Club. We
Caitriona Whelan, Hostess of the Year
2001, with RTE Presenter of the T.V. Show
“Open House”, Marty Whelan
are all proud of those who were
on the programme and who gave
such a good account of No Name
Club.
Shane Fahy, Seamus Hogan, Mary Kennedy, Eddie Keher, Marty Whelan, Orla Feeney and Caitriona
Whelan on the set of “Open House” T.V. Show
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Government Recognition
Liam Aylward T.D.
T
HEROIC
NO NAME CLUB
he Club was attracting a
lot of attention
amongst politicians
both in Kilkenny and
wherever Clubs had
formed. In the belief that
enquiries and interest from
around the country deserved a
response beyond what was then
possible, it was felt that some
Government aid be sought to
develop the concepts and
spread the message. A proposal
was put to The Department of
Education – Youth & Sport
Section - and the then Minister
of State Mr Jim Tunney TD gave
us a grant of £3000 to do an
evaluation. This we did with the
help of Irish Marketing Surveys,
following which a detailed submission was made to The
Department of Health and we
met the Minister in his office to
pursue it.
The Minister for Health at the
time, Dr. Michael Woods, TD, visited the club one Sunday Night,
was quite impressed, went back
and gave us nothing. His conclusion apparently was not that the
Club and its concepts didn’t
deserve support, but that it wasn’t appropriate that that support came from The Department
of Health. Over the next number of years, our Committee
experienced a quite frustrating
time being ‘shunted’ from one
Department to another. No one
in Government –or in the Civil
Service- could quite agree where
The No Name Club should slot
in. Was it to do with Youth?
Was it to do with Health? Was it
to do with Education? Or was it
just Entertainment or Sport? At
the time there appeared to be
uncertainty even about which
Department should house certain State Services.
We therefore found our submissions going to the
Department of Health, onto
Education, back to the then
Health Education Bureau, later
to Youth Affairs (which at this
stage was under the Minister for
Labour) and eventually to The
23
Department of Education which
by now included The Youth &
Sport portfolio –later to become
Youth Affairs. It was in fact,
years later before a Grant was
secured from Youth Affairs.
Recently, Taoiseach Brian
Cowen, who was then the
Minister for Finance, agreed to
fund a National Office with a
Chief Executive and a National
Administrator and made the
funds available through the
Department of Youth Affairs for
this purpose.
This was a major development
and No Name Club is very
pleased that, at last, we have a
small staff to provide a service
for its over-worked volunteers.
Minister Micheál Martin was Minister
for Health and Children when his
Department funded the Cork Project.
An Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, T.D.
Most Reverend Dr. Michael Neary, Archbishop of
Tuam, attended the National Youth Awards in
Castlebar on 29th March 2008. In a short address
to the hundreds of young people and adults
present he said “It is relatively easy to criticise
and condemn. It is much more difficult to be
constructive and challenging. Here the contribution of No Name Club has been heroic. Not only
does it contest the false assumptions of the
world of advertising, it provides tangible and
incontrovertible evidence to the contrary. By
providing opportunities where young men and
young women can enjoy each other’s company,
celebrate, recreate, the No Name Club offers
individuals a supportive milieu in which they are
encouraged, challenged, motivated and become
Martin Ryan is the new CEO and
Noeline Browne the new
National Administrator and our
new National Office is in
Kilkenny City where No Name
Club had its origins.. We thank
the Taoiseach for his vision. Go
raibh mile maith agat a
Thaoisigh.
Present Funders: The
Department of Education &
Science – Youth Affairs Section
The Department of Health &
Children – Health Promotion
Population Health, HSE.
resourceful and innovative without becoming
dependant on the courage which over indulgence in alcohol is assumed to provide. I am
absolutely convinced of the powerful witness
value which the No Name Clubs are providing
today in a culture which in many respects has
reached saturation point with alcohol. I congratulate all the members of No Name Club for the
way in which you work to present people today
with a real, attractive and necessary alternative
which very effectively puts an enormous question mark after the glamorisation of Alcohol.
You have illustrated in so many ways that there
is another way and I believe that there are indications that your message, and what you stand
for, and believe in, is making an impact.”
The Archbishop of Tuam, Most Rev. Dr. Michael Neary, in conversation with the National Chairman of No Name Club, Anthony McCormack
and the National P.R.O., Maria Walsh
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TRIBUTE TO BOBBY KERR
Eamonn Doyle’s Tribute to Bobby Kerr
at the first Club of the Year Awards
25 years ago this week, Eddie, , Fr. Tom,
Bobby Kerr, who was Managing Director of
this hotel, and I met -to try put shape to a
notion all of us had for a considerable time,
to do something positive about the whole
vexed question of alcohol abuse. Each of us
brought his own perspective to it -Eddie
from a sporting sense, Fr. Tom from a pastoral viewpoint, Bobby from the world of
business and I as youth officer with the
Guards. Two matters we agreed were paramount -The meaningful involvement of
young people and an ever positive
approach. There would be no room for any
negativity. What emerged is now The No
Name Club, and the first such Club opened
its doors in this very room shortly afterwards.
Very soon, on every Sunday night the place
was full to the rafters but it would not have
been so but for the unorthodox marketing
skills of Bobby. Irrespective of how many
were in attendance, once 9pm came, the
“House Full” Sign went up, no one else
got in and all of us retreated inside. The
noted curiosity of perhaps 40/50 who passed
bye, soon became 100 when Bobby spoke,
and by the time he had phoned Trevor
Danker, social columnist in the Sunday Press
during our reviewing Breakfast meeting the
following morning it had swollen and been
slightly twisted to '200 turned away'.
Danker couldn't believe his ears.-Neither
could we for that matter, but he wrote
glowingly about it in the following Sunday's
paper and Fr. Tom, always our moral conscience, didn't appear to have seen anything
wrong with that. Very soon there WERE Full
houses and we genuinely did need the
signs, and I had learned a valuable marketing technique.
The Sunday papers at that time were obviously being read in such places as Portumna,
Lucan and Mayfield because people there
also became interested and before we knew
it we were going national. We had enough
to be doing locally, but nothing was a problem to Bobby, everything was a challenge,
an advantage or an opportunity. Very soon,
we had cobbled together a No Name Club
Roadshow and were traveling to all these
places-effectively and practically demonstrating how clubs could be run. It was a
huge logistical exercise and I still marvel at
how we did it. But again it was Bobby who
had come up trumps. He suggested that we
call in the army. He convinced the local O/C
that the Cabaret show which they had put
on for us in Kilkenny No Name Club was so
brilliant, it would work wonders for army
morale and the resultant PR. would be
immeasurable. And so we traveled up and
down the country like a traveling circus with
Committee, Hosts/Hostesses/ Cabaret Group,
Props, food, chefs, even kitchens. We took
over the Royal Marine Hotel in Dunlaoire,
The Fairways in Dundalk, the Spa in Lucan,
Hayden's in Ballinasloe, the Royal George in
Limerick, The Country Club in Cork (with an
up and coming young Joe Mullane, I might
On the 4th January 2004 No Name Club ran its
“Club of the Year” Awards for 2004 in the Newpark
Hotel in Kilkenny. At the event Eamonn Doyle
addressed the assembled guests and paid this tribute to Bobby Kerr who had died in July 2001. This is
what Eamonn said in the presence of Bobby’s
widow, Moya and other members of Bobby’s family.
add). With a scaled down version we even
crossed the border into Omagh and
Carrickmore. It’s another story that how we
got back safely. I could spend the night
recalling marvelous incidents from those
trips.
It was Bobby who initially brought Grace
O’Shaughnessy on board and there she’s
been ever since –a remarkably generous and
supporting friend. And you, Grace were
probably blaming some of us.
I mention these to give you some insight
into this remarkable man. There was nothing ordinary about Bobby Kerr. Every meeting, event, club night, journey, casual
encounter - even a phone call had something unusual. As I’m sure many of the
younger Kerr family will vouch for he took a
delight in wrong footing you or doing the
unexpected. A casual comment on Eddie's
financial report that the £100 expenditure
on ‘Entertainment’ for the year seemed a
suspiciously round figure and how did he
come by it, was met with an equally casual
remark from Eddie that that’s what you get
when you add 75 and 25. And remember, I
was trying to chair those meetings. He was,
and acted, larger than life, was extraordinarily ebullient, extraordinarily witty, and
very perceptive but also at times, much to
our amusement, remarkably out of touch.
we weren’t at all amused with some of his
suggestions. In a throw away remark Eddie
suggested we might as well invite John
Travolta. (John Travolta in 1978 was Big
–“Grease” was a spectacular hit and he and
Olivia Newton John were world famous –as
Britney Spears or David Beckham is today)
Their names were on everyone’s lips. Bobby
said –who is John Travolta? Is he from
Kilkenny?
He had the ability to light up any company,
always perky, full of energy, enthusiasm,
witticisms, and ideas. Every place, person or
event recalled, reminded him of some funny
incident, which he relayed proudly, and
probably exaggerated. The fact that many
would have known of the likely exaggeration, didn’t take in any way from it, it was
still always a very good story and its embellishment made it all the more funny.
Everything about that original No Name
Club was positive, good humoured, hard
work and lots of fun and the hosts and
hostesses -once tuned to his wavelength and
he to theirs -loved him and rose to his challenges. His involvement with it gave it an
impetus at the start which could not have
been achieved without him and through
that he has hugely and uniquely helped,
therefore, influence the lives of nearly 1500
hosts and hostesses locally over those 25
years, and indirectly helped shape the views,
attitudes and opinions of thousands of others nationwide
Bobby passed away a year and a half ago.
We are indeed honoured to have with us
tonight many members of his family, Moya,
Robert, Susanne, Orla, Paul David and their
families and we thank you all and Newpark
Hotel for this magnificent evening.
Eamonn Doyle and his wife Mae
At one time, he was very keen to invite a
big name personality to the club to enhance
it further and
with the limited money we had at the time,
It is entirely fitting that we should remember him tonight in this unique way. In so
doing, each time we look at this beautiful
award, I am sure he would like nothing
more than that we remind ourselves of
what's contained in our own Kilkenny club
motto- I expect to pass through life but
once. If therefore there be any good thing I
can do to any fellow being, let me do it
now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall
not pass this way again.
How wonderfully well Bobby Kerr lived by
that motto. God rest his gentle soul.
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Page 25
First ever No Name Club – Kilkenny – 1978
25
First ever No Name Club – Kilkenny – 1978
BACK ROW Left to right.Ger O'Connor, Ruth Hackett, Hilda Magnier (sister of Eileen's RTE) Liz Clancy, Pat Ryan, Lisa Brennan, Christine Hogan, Dermot O'Neill, Helen
Lenehan, Kathy Young, Kathy Walsh (now Mrs. Pat Kenny), Arthur Drohan MIDDLE ROW Left to right. (taking all as one row) David O'Connor, Benny Cleere, Mary Doheny,
Tom Wemyss, Carmel O'Connor, Carmel Kelly, Joann Murray, Mary Hennessy, Mary Kavanagh, Edel Burke, Ann Marie Dignan, Evelyn Dignan, Caroline Dowling, Breda
O'Regan, Jennifer Howlett, Aileen Morrissey, Ger Fitzpatrick, Helen Dollard, Paul Dunlop, Regina Gibson FRONT: John O'Connell (Coca-Cola), Eddie Keher, (Treasurer)
Bobby Kerr (RIP) (Secretary), Moyra McCarthy,(Training Officer), Eamonn Doyle (Chairman) John Enright, Fr. Tom Murphy. Missing from photo are Hosts/Hostesses -John
Walsh, Ann Mulally, Bernadette O'Mahony, Chris Young, Tom Boyle, Ger Lannigan, Michael Maloney
The Role of Newpark Hotel
At the outset the venue was critical and the
Club would not have gained its initial status
but for its venue at Newpark Hotel in
Kilkenny.
Bobby Kerr, its Managing Director, was
also a founding member of The No Name
Club and pulled out all stops to ensure its
success.
It must be borne in mind that in 1978
–the word 0was an anathema to the hotel
industry generally – conjuring up as it does
noises and energies not to be associated
with the sedate world of a 4 Star hotel.
The Committee held all its meeting at the
hotel – most of which were Breakfast
Meetings at 8am on a Monday morning finishing at 9 in time for us all to go to work.
Since then no Name Club has regularly
held major events in the Newpark Hotel and
also used the hotel for innumerable meetings, training sessions, conferences and gettogethers. On every occasion our particular
needs have been expertly, professionally and
courteously catered for. During all those
years during which No Name Club was associated with the Newpark Hotel there were
four Senior Staff of the hotel who were
exceptionally helpful and efficient. They are
David O’Sullivan, Terry Lyons, Tom Carroll
and Declan McGowan.
They were there in the beginning and
they are still there offering their usual
expert and courteous service. We acknowledge their helpfulness and kindness and we
thank them sincerely. We thank the
Newpark Hotel and the Kerr family for the
way they have catered for us over the past
thirty years ands we wish the new proprietor every possible success
Anne Donohue presents Moya Kerr, widow of the
Late Bobby Kerr, with a bouquet of flowers at a function in the Newpark Hotel.
The Manager of the Newpark Hotel, Terry Lyons,
seen here presenting the Club of The Year Award to
Oliver King of Mountbellew No Name Club in January
2004.
The Staff of the Newpark Hotel who were on duty at the Club of The Year Awards on 4th January 2004
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Milestones
No Name Club Team with T.V. Presenter, Brendan O’Carroll, Sheelagh Brady, Catherine Faulkner
and Karen Rafferty.
1997
1997 Youth Work Exhibition in Buswell’s Hotel 22nd October 1997
On 22nd October 1997 No Name Club had a stand at a Youth Work exhibition which was held in Buswell’s Hotel in Dublin. The exhibition was
mounted to show the work that was being done in Ireland in the field of
Youth Work. The No Name Club stand was visited by each of the
Candidates in that year’s Presidential Election including the soon-to-beelected President Mary McAleese. As a result of the exhibition No Name
Club received many enquiries about its work.
Mr. Dick Spring, T.D. with Eddie Keher at the Youth Work Exhibition in
1997
1997
1997 First full colour No Name Club News published in May
In May 1997 the first ever full colour magazine “No
Name Club News” was published. Its front page
reported on the National Youth Awards presented by
President Mary Robinson in Jury’s Hotel, Dublin on
the 5th May 1997.
Milestone
Milestone
1997
1997 No Name Club teams appear on
RTE Television Quiz – “Hot Milk and Pepper “
In October 1997 there was a programme on RTE Television called “Hot Milk and
Pepper”. It was a quiz game format and was presented by Brendan O’Carroll, comedian author and playwright. Representing No Name Club on the occasion were,
Catherine Faulkner, Baltinglass, Karen Rafferty, Lucan, Sheelagh Brady, Maynooth
and Michelle Monaghan, Cabra.
Milestone
President of Ireland, Mrs. Mary Robinson, presents
National Youth Award to Aimie Harris in 1997.
1997
1997 President of Ireland [President
Robinson] Presents National Youth
Awards on 5th May 1997
The President of Ireland, President Mary
Robinson, attended the National Youth
Awards and presented the Awards to
winners Aimie Harris from Lucan No
Name Club and Fintan Costello from the
Baltinglass No Name Club.
Milestone
Agnes, Mae, Eamonn, Yvonne and Kay from Kilkenny No Name Club at the 21 year celebrations
1999
1999 No Name Club
is twenty one years young
On the 20th November 1999 No Name Clubs from all over Ireland came together to
celebrate the 21st Birthday of the organisation.
Milestone
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KILKENNY NO NAME CLUB
T
he ancient City of Kilkenny was named after a 6th
Century Saint called St. Canice. His memory lives on in
the beautifully restored St. Canice’s Cathedral, which
was built overlooking the City between 1202 and 1285. In
1172 a wooden tower was built on the site of the present
Castle by Strongbow and twenty years later Strongbow’s son,
William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke built the present castle.
The castle has been beautifully restored and is now a major
tourist attraction.
The Medieval City is characterised by many
beautifully restored buildings and slipways.
It is small and compact enough to explore
on foot, yet full of fascinating historical
buildings and contemporary shops, design
galleries and restaurants. In 1609 King
James 1 granted Kilkenny its Charter and
constituted it as a City but for many years
before that the Medieval City of Kilkenny
was the seat of the Irish Parliament.
Kilkenny was, in effect, the Capital of
Ireland. The Parliament sat there from 1293
and in 1395 King Richard 11 in person held
the parliament there. In 1366 the infamous
Statutes of Kilkenny were passed by the parliament and they stated that;• Normans must not speak Irish
• Normans must not dress like the Irish
• Normans must use saddles on their horses
• Normans must not marry Irish people
• Normans must not allow Irish Poets and
Musicians to come among them
• Normans must not play Irish games, especially hurling.
her father Tommy and her mother Anne
met there when they were a host and a
hostess in the club and later married. They
now have four children. Sarah used to
attend the Club discos when she was
younger and when the time came to apply
for the position of hostess in the club she
was delighted to be selected. She thought it
was great the way the club ensured that
there was something special for the young
people of Kilkenny to do and she was ready
to help out in making sure that the club
continued to do that. She and her friends
did not hesitate to put their names down
for consideration as hostesses. Sarah felt
that it would be a good place to meet new
people and to get to know them. She was
not disappointed. “I met and talked to people that I would not have had the chance to
talk to before. The activities that we did in
27
the club were great and these activities
gave us a chance to meet and talk”. Sarah is
a student in Loreto Convent in Kilkenny and
there are students in the club from C.B.S.
and from Presentation Convent as well as St.
Kieran’s College. Sarah says that when she
was younger she used to play hurling with
many of the lads who are now in the C.B.S.,
and hosts in the club, and it was great to
renew her acquaintance with them in the
club. One of the many activities she really
enjoyed in the club was a game called
“dodge ball” the rules of which are no more
complicated than throwing balls at members of the opposite team and trying to hit
them. It might not be very complicated but
it can be really great fun. Needless to say
they use a soft ball for the game and no
one is in danger of getting hurt. Sarah really
enjoyed the Valentine’s Day disco. There was
a great turn-out and it went really, really
well.
Sarah felt it was great that Marie
Kinsella reached the National Youth Award
Final in Castlebar this year. She represented
the club there and the whole club was so
proud of her. The Kilkenny Club have had
many finalists in the National Awards down
through the years including Jacqueline
Tedford, Aine Geraghty, Lorcan Hoyne and
Richie Ryan each of whom actually won the
Award. Jacqueline won in 1986, Aine won in
1998, Lorcan won in 1990 and Richie won in
2006.
It was here in 1978 that No Name
Club was founded by Eamonn Doyle, Fr.
Tom Murphy and Eddie Keher. Thirty years
later the No Name Club continues to thrive
in this beautiful city. This is a special club –
special in itself and special from the historical point of view. It is seen within the
organisation as the “Mother Club”. It is
the club from which all the other clubs that
have existed down through the years have
sprung. Even with this history and tradition
behind it the Kilkenny No Name Club does
not rest on its laurels but is as vibrant and
healthy as ever, still catering for the needs
of its young members with the same zeal
and enthusiasm as it did thirty years ago.
Sarah Bawle speaks with excitement in
her voice when she describes the present
Kilkenny No Name Club. It is interesting that
Members of Kilkenny No Name Club in the early 1990’s – Aidan Brennan, Yvonne Grant, Kay Foley, Caroline
Brennan, Fr. Tom Murphy, Paschal Connolly, Eddie Keher and Eamonn Doyle
“We really enjoyed the Karaoke
Competition. Sinead Hennessey and
myself got through to the final and went to
Portlaoise. We had great craic and we
enjoyed meeting all the other finalists and
people from the other clubs. The winners
from Dungarvan were really good and they
put on a lovely little show on the stage. We
didn’t win but it was good craic anyway”.
When Sarah was asked what was the best
thing that happened in the club since she
joined it she said, “There wasn’t just one
‘best’ thing. Everything about the club is
great” and she sounded as if it really was a
great place to be. She said, “It is a privilege
to be part of something that has been
going on for as long as the Kilkenny Club
has and providing chances to do so many
good things and have so many things for
young people to do over all the years”
Hosts and hostesses from Kilkenny with Mr. Liam Aylward in October 1994 - Suzanne Brennan, Searlait Doyle,
Keith Grogan, Karen O’Sullivan, Aidan Knox, Mr. Aylward and Margaret Mullins
Tommy Bawle is Sarah’s father. He was a
host in the Kilkenny Club in the 1980’s. It
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KILKENNY NO NAME CLUB
was a very different club in those days
and he was a host there at the height of the
Cabaret success in the club. Groups from all
over Kilkenny City put on shows that resembled the “Tops of the Town” competition.
They competed against each other and
there were shows on stage every Sunday
night. There were ques to get in to the
shows and many people were turned away
because there was no room for them in the
hall. The interest in the club programme
was immense and generated publicity at
national level on radio and in the press.
“There was quite a big number of us hosts
and hostesses and we had a rota for each
Sunday night. We had a lot of work to do
because the crowds were so big coming to
the shows. We served non-alcoholic cocktails, ushering people to their seats and
doing all the kind of things you had to do
on a big night like that”, says Tommy. “We
had heard from hosts and hostesses who
were there the year before us about what it
was like and we were really looking forward
to getting in as hosts/hostesses. It was great
fun. It was very, very good with different
groups putting on shows like the “apprentice priests” as we used to call them from St.
Kieran’s College. They were very popular.
Even some of the pubs entered teams.
When the cabaret part was over the music
would start and we had dancing in which
both young people and adults took part.
There was a great mix of young and old –
people in their 20’s, 30’s, 40’s and some old
people who would come in for the cabaret.
The people who came to the shows knew
that they were going to get a great service
from the hosts and hostesses and that it
would be a very enjoyable night. When we
were preparing for the nights we had practice sessions. Eamonn Doyle and Bobby
Kerr and Eddie Keher and Fr. Tommy
Murphy – they were great leaders. We had
an induction week and Grace
O’Shaughnessey came down to the club and
showed us how to greet people and treat
people. We had very good training.”
Sinead Hennessy and Sarah Bawle from Kilkenny No
Name Club at the Karaoke Finals on 24th February
2008.
Tommy would “walk” her down to where
her father would be picking her up. Both
Tommy and Anne assure us that they have
no regrets. They now have four children and
are as happy as could be! Darren, Rachel
and Emma are three more to come along
and be hosts or hostesses in the No Name
Club.
As a mother Anne is delighted to see
Sarah involved and hopes that Sarah gets as
much enjoyment from her involvement as
Anne did when she was a hostess. The most
obvious concerns that Anne would have as a
parent is the prevalence of drink and drugs.
happen – that somebody might spike her
drink or something – whereas in the No
Name Club there is no drink involved. It is
just safer and that is so important to me”,
says Anne. Sarah says that she can understand that her father and mother can be
concerned for her safety but, “They taught
me right from wrong. I know right from
wrong and there is no need for them to be
concerned. I can look after myself”. Anne
says she is absolutely delighted that No
Name Club is still in existence and still doing
such great work after all those years.
Tommy says that what he really appreciates
is the security of the No Name Club – knowing that Sarah is in a safe environment
when she goes there and he appreciates the
work the adults do in the club.
Aidan Fitzpatrick is the Chairman of the
Kilkenny No Name Club. He is also a Garda.
Speaking about Junior Cert Results night
Aidan says that having the No Name Club
organise the disco is very important from a
Policing point of view. Without that disco it
would be impossible to police the city of
Kilkenny if you had several disos at which
drink was freely available. When all the
young students are together in one centre
where there is no drink or other drugs is a
blessing from the Garda point of view. It
makes our job an awful lot better. In other
places, where there is no club like No Name
Club, statistics show that sexual assaults,
drinking offences and the like are very much
higher than here in Kilkenny. The No Name
Anne Bawle told us that herself and
Tommy knew each other before they joined
the club. It was in the club that they started
going out together. “We were on different
teams”, says Anne, “And when my team
was on Tommy would come down to the
show and when Tommy’s team was on I
would come down to the show. The club
was a place we were able to be together”.
Tommy tells us that after the show Anne
would get a lift home from her father but
Pic. 160 – A group of former hosts and hostesses from Kilkenny No Name Club
Marie Kinsella, Kilkenny was a finalist in the National
Youth Awards 2008
“When you go and see what is out there
now and see them coming out of Night
Clubs and places like that it seems so different. I know you have to change with the
times and everything but I am petrified of
what’s out there. It is awful that you can get
drink and drugs so easily. I know that the
No Name Club will help Sarah to realise that
there is more to having fun than drink and
that you can really enjoy yourself without
the drink. It will help her too to realise that
there are others too that are like her and
have the same attitude to the drink as she
has. She will discover that there is support
for her out there when she decides not to
drink or take other drugs. When she is in
the club I know she is safe. I know where
she is and I know the atmosphere she is in
and that it is o.k. When she is out at other
things there is a fear that something might
Club provides a service on that night for
young people from other areas like
Castlecomer, Thomastown and such places.
There would be well over 700 young people
at our disco on the night of the Junior Cert
Results. Over 90% of those who attend
come with the No Name Club ethos. There
would be some who arrive with some drink
taken but we look after them in the club
and make sure that they are safe in a controlled environment. We let them in and
take care of them. I suppose if we were to
stick to the No Name Club rules we should
turn them away but we prefer to bring
them in to a safe environment and look
after them. If the need arises we have the
Order of Malta present and they make sure
they are o.k. besides if they were out in the
fields or down by the river drinking. Our
absolute primary concern is the safety of the
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KILKENNY NO NAME CLUB
cation, and leave home in the
process, they have done a great
deal of growing up in the club
which will stand to them in
College. They gain a certain
amount of “cop on” and know
that they do not need to follow
like sheep but that they can
make other choices.
young person. Apart from that
it is great for me as a policeman
to meet good people like Sarah
and to build up a good relationship with young people. We
deal with 10% of the population 90% of the time and it is
great to work with young people who make up the 90% who
never get into trouble and to
develop a healthy and understanding relationship with
them”.
Garda Deirdre Corbett is
Secretary of the Club. She herself was a hostess in the
Kilcullen No Name Club before
she joined the Garda Siochána
and while she was there
Kilcullen won the National
Cabaret Award. Deirdre says
that “The leadership courses we
did at the time I was in the club
was very beneficial for me coming into the job that I am in
now. It improved my confidence
and helped me to be able to
meet people because while I
was there I was able to meet so
many different people.” Deirdre
says that on the special nights
that No Name Club runs its discos like Christmas, Valentine’s,
Junior Cert and such like the No
Name Club disco is a very safe
place for the young teenage
girls to be and to enjoy themselves. “We try to make it as
safe as we possibly can for
them. It is very beneficial to the
community and is a great facility
especially for those who are not
that interested in sports. It is a
place where they can meet,
where they can gather and get
to know other people. They are
getting to know, not just the
people they go to school with,
but people from other parts of
the community which is a great
benefit to the communities concerned”.
None of these benefits for the
young people, their schools,
their families and their communities could happen unless there
were adult volunteers who are
prepared to work so well and so
closely with the young people.
One such volunteer is Marian
Treacy. Marian is a secondary
school teacher and she sees the
difference it makes to her students to be members of a No
Name Club. She teaches in Good
Counsel in New Ross and many
Garda Aidan Fitzpatrick, Chairman of
Kilkenny No Name Club.
29
Garda Deirdre Corbett, Secretary of
Kilkenny no Name Club
Marian Treacy of Kilkenny No Name
Club
of her students are members in
the New Ross No Name Club.
She sees the way No Name Club
helps students from different
schools to come together and to
get to know one another as very
good for the young people
themselves and for the schools
concerned. It does away with
the negative rivalry that often
exists between schools in the
same town. Her students
absolutely adore being in the
club. Other students in her classes who are not members hear
them talking about things like
the National Youth Awards in
Castlebar and they can’t wait to
get in to the club themselves. It
has enhanced the relationship
between Marian as a teacher
and her students. “It’s great to
see them being so enthusiastic
about something that is outside
the school. I saw them in
Castlebar and they had an
absolute ball. I am still hearing
about my dancing skills!” says
Marian. She has no doubt that
for young hosts and hostesses
being in No Name Club is a
great learning experience which
enhances their lifeskills and
helps them develop confidence
in themselves. Their experience
in the club is an invaluable education where they learn to be
responsible and where they
begin to realise that they can do
so many good things. Parents
who are worried about the time
being spent in the club by their
sons and daughters who are
preparing to do the Leaving
Cert need never think of it as
time wasted from study. If they
are to go on to third level edu-
Shane Doyle is another volunteer in the club and is a former host. He describes the
rewards of being a volunteer as,
“Getting a sense of achievement
through helping others to avail
of the opportunity to develop
and to do something positive.
There is a development dimension for the adult as well. You
maintain a connection with
younger people and you learn
to appreciate the difference in
the environment and atmosphere in which young people
are growing up now compared
to the time we were growing
up. You can see what is going
on and you can do something
positive about it. It helps you to
see good in people – to see
their willingness to do things to
make life a bit better. It’s great
to see them organising things
themselves rather than just
going along to something others have organised. They begin
to think of others rather than
always thinking of themselves.
Because of their success in doing
something with their peers they
get this ethos of wanting to do
good for others – maybe
through caring for the disabled
or taking old people on an outing or something like that. They
begin to see themselves as
providers rather than consumers. They do what they do
without looking for anything in
return. They like to get thanks
for it, of course, but that is not
why they do it. They feel good
about themselves when they do
something that helps others.
They enjoy seeing others enjoy
themselves”, says Shane. “You’d
be constantly saying to the hosts
and hostesses how well they
have done and recognising their
achievement so that they know
they are appreciated. We
believe that that kind of recognition is very important for the
young people and increases
their confidence in themselves”.
Shane says that the adults often
get cards signed by all the
young people thanking them
for what they have done. Shane
says that this encourages himself
and the other adults to stay
involved and to keep coming
back year after year. “We are
doing important work with
young people and we are trying
to influence them positively and
help them to see the positive
aspects of life. Every year when
you get recognition from the
young people and from the parents you are inclined to say to
yourself, ‘Yea! That was another
good year. That’s another group
of good young people who
have passed through with a pos-
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itive attitude to life’. And then
there is another new group
coming along and we say let’s
come back again. It helps us to
keep going”.
Shane says that when they go
in to the schools looking for
new hosts and hostesses they
don’t talk so much about how
they will develop and learn new
skills as to emphasise the fun
they will have, the things they
can do, the events they can
organise for themselves, the
good new people they will meet
and the craic they will have.
Shane believes that very many
volunteers in No Name Club are
well aware of the great work
they do but he feels that the
challenge is to recruit new volunteers to keep the good work
going.
The chairman, Aidan
Fitzpatrick, says that there will
always be some young persons
who will stand up and on behalf
of the others thank the adults
for their work and their time.
He knows that that thanks is
genuine because, within the
Kilkenny Club, if there is something they want to do they will
do it and if there is something
they don’t want to do they
won’t! “They know it is their
club and we keep telling them
that”, says Aidan. “The club is a
brilliant place for them and you
can see them maturing as the
year goes on. You can see them
coming out of their box a bit
more, being less shy, and doing
it maturely. It’s is great to work
with a group of young people
that we can absolutely trust. We
can trust them wherever they
go”. “Working with them”, says
Deirdre Corbett, “Helps to keep
you grounded and helps to
increase your respect for people”
The founders of the Kilkenny
No Name Club, Fr. Tommy
Murphy, Eddie Keher, Eamonn
Doyle and Bobby Kerr, as well as
all the adult volunteers who
have worked in the club for the
past thirty years can feel proud
that the work they started so
well all those years ago is still
being carried out and that they
have established a tradition of
excellence that is still very evident in the “Mother Club”. We
salute you and we thank you.
Shane Doyle, Kilkenny No Name Club
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OUR FULL AND PART-TIME STAFF
As a result of the Government decision to
allocate funding to No Name Club we are
now in a position to employ three full time
Staff and set up a national Office. The
Office has been set up in Kilkenny City and
it is staffed by our new Chief Executive
Officer, Martin Ryan, our new National
Administrator, Noeline Browne and our new
National Development Manager, Anthony
Chief Executive Officer
Martin Ryan has long experience working in the field of
Youth Work. He worked with
ISPCC before moving to
Ossory Youth and then as
Youth Officer with Kilkenny
V.E.C.
National Administrator
As well as being highly professionally qualified – She is a
Computerised Accounts
Accounting Technician graduate from Carlow IT Noeline
Browne has long experience
as an Adult Committee member in No Name Club. She has
served on various committees
at local and national level
Dominica Healy, from
Mountbellew has vast experience in this area and has
worked successfully as a
Development Office on a
part-time basis with No
Name Club previously. She
has been involved as an
adult committee member in
Mountbellew No Name Club
for many years.
McCormack. In addition we continue to
employ our hard-working and very effective
part-time staff, our Development Officers,
who are funded by
The Health Promotion Department of the
Health Service Executive. The part-time staff
are employed as Development Officers each
with his/her own region in which to work.
They are employed to identify potential
National Development
Manager
Anthony McCormack comes to
us from the Commercial
World where he has been a
great success. He has served in
the highest positions at local
and national level within No
Name Club
Con Nolan from Claremorris
has given sterling service to
No Name Club as a member
of the Adult Committee of
Claremorris No Name Club. He
has worked tirelessly for the
good of the local community
and, particularly, has given of
his time and expertise in the
service of the young people
of the area¡
Mel Bay lives in Thomastown,
Co. Kilkenny and is very
familiar with No Name Club.
He is employed full time as a
Project Worker with the
Ossory Youth Drugs Initiative
and has substantial experience in the field of Youth
Work
new leaders with a view to setting up new
No Name Clubs throughout the country and
to work closely with new and existing clubs
and committees to achieve the objectives of
the No Name Club organisation. Their job
involves, among other things, recruiting and
training new adult leaders and setting up
effective clubs with top class committees in
their areas.
Bernie Divilly from Headford
has been a member of the
adult committee of Headford
No Name Club for a number
of years. She has served as a
member of the National
Communications and Public
Relations committee and
served as Secretary of the
National Management
Committee of No Name Club
Ltd. And a member of the
Board of Directors has been
an active member of the West
Region Committee.
Pat Heeney has been a member of the Adult Committee
of the Donegal Town No
Name Club since its foundation. He has been and excellent member of No Name
Club at all levels within the
organisation. His work with
young people in County
Donegal has been, and continues to be, of the very highest calibre
Aoife Murray has the distinction of being the Lions Club
International Young
Ambassador of the year for
Britain and Ireland and has
served as a Hostess and, later,
as an Adult Committee member, of the Mountbellew No
Name Club. During her time
in the club she has given
great service to the club, its
members and other clubs
throughout the Region
With her sister, Sheila, Joan
Troy has been associated with
No Name Club for many years.
She has been a dedicated
worker with us and we are
delighted to see her take up
this new role. Her area of
responsibility is Dublin, North
Wicklow and Louth and Joan
will be only too pleased to
help you in any way she can
Tom Noone Teaches in Naas C.B.S.
where he has responsibility for
Transition Year. He is the long-time
Secretary of Naas GAA Club and is the
Alcohol Officer with Kildare County
Board GAA. While he has had no previous direct involvement in No Name
Club he finds himself in total agreement with its philosophy and objectives.
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OUR PERMANENT STAFF
Our Chief Executive is Martin Ryan. Martin is a native
of Rathdowney, Co Laois and holds a Degree in
Marketing from Limerick Institute of Technology. He
began his career with Glanbia as Brand and Sales
Manager but soon realised that his youthful experiences in his local Youth Club at Rathdowney and later
as an adult volunteer, were gradually leading him
towards a career in Youth Work.
Martin Ryan
Following a short time as
Regional Manager with the
ISPCC, he joined Ossory Youth –
the Regional Youth Service for
Kilkenny & South Laois and
worked there over a period of
ten years as Youth Development
Coordinator, Team Manager and
latterly as Operations Manager
and Acting CEO.
With the advent of The Youth
Work Act, he was then appointed Youth Officer with County
Kilkenny VEC. He thus brings an
enormous wealth of youth sector experience to his new role
both operationally and administratively.
Martin’s philosophy, when
working with young people has
always been about providing
opportunities for their own personal development and space to
explore their attitudes, beliefs,
opinions and spirituality in a
safe, caring environment. In furtherance of this he has been
directly involved in various personal and development education programmes, residential
weekends, youth pilgrimages to
Taize and the Holy Land and a
number of international youth
exchanges.
His familiarity with No Name
Club comes from his voluntary
involvement with The Kilkenny
No Name Club where each year
he conducts sessions in personal
development, much enjoyed
and beneficial to all participants.
Martin has been a regular
youth programme presenter
with local Kilkenny/Carlow
Radio KCLR96fm, has a keen
interest in all kinds of music and
has travelled widely
Noeline Browne has recently
been appointed Office
Administrator for The No Name
Club at the National Office in
Kilkenny. She is a native of
Newbridge, Co. Kildare, where
she completed her Secondary
Education at The Holy Family
School.
After leaving school Noeline
worked in Retail Management
and, following this, set up in
business in a retail outlet in
Newbridge. In 1986 she married
Michael Browne and moved to
Myshall, Co Carlow and three
years later moved to Baltinglass,
Co Wicklow. Noeline then
returned to Third Level
Education in Carlow IT to gain
an Accountancy Qualification.
She subsequently held various
positions in practice and in the
private sector. In September
2006, at the request of the
Board of Directors, she kept the
books of accounts for the
organisation on a part- time
basis and took over the onerous
task of managing the Finances
following the retirement of long
time Treasurer, Eddie Keher.
Michael and Noeline have one
daughter, Michelle, and one son,
Patrick
She is a former Founder and
Secretary of Baltinglass No
Name Club and was one of
those responsible for Organising
and Hosting The No Name Club
National Youth Awards at The
Dolmen Hotel in Carlow in 1998,
when the Guest of Honour was
Garda Commissioner Pat Byrne.
Her work in the business
world managing office and company accounts will be a great
asset to the No Name Club
31
organisation in her new role as
Office Administrator.
Anthony McCormack is the
new full-time Development
Manager with No Name Club.
He took up duty on Monday,
14th July 2008. Anthony is a
former Chairman of the Board
of Directors of No Name Club
Ltd. From Ballinrobe No Name
Club in County Mayo. He was
born in a little village outside
Ballinrobe called Cloongowla
where his father had a farm.
Anthony still lives in the place
where his father was born and,
indeed, where all of the
McCormacks in the locality had
their origins. Until recently he
farmed the land that his father
farmed before him. He
improved and expanded the
farm until he developed it into a
thriving agricultural enterprise.
In his early days he worked as
an Agricultural Contractor while
his father looked after the farm.
Later he took some work with
his local Co-Op. working in their
Cattle Marts in various locations
around County Mayo. When
North Connacht Farmers Co-Op.
bought a mart that had gone
into liquidation Anthony went
into the mart as a Supervisor
and helped them to set it up.
Then he began to concentrate
most of his effort in the Mart in
Ballinrobe where he became
Assistant Manager and later, the
Manager. He retired from farming and his two sons now run
the farm.
Anthony has been a volunteer
in Ballinrobe No Name Club for
many years. Eventually, he was
elected Chairman of the Board
of Directors of No Name Club.
Here his people-skills and his
efficiency were a tremendous
asset to the organisation. A
deep thinker with an open mind
and a wonderful capacity to listen and to quickly recognise the
kernel of any situation Anthony
was a highly skilled chairman.
He brings with him to his new
Anthony McCormack
job patience, insights, commitment, passion and a practical,
efficient way of working. Above
all, he brings a deep-rooted
respect for people and has a
gentle charm that endears him
to all who meet him.
2000
2000 - Kilkenny advertise
their Junior Cert Disco by
putting notice in results
envelope in 2000
The Kilkenny Club negotiated with the Secondary
Schools in the area to
include a notice about the
No Name Club Junior Cert
Disco in the envelopes in
which the results of the
Junior Certificate examination were being sent out to
the students. This ensured
that the parents of each
Junior Cert student were
aware that such a disco was
being held and when and
where it was on. There was a
massive crowd at the disco.
Milestone
2000
2000 - We are on the
Internet
In 2000 the No Name Club
website was established. It
was designed and managed
by Paul Burke, a member of
the National Executive
Committee at the time and a
former host in the Kilkenny
No Name Club. It has been
up-dated many times since.
Milestone
Noeline Browne with her husband, Michael
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NO NAME CLUB IS TWENTYONE YEARS YOUNG
On the 20th November 1999 No
Name Clubs from all over Ireland
came together to celebrate the
21st Birthday of the Organisation.
The event was held in the
Springhill Hotel in Kilkenny City. It
was attended by the three founder
members, past presidents, past winners of the National Youth Awards,
supporters of the Organisation,
including Mr. Liam Aylward. T.D.
and Mr. Hugh Byrne T.D., Minister
of State at the Department of the
Marine, and a former classmate of
Eamonn Doyle in St. Peter’s,
Wexford, who spoke at the formal
part of the evening’s proceedings.
Speaking of the three founder
members the Minister said that he
felt that Fr. Tom, Eamonn and
Eddie did not fully realise how
much the Organisation has done
for the young people of Ireland. He
said that it is a fantastic
Organisation and that it was now
time that it had a full time staff
and office. He said that himself and
Mr. Liam Aylward, T.D. would
redouble their efforts to see that
funding for this purpose would be
provided by the Department of
Education. He said that No Name
Club was a wonderful Organisation
doing excellent work. He congratulated all those involved from the
beginning to the present day. The
evening concluded with a show
that was very well co-ordinated
and included singing from
Mountbellew, Tuam and An
Ceathru Rua, Dancing from Finglas,
Maynooth and Kilkenny and other
very original and unusual pieces
from the various clubs. As usual
there was a wide variety of talent
with excellent music and song displayed by each club. Many of the
clubs stayed overnight in Kilkenny
after the event.
Former National Award winners who attended the 21st Birthday
Celebrations of the No Name Club
Joint Masters of Ceremonies at the 21st
Birthday of No Name Club Hostess and
Host of the Year 1999, Paula Higgins and
Brian Dooley.
CROSS BORDER
JOURNEY
In 1984 Buncrana No Name Club was invited to a meeting
in Omagh, Co. Tyrone to explain how the club functioned.
The meeting was organised by the Pioneer Association in
the Diocese of Clogher, which, like most areas of Ireland,
has a large population of young people indulging in alcoholic drink. Maud and Liam Rainey represented the club at
the meeting which was attended by priests and lay people
interested in youth from areas as far apart as Newry and
Enniskillen
2007
First National
Youth Conference
Lisa Ann Roche from New Ross and John Gilmore
from Mountbellew No Name Clubs were the main
organizers of the first ever National Youth
Conference which was held in the Tullamore Court
Hotel on Saturday 3rd February 2007.
The then Minister of State at the Department of the Marine, Mr. Hugh Byrne, T.D.
with Mrs. Kay Keher and Mrs. Mae Doyle
The Development
of Literature
It must be borne in mind that the only funds available to the
Organisation for some time were ‘door monies’ from the
Kilkenny Club.
Given that restriction, we did produce a comprehensive booklet
A GUIDE TO THE FORMATION OF CLUBS which to this day
remains remarkably accurate and apt.
We got some assistance from Coca-Cola for this.
Over the years, various Promotional leaflets, Newspapers and
Magazines were produced and circulated at irregular intervals.
In latter years, with the advent of Tommy Hannon, PRO, we have
been able to produce Magazines, Newsletters, Booklets,
Promotional Brochures etc commensurate with the standing of
the Organisation.
Some of the literature
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PHILOSOPHY AND AIMS
33
NO NAME CLUB
PHILOSOPHY
A BLAST FROM THE PAST
Young people have an inalienable right to enjoy a
dignified lifestyle, free from pressure created by
undue influences of alcohol or other drug substances.
This is an extract from a report which appeared in the Evening Echo, Cork
on the 18th May 1983
All people, especially young people, who do not
wish to consume alcohol not only have a right to be
safeguarded from pressures or encouragements to
drink but to be supported in their non drinking
behaviour.
The organisation is non censorious of drink and has
respect for a person’s legal right to drink alcohol
It has equal respect for the person’s right not to
drink should he/she so choose and encourages society generally to demonstrate actively that it also carries that respect.
It seeks that society show, by its actions, its unacceptance of drunken behaviour which adversely affects
the dignity of the person or the common good.
It believes in the innate goodness of young people
generally and the enormous potential and great
capacity they have to live honourably and to positively influence the lives of others. Peer Pressure and
peer pull can, and does, work for good.
The No Name Club believes in accompanying young
people towards these objectives.
It further recognises the potential and capacity of a
local adult community, in tandem with its youth, to
address an adverse drink culture and create a vibrant
youth community.
In all it does the organisation will strive to adopt a
positive approach and avoid negativity of any kind.
Blackpool did
Cork City Proud
The Country Club Hotel No Name
Club did their city proud last weekend when the won the final of the
National No Name Club Cabaret
Competition held at Jury’s Hotel,
Cork.
The Club’s cast of over 70 faced
top-class competition from the two
other qualifiers, Templemore and
Cavan No Name Clubs and had to
serve up nothing short of a professional performance to reap the laurels.
They presented a 35 minute-long
show entitled “the Celebration of
Life” in three sketches entitled
“Past” “Present” and “Future”.
Their show was produced by
Cecilia O’Shea and directed by
Maureen Cotter. Musical Director
was Anne Roche, lighting Tony
Docherty, stage manager Dave
Macken and sound Batt Arnold.
Special musical accompaniment was
The meaningful involvement and inclusion of young
people in opportunities to engage, learn and develop safely is at the core of No Name Club actions.
The Organisation upholds the concept of volunteerism and the rights of volunteers to have meaningful back up support in their role.
No Name Club will promote respect, sobriety and
dignity in all its operations and endeavours.
AIMS AND
OBJECTIVES
• To reduce the pressures which influence people
to an over dependence on alcohol or other drugs
by building self confidence and self-esteem.
• To demonstrate, through active involvement,
that it is possible to organise and enjoy a social
event without the use of alcohol or other drugs
by providing positive and attractive alternatives
to the norm.
• To create Community Awareness of the benefits which accrue from reduced dependence on
alcohol or other drugs.
• To utilise local resources to develop young
Community Leaders with responsible attitudes.
• To promote and develop an understanding and
awareness of No Name Club philosophy, aims
and objectives.
A CELEBRATION OF THIRTY YEARS OF NO NAME CLUB 1978 - 2008
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provided by Declan O’Keeffe on
keyboard and Michael Higgins on
drums.
The final of this Britvic 55 sponsored competition was adjudicated
by Grace O’Shaughnessey, Mr.
George Crosbie, Director Cork
Examiner Group and Mr. Barrie
Daish. Compere for the evening was
Alf McCarthy of RTE.
The capacity attendance included
the Lord Mayor, Ald. Hugh Coveney
and the Lady Mayoress as well as
other prominent public, professional and cultural figures.
The Lord Mayor lauded the No
Name Club concept, that of enjoyment for young people without
resort to alcoholic beverages.
The marvelous evening’s entertainment was the culmination of a
nation-wide competition involving
over 50 groups of the No Name
Club movement.
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Milestones
Hostess Ruth Smith from Portumna with her parents at the
National Award Final in 1997
2001
2001
First Golf Classic held at
Westmonstown Golf Club
On 21st August 2001 a team from New Ross won the
first ever National Golf Classic. It was held in
Westmonstown.
Milestone
Members of the first
National Activities
Committee Susan Kelly,
Mountbellew, Michael
Kane, Leixlip, Caitriona
Whelan, Portlaoise,
Shane Fahy, Tuam,
Bridget Harney Naas
and Robin O’Shea,
Midleton
Appointment of Promotions
Director in January
As the organisation began to expand it was necessary to employ a person on a part-time basis
to manage the expansion, promote the organisation, Liaise with Government Departments and
source funding. The person appointed was Eddie
Keher, a founder member of No Name Club. The
fruits of his excellent work are visible to this
day.
Milestone
2001
First Ever Activities
Committee of young people
The six National Youth Award Finalists of 2001 formed a National
Activities Committee to organise national events for hosts and hostesses. The first such event was held in the Montague Hotel, Portlaoise
and was an outstanding success
Milestone
Golf Classic winners with Eddie Keher, Tom Crosbie, John Hartley, Paddy
Bennett and Barney McKay
National Award Winners Caitriona Whelan and Shane Fahy, their clubs and members of the Executive Committee with President McAleese at Áras an Uachtaráin
2001
Visit to Árus An Uachtaráin – July 2001
President McAleese was invited to be Guest of Honour at the first National Youth Awards of the 21st century. She was unable to
attend. Instead she invited the winners of the Awards with volunteers and members of the winners’ clubs to visit Áras An Uachtaráin.
The occasion was a very special one and the invitation was deeply appreciated by No Name Club.
Milestone
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Page 35
A Tribute to Joyce Fitzgerald
35
JOYCE FITZGERALD
The Original Hostess of the Year
– A Tribute
By Joe Mullane,
St. Joseph’s No Name Club, Mayfield, Cork
A
s I sat among the
capacity attendance
in the popular
Tipperary venue –
“The Premier Hall Thurles”
on the 26th May 1984 – little
did I realise then that I was
witnessing an event that
would have a major significant attraction for the thousands of young people
involved in “No Name
Clubs” throughout this country not just at that time, but
also for years to come.
The occasion was the staging
of the inaugural National Youth
Awards Competition by the
National Executive committee, a
body that I had been co-opted
to in the 1983/1984 season as
the Regional Representative of
the 3 clubs that were based in
Cork at that time. These were:
Jury’s Hotel “No Name Club”,
John Barleycorn Hotel “No
Name Club” and the Country
Club “No Name Club”.
Grace O’Shaughnessey Was M.C. on the
night
The competition was hosed by
the vibrant Thurles “No Name
Club” that had been formed in
January 1982 by an enthusiastic
group of adults under the leadership of Michael Grainger who
also joined the National
Executive Committee in the
1983/1984 season and with
whom the writer became a close
friend.
The National Executive had
decided to introduce a national
competition for the young people that were involved in the 23
clubs that were functioning
throughout the Country at that
time. The competition highlighted the achievements of the
young people who were
deemed to have made the most
outstanding contribution to
their own development, the
work of their club, their family,
and their school and to the well
being of the community in
which they lived. The National
Award Winners would bear the
titles of the Host
and Hostess of
the Year in No
Name Club circles
and they would
receive a trophy
and an educational scholarship bursary to enable
them to continue
their education
on to third level.
Each club was
required to put
forward one competitor in the
Host and Hostess
categories and
these competed
against one
another on a
regional basis.
The winners of
the regional competitions qualified to take part
in the National Finals to select
the Host and Hostess of the
year. To win the National title a
young Host or Hostess needed
to have a particular talent,
something very special as the
standard among the finalists
was always very high.
The 1984 event in Thurles was
no exception with the 10 finalists (5 hosts and 5 hostesses)
vying to become the original
winners of the National Youth
Awards. The following contestants took part in the 1984
Finals:
HOSTS:
John Tuohy –
Castlebar
Gerard O’Carroll –
Waterford
Gerry Doyle –
Donegal Town
Paul Ruddy –
Dundalk
Michael Lowney Nenagh
Hostesses:
Joyce Fitzgerald Dundalk
Linda O’Neill Wexford
Deidre Murray Nenagh
Ann Marie Horan - Ballinasloe
Barbra Murphy Buncrana
The master of ceremonies was
the very popular television fashion programme presenter Grace O’Shaughnessy
who ensured that each contestant was given the very best of
attention by the large enthusiastic following of club leaders,
supporters and family members.
At the conclusion of a most
entertaining and enjoyable competition the adjudicating panel
announced the winners of the
1984 National Youth Awards as
follows:
Hostess of the Year: Joyce
Fitzgerald – Dundalk whose
wonderful presentation of: “The
North and Its Problems” was a
revelation of what life was like
in that troubled part of Ireland.
Host of the Year: John Tuohy
– Castlebar. John’s subject for
the competition was “Does T.V.
Advertising Affect Our Minds”.
In the midst of great celebrations both winners were presented with their prizes by Mr.
Eamonn Doyle, National
President of No Name Club. To
round off a wonderful evening
of entertainment the winners of
the inaugural Cabaret
Competition in 1983 “Blackpool
Youth Group” who represented
the Country Club Hotel Cork
“No Name Club” performed
their winning show “A
Celebration of Life”. That club
was the forerunner of the present day St. Joseph’s (Mayfield)
club of which the writer was a
founding member and Hon
Secretary 1982-1984.
It came as a great shock to
A CELEBRATION OF THIRTY YEARS OF NO NAME CLUB 1978 - 2008
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everyone involved at all levels of the “No Name Club”
Organization to learn of the
tragic death of Joyce
Fitzgerald in a hit and run
traffic accident soon after
her success in the 1984
“Hostess of the Year” competition in the Premier Hall,
Thurles. The highly intelligent University College
Dublin student Joyce
Fitzgerald who won the original title of “Hostess of the
Year” had set a high standard for those who would
follow in her footsteps in
later years. Not alone was
she the star of the show on
that fateful night in Thurles,
she was also the role model
for the young people
involved in “No Name Clubs”
throughout this Country.
The name of Joyce Fitzgerald
will forever be linked with the
National Youth Awards and she
will always be remembered by
all those involved in “No Name
Clubs” throughout Ireland.
Shortly after her death the
National Executive committee
decided to honour Joyce by dedicating the Education Grant that
is awarded to the winners of the
Youth Awards Competition to
her memory.
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PRIDE OF PLACE
By Áine
Geraghty
National Award
winner 1998
Nurse Áine Geraghty Former Hostess
in Kilkenny No Name Club and
National Youth Award Winner 1998
Editor’s Note; - When I read this I could feel the delight with which
Áine remembers the night she won the National Award. The pleasure, the joy and the justified pride shine through her words and
give a lovely picture of what it was like for herself and her family
when it was announced that she was the winner of the National
Award.
My life’s ambition when I won the National Youth Award in 1998
was to be a nurse and I am now a paediatric nurse in the Children’s
University Hospital, Temple Street, Dublin. That is now almost ten
years ago and what a great year that was!
Joining the club in 6th year for my friends and I was a must. We
were following in the footsteps of our brothers and sisters who had
really enjoyed their experiences in the club. Taking part in No Name
Hostess of the Year Áine Geraghty with Host of the Year Alan
Malone, their parents and Garda Commissioner, Pat Byrne
Club made what could have been a stressful year a very enjoyable
one with great memories.
The No Name Club afforded us opportunities we may otherwise
never have had – from our days of grooming and self-development
with Ms Grace O’Shaughnessey to taking part in organising regular
discos locally. Our get-togethers and outings led by Eamonn,
Caroline, Kay and Yvonne were always fun and a welcome relief
from our studies. My friends and I still look back fondly on our “No
Name days”! It is still a great point of interest on my C.V. I have yet
to take part in an interview where I do not get an opportunity to
regale my interviewers with my happy experiences of No Name
Club.
The No Name Club National Awards in the Dolmen Hotel, Carlow in
1998 was a night I will never forget. The events leading up to the
night, and the occasion itself, were like a dream. My Mam, Dad,
family and friends were all so proud of me winning the Award, and
still refer to it with great pride and happiness. Surrounded by family
and friends I got to meet Ray D’Arcy of RTE, the Garda
Commissioner Pat Byrne and the Carter Twins!!! That was a thrill in
itself, not to mention the honour of winning. A photo of this night
still holds pride of place at home.
And to quote from my poem of 10 years ago;To Eamonn [and all the crew] I say
Thanks for having the guts to go and do it your way
For because of people like you
Our lives just HAVEN’T BEEN the same
And thanks to a club, which thirty years later
Still has No Name
Happy thirtieth birthday, No Name Club!
Hostess of the Year 1998 Áine Geraghty with the Carter Twins at the
National Youth Awards Final
2001
2001
Bobby Kerr dies
Bobby was involved in No Name Club in the very earliest days.
Eamonn Doyle says of him, “Once he had decided that an idea was
worthwhile, and had given a commitment to it, his involvement was
total. His ability to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles
was astonishing. Bobby Kerr in his lifetime made a remarkable
impact on many communities”. He died in July 2001. Ar dheis láimh
Dé go raibh a anam dilis.
Award Finalist becomes
finalist in Rose of Tralee
Ruth Smith, Portumna was a finalist in the 1997 No
Name Club National Youth Awards. She was also a
finalist in the Rose of Tralee in 2001. Ruth is an
accomplished musician.¡
Milestone
Milestone
2003
European Megapoles Award for No Name Club
In order to counter alcohol problems which existed throughout the Union the European Union invited each member State to attend a
conference on the subject and to make a presentation on the project or strategy in operation in the country which was effective and
could be copied by other European States. The Department of Health on behalf of the Irish Government chose No Name Club to represent Ireland at the conference. Eddie Keher’s presentation at the conference generated immense interest.
Milestone
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Page 37
Origins and Early Days of Cabaret
Cabaret was always associated with No
Name Club. It was a key component in
Kilkenny’s first Club in 1978, admittedly
in a somewhat different form.
In an effort to encourage more people to enjoy a night out without alcohol, the Club at that time ran a Cabaret
Competition open to all groups, organisation, clubs, associations, firms, etc. A
20 minute show was required, with two
such shows presented each night of No
Name Club as part of the night’s entertainment. Dancing and Disco followed.
Shows were produced by such groups
as The Army, The Gardai, The Teachers,
Local Services, GAA Clubs, Licensed
Vintners, Clergy, Businesses, Firms, ICA,
Macra etc. The winners went on to represent the No Name Club in the initial
National Cabaret Competitions. The
first National Final was held in Jury’s
Hotel, Cork and involved No Name
37
Clubs from Cork’s Country Club (represented by Blackpool Youth Club),
Kilkenny No Name Club (represented by
Templemore GAA Club) and Cavan No
Name Club (represented by Kingscourt
ICA). Blackpool Youth Club and Cork’s
Country Club No Name Club were the
first winners.
Over time Cabaret developed into
shows involving Hosts/Hostesses only.
The First National Cabaret Competition 1983
ollowing the great efforts
of the founding members
Bobby Kerr, Eamonn Doyle,
Eddie Keher and Fr. Tom
Murphy the first “No Name
Club” was set up in Kilkenny in
1978 as an alternative to pub
culture. This gave young people
an opportunity to enjoy themselves in a social setting where
the format consisted of cabaret,
dancing and disco. Word soon
spread throughout the country
through the publicity given to
the fledgling club both on RTE
and through other media outlets.
Many people began to visit the
Kilkenny club to see how the club
worked, while club members visited other areas to help get clubs
started. The generosity of the
Kilkenny club members in helping
new clubs to get started, to help
them in their difficulty in sorting
out the inevitable early problems
has been the cornerstone of the
organisation down through the
years. It became obvious in
December 1980 that the committee of the Kilkenny “No Name
Club” as it stood was not constituted to handle the growing
number of enquiries to set up
clubs and so a National Executive
was formed at a convention held
in Kilkenny that was attended by
representatives of each of the
clubs that were operating at that
time.
It was decided that the
Kilkenny club committee en-bloc
would form the National
Executive for the following two
years. During those years the
Organisation’s constitution
together with the rules were formalised and in 1982 the
Organisation became a truly
National one with an open election to appoint the original
National Executive Committee.
In the 1983/1984 season the
writer was co-opted on to the
National Executive Committee as
the regional representative of the
3 Cork based clubs that operated
at that time. These clubs were:
Jury’s Hotel “No Name Club”,
John Barleycorn Hotel “No Name
Club” and the Country Club Hotel
“No Name Club. At the National
Executive meetings many sugges-
F
Joe Mullane who wrote this piece.
By Joe Mullane
St. Joseph’s No Name Club
Mayfield, Cork
tions and ideas were put forward
with the view to replicating the
Cabaret Shows that had been a
feature of the early years of the
Kilkenny club in order to involve
the growing number of new clubs
that were joining the organisation.
The Kilkenny club had used the
tried and trusted format of the
very popular “Tops of the Town”
competition that involved local
groups, businesses, factories,
organisations and associations
that were anxious to display their
talents in a competitive competition.
The first national “No Name
Club”, Cabaret Competition was
organised in the spring of 1983
and it attracted an entry of over
50 groups. Many of the clubs
had organised a local cabaret
competition with the winner’s
prize being a place in the
National event. At the various
heats of this competition there
were many entertaining and
enjoyable shows until finally the
representatives of the Kilkenny,
Cavan and Cork clubs qualified
for the final.
On Sunday 15th May 1983 the
first National Cabaret Final was
staged in the ballroom in Jury’s
Hotel Cork and the event was
sponsored by the manufacturers
of “Britvic 55” a soft mineral
drink of the time. The competition was hosted by the commit-
tee of Jury’s Hotel “No Name
Club” with Mr. Alf McCarthy, a
producer and presenter of programmes with RTE Cork acting as
the compere of the event.
Among the capacity audience
were the Lord Mayor of Cork the
late lamented Mr. Hugh Coveney
T.D. and the Lady Mayoress, parents of the current Fine Gael T.D.
Mr. Simon Coveney. Throughout
the afternoon of the event there
were hectic preparations with the
three finalists groups putting the
final touches to their shows in
rehearsals. As the starting time
of 8p.m. approached and the
“House Full” sign indicated that
there were no seats available,
there was a palpable air of tension among the supporters of the
competing clubs.
The Cavan “No Name Club” was
represented by the Kingscourt
I.C.A. cabaret group whose show
was titled “Going International”
consisted of a selection of words,
music and laughter from countries around the world in the
company of the group’s chorus
and soloists. The first country –
Scotland – was portrayed
through song and dance by Mary
Gilsenan, Kay Gallagher and
Moira Gargan. This was followed
by a portrayal of Italy by Marie
Cullen. Ireland (Dublin) was represented by Nuala Macken. A
monologue called An
International Problem was recited
by Theresa O’Reilly. Spain was
portrayed by David Eager.
This was followed by a sketch
called Laugh with Patsy by Patsy
Sherlock which had the audience
rolling in the aisles. Greece was
presented by Nuala Macken. This
was followed by a musical interlude presented by Frances
Sheridan and John McBreen and
to conclude their show the chorus gave a rendition of a selection of songs portraying the
U.S.A.
The Country Club Hotel Cork
“No Name Club” were represented
by the Blackpool youth club
cabaret group whose show was
entitled “A Celebration of Life”.
The show opened in a blaze of
colour and dancing which included a selection of songs by the
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group’s chorus. This was followed
by: The Past by the Fireside with
Paul Dennehy as the Seanachai,
the storyteller was played by
Jennifer O’Shea and the solos
singer was Ted Williamson. A
reprise by the group’s chorus also
included some sketches involving
Hayley Murphy, Susan O’Shea and
Jennifer O’Shea. The next scene
was entitles “The Present – A
Jungle of Unemployment”. The
first doler was characterised by
Paul Dennehy, the second doler
was played by Andrew Dunlea
and the girl at the hatch was
portrayed by Jennifer O’Shea who
was joined by the boys of the
Chorus. A sketch titled “Time Out
for Folk” was presented by John
Bracken and this was followed by
the group’s presentation of “The
Future – U.F.O.’s in Blackpool.
The U.F.O. spotter was played by
Paul Dennehy and the Army
Officer was played by Jennifer
O’Shea. The finale consisted of a
selection of songs by the members of the group’s chorus.
The Kilkenny “No Name Club”
was represented by the members
of the Templemore Eíre Óg GAA
Club cabaret group whose show
was titled “Music Hall Memories”.
Their show opened on a lively
note with a selection and dance –
their version of “That’s
Entertainment” by the members
of the group’s chorus, this was
followed by a monologue and a
solo performance by Theresa
Maher.
“Lets All Go Down The Strand”
was a sketch that included
soloists Tina O’Dea, Michael
Fogarty and Bridget Costigan.
Another sketch entitled “In For
Observation” followed with the
lead roles being portrayed by
Theresa Maher and Susie Ahern.
“After The Ball” consisted of a
number of songs by the group’s
soloists Billy Kelly, Jim O’Shea and
Carol Fogarty. A short sketch
came next called “Two Fairies”
played by Theresa Maher and
Buddy Fogarty.
Rose Gleeson provided a violin
solo and this was followed by a
vocal solo rendered by Marie
Walsh. Theresa Maher recited a
monologue she had composed for
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The First National Cabaret Competition 1983
the show and Buddy Fogarty gave
a fine rendition of his version of
a selection of Percy French songs.
The group’s final sketch was
called “The Station Master” with
the various roles being played by
Billy Kelly, Michael Fogarty, Carol
Fogarty and Tina O’Dea. Their
show concluded with the group’s
chorus providing a selection of
music hall hits.
This brought to an end almost
three hours of highly enjoyable
entertainment by all of the contestants who gave their all in the
hope of winning the inaugural
Cabaret Competition.
The task of selecting the winners of the 1983 Cabaret event
fell to the adjudicating panel of:
Mr. George Crosbie of the Cork
Examiner newspaper. Ms. Grace
O’Shaughnessy and Mr. Barry
Daish and they adjourned to
another location in the hotel to
consider their verdict. On their
return the judges announced that
the “Blackpool Youth Club
Cabaret Group, representing the
Country Club Hotel Cork “No
Name Club” were the clear winners of the inaugural National
Cabaret Contest. This was followed by a night of celebrations
that lasted long into the early
hours of Monday and was rounded off a few days later by a Civic
Reception in Cork City Hall granted to the winners by the late Lord
Mayor Mr. Hugh Coveney.
Press account of Final “Blackpool Group’s Success” by Michael Moloney
HIBERNIAN / RTE HALL OF FAME AWARD
The whole of No Name Club rejoiced with Eddie
Keher when he was admitted to the Hall of Fame
on the RTE 2003 Sports round-up programme on
the 3rd January. 2004. He was a remarkably stylish
and accomplished hurler in his day.
His skills and sportsmanship on the field of play
made him a joy to watch and supporter and opponent alike held him in high regard. That high
regard is still evident and no matter where he goes
admirers come to shake his hand and thank him
for the wonderful pleasure he gave to so many
who watched him play. Eddie has an impressive
record. When you read it you have no doubt that
the Hall of Fame Award was well and truly
deserved.
Eddie, of course, is one of the Founder members
of No Name Club – an organisation that has done
wonderful work for 26 years. The whole organisation is proud and delighted that he has, eventually,
been recognised in this way. Congratulations, Eddie
agus go maire tú céad.
A GOOD LEADER
Ireland victories.
ter one of his All
af
ld
fie
e
th
f
of
ed
Eddie being chair
A leader is best when people barely know he
exists
Not so good when people obey and acclaim him
Worse when they despise him
But of a good leader, who talks little,
When his work is done, his aims fulfilled,
They will say, “We did this ourselves”
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Garda Involvement
From the outset, the involvement
of, and contribution by, individual
members of An Garda Siochána and
by successive Commissioners and
senior personnel has been outstanding and highly significant. It is
easy to understand of course, why
this should be and why it continues
to this day. An enlightened Garda
Siochána understands that ‘policing’ is not just about controlling
the bad –it must also seek and
encourage the activation of the
good. And in the vexed question of
alcohol and drug abuse which surrounds young people and society
generally, The No Name Club offers
an opportunity to do the latter
entirely in keeping with all that is
best in good Garda Community
relations.
All Garda Commissioners who
served over the past 30 years have
personally and publicly endorsed
The No Name Club concepts. They
have, inter alia, attended Youth
39
Awards as Guests of Honour, made
telling contributions to Promotional
Videos, organised Conferences,
endorsed Literature, helped particular Clubs with Training, and singularly endorsed No Name Club in The
Garda Youth Policy 2001 as one
to be recommended to all
Superintendents throughout the
country. It is significant that some
Garda Divisions have No Name Club
and its promotion written in to
their Policing Plans.
Garda John Joe Kinsella.
Garda Con Nolan
Sergt. Michael Browne..
Garda Eamonn Doyle – founder member.
Sergt Dermot Corcoran.
For the past several years also,
The Interview Panel for the
National Youth Awards Finals
includes a senior Garda Officer.
But apart from official Garda
endorsement, it is extraordinary to
note the huge voluntary contribution made by individual Gardai of
all ranks in No Name Clubs up and
down the country – something
which deserves great commendation. All of these men and women
in the force – and indeed all the
young people they come into contact with - will gladly testify to the
unique opportunity No Name Club
provides for both, not only to
understand each other, but to work
collectively, honestly and impressively to help create a better society for all. The No Name Club for its
part could not thank those members and the force generally
enough. Long may that union continue and prosper. We picture a
small number of members of the
Gardai who were involved down
through the years. For lack of space
many who made, and are making,
wonderful contributions are left
out.
Garda John Roche
Garda Pat Heeney
Sergeant Andy Boyle.
Superintendent Paul Glynn
Chief Superintendent Joe Dowling.
Assistant Commissioner Catherine
Clancy..
Garda Margaret O’Connell.
Garda Joe Delaney.
Garda Oliver King with his friend Marie
Quigley.
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Garda Laura Deehan.
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What No Name Club means to me
40
R
ichie Ryan
was
National
Award winner in 2006. At the
time he was a
member of
Kilkenny no Name
Club and was a
student in St.
Kieran’s College,
Kilkenny. Richie
was a superb student and after his secondary school he
went to university college Dublin
where he is now studying Veterinary
Medicine. Richie is a farmer’s son and
loves the whole farming environment.
He will make an excellent veterinary
Surgeon. He was an outstanding
ambassador for No name Club as Host
of The Year 2006. He has since acted
with distinction as a member of the
regional Judging Panels for the Annual
No Name Club Awards
No Name meant many things to me, but
one of the most beneficial things was the
By Richie Ryan
Host of th Year 2006
UPS &
DOWNS
Richie Ryan
chance it gave me to develop as an individual. In No Name Club, the hosts and hostesses are treated like young adults and this
is a fantastic opportunity for them to grow
into that role. I learned useful skills such as
how to work as part of a team, how to
think creatively and, most importantly, how
to deal with peer pressure.
Through my time in No Name Club I
became much more confident and, in my
opinion, developed much better people
skills which are essential for all people in all
walks of life. Obviously No Name Club
means different things to different people.
However, I
believe if you asked a large number of former hosts and hostesses what it meant to
them, one of the most common answers
would be that it made them much more
confident people. This confidence makes us
much less likely to give in to peer pressure
in society and gives us the power to do our
own thing so we don’t blindly follow the
crowd. I will always be grateful to No Name
Club for helping me develop as a person
and hope it continues to do so for young
people throughout Ireland for the next thirty years and beyond!
present themselves year after year as hosts
and hostesses in our clubs. They show a
delightful willingness to work for the good
of their peers, for the benefit of the community and for the support of others less
well-off than themselves and for their own
personal development. The National Youth
Awards continue to produce contestants of
the very highest calibre who are an outstanding credit to themselves, their families,
their schools and their communities and of
whom we are truly proud.
Name Club to address the very serious issues
surrounding excessive drinking and the proliferation of drugs in society.
It is likewise commendable to see the No
Name Club tradition of voluntarism continue with volunteers who have served for
many, many years as well as a welcome infusion of new blood.
That Good News appears to be no news
with national media is regrettable.
Losing young people in tragic accidents
who gave, and had so much more to give
No Name Club is a difficult experience. It is
always a regret to lose good volunteers
and young people in whatever circumstances. To the families of all those who
died while involved with No Name Club we
offer our sincerest sympathy.
It is encouraging to see in this the 30th year
of operation, that we have the biggest
number of clubs ever.
No Organisation goes through its entire lifetime without its ups and downs and No
Name Club is no different. These can manifest themselves in a variety of ways. It can
happen as individuals, it can happen at local
Club level, it can happen at National Level
and it can happen outside of all of this and
have an effect on the whole organisation.
It should not be forgotten that what
appears to be a problem at the time can
sometimes translate later into an advantage. The change from operating under a
National Executive - and its attendant difficulties - to a Limited Company is one such
example.
It is always preferable to dwell on the positives. In this respect, we are pleased to point
to recognition and endorsement by outside independent bodies for the work of No
Name Club. We quote the recognition
afforded No Name Club through National
People of the Year Award, National Better
Ireland Award, European Megapoles Award
along with numerous County and Local
Awards for individual clubs.
It is extremely positive to note the consistency with which young people continue to
It is particularly noteworthy that the
Organisation has the capacity to be cohesive and sensible in the face of controversy and has the ability to bounce back from
temporary setbacks.
It is also gratifying that the Organisation
has. at last, been provided with the funding
necessary to secure a National Office and
Staff. This is a major advance which will
facilitate the expansion of the organisation
for years to come.
There have been a number of setbacks over
the years, some of which were disappointing and regrettable but none thankfully disastrous. One would always prefer some of
these didn’t happen, but it is a source of
some solace to the Organisation that most
upheavals tended to be personality driven
rather than issue matters.
“You can shape the future. You can change the way
we do things,” said the Minister to this group of
hosts and hostesses at the launch of the Cork project
2002
Cork Project launched
by the Minister for
Health and Children
Minister Micheál Martin launched the
Cork Project on Monday 16th
September 2002 in the Silver Springs
Moran Hotel in Cork
It remains a regret that we failed to convince Government over so many years to
invest decent resources to advance our Aims
and Objectives. It is a regret that consequently the Organisation lost opportunities to consolidate ground gained and see
Clubs fall away for want of adequate support. There are signs that this is now changing and that Government is becoming more
and more aware of the potential of No
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NATIONAL PRESIDENTS OF NO NAME CLUB
41
Eamonn Doyle
(President 1980 – 1986)
Eamonn was the first National President of No Name Club. He was also one of the founder members of the
organisation and has worked tirelessly for all of the thirty years of its existence. His work was instrumental in
keeping No Name Club going and he willingly took on any role that demanded his expertise and dedication to
ensure that the organisation survived in good times and in bad. In 1982 the quality of his work was recognised
nationally when he was awarded a “Person of the Year” Award. Over 300 people had been nominated for this
national award and it is a credit to Eamonn that he was selected and actually won the award. Over the years
Eamonn has served as President, Regional Representative, P.R.O., Secretary, Executive Officer, Development Cocoordinator and every other capacity possible to imagine. His capacity to get things done never fails to amaze
those around him. Often people with this capacity also have the capacity to alienate those with whom they
are supposed to work. This could never be said of Eamonn who has an abundance of the leadership skills
required to bring people with him. During all this time he has been a staunch member of the Kilkenny Club
where the organisation was born and has been responsible for quality work in that club for each and every
one of its thirty years.
Canon Tom Murphy, PP.
(President 1986-1988)
Fr. Tom is a native of The Rower, Co. Kilkenny. He went to Secondary School at CBS New Ross and was
ordained in St. Kieran’s College, Kilkenny in June 1967. He spent a year studying Youth Work in Scotland,
returning to serve his Diocese in Thomastown, St., John’s –Kilkenny, Callan, Slieverue and currently as PP in
Ballyragget, Co. Kilkenny. It was Fr. Tom’s sermon on Temperance Sunday in St. John’s that sparked the initial
No Name Club in Kilkenny. A committed sportsman in his youth, Fr. Tom hurled with his Club and County winning Minor and Senior All Ireland Medals.
Andy O’Boyle
(President 1988 –1990)
Andy is a native of County Mayo and served as a Member of An Garda Siochána in Donegal most of his life. He
was involved with the Letterkenny No Name Club, where he was based as a Garda Sergeant working in
Community Relations. Andy was the first President to hold the office outside of the Kilkenny Club and was
very conscious of what that meant to the remainder of the clubs in the country. He worked tirelessly for the
Organisation, whilst continuing his involvement with the Letterkenny Club and brought to the office a gentle
but workmanlike style that only he could bring. A man big of stature, big of heart and big of generosity. Now
enjoys retirement and still lives in Letterkenny.
Oliver Beirne
(President 1990-1992)
Oliver was from Leitrim, but spent most of his working life as a Garda in Dublin. He spent much of this time as
Juvenile Liaison Officer in Cabra. His area of responsibility included Blanchardstown, where he lived with his
wife and family, and he lost no time in helping to start a No Name Club there. That club was the first in Dublin
and thrived for many years. Ollie brought energy to all No Name Club activities and enjoyed greatly his work
with young people. He was Chairman of the Blanchardstown Club for a number of years, served from 1985 on
the National Executive of No Name Club and became President in 1990.
Pauline Connor
(President 1992-1994)
Pauline is a native of Co. Kildare but lived with her family in Drogheda. There she helped found the Drogheda
Club which functioned admirably for many years with her help and guidance. She was directly involved when
her Club hosted the National Youth Awards-at the time no mean undertaking- and she served on the National
Executive for a number of years before becoming the first woman President.
Former National Presidents – Fr. Tommy Murphy, Fr. John Brickley, Eamonn Doyle and at back, Michael
Browne and Andy Boyle
Former President Joe Mullane
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NATIONAL PRESIDENTS OF NO NAME CLUB
Michael Browne
(President 1994-1998)
Michael is a native of Co. Limerick but now resident with his family in Baltinglass, Co. Wicklow, where he is a
Garda Sergeant. Michael and his wife, Noeline, had direct responsibility for starting The No Name Club in
Baltinglass which had the task and honour of hosting The National Youth Awards which had as Guest of
Honour, President Mary Robinson. Michael’s time in office was marked by a determination to spread the concepts as wide as possible and he devoted much time and travel in that quest.
Later he served with the United Nations in Cyprus and was transferred to Carlow for a time before returning to
Baltinglass. He is currently Treasurer /Director of the Organisation.
Fr. John Brickley
(President 1998 – 2004)
Fr. John is from Clonaslee, Co. Laois and first became involved in The No Name Club when serving as Chaplain in
Tullow Community School, Co. Carlow. He was the main instigator in forming a Club in Tullow which ran for a
number of years in the locality. Fr. John was later transferred to Naas where he lives and where he helped start
the Naas No Name Club. He spent a number of years on the National Executive of the Organisation before
being elected President in 1998. A man of gentleness, of great common sense and remarkable dedication, he
had the capacity to bring the best out of everyone.
Joe Mullane
(President 2004 –2005)
Joe has served The No Name Club Organisation longer than anyone outside of the founders, becoming involved
first as far back as 1981 when a No Name Club formed in The Country Club, Montenotte, Cork. He served in
many capacities on The National Executive before being elected its President in 2004. Joe had the task of steering the Organisation through a radical change in its governance from a National Executive to a Limited
Company which required extraordinary vision, skill, dedication and tenacity. Joe is involved deeply in his community in St. Joseph’s, Mayfield and a founder leader of their No Name Club. In recognition of his services to
The No Name Club he was presented last year with The No Name Club Lifetime Friendship Award.
Eddie Keher
(Chairman No Name Club Limited 1989 –2006)
Eddie served as Chairman of No Name Club Ltd. from 1989 to 2006. In 2005 the National Executive Committee
was abolished and in its place the Board of Directors became the governing body. The office of Chairman of the
Board replaced the office of President. Eddie was one of the founders of No Name Club and kept its aims and
philosophy close to his heart for the greater part of his life. He served No Name Club in many capacities down
through the years and his work was always marked with the sign of excellence. One of Ireland’s greatest sportsmen he is known the length and breadth of the country. He nurtured and cared for No Name Club during the
good years and the bad and was unstinting in his dedication to the welfare of young people. The University of
Limerick, recognizing the wonderful scope of his work, conferred an Honorary Doctorate of Science on him in
December 2006. Eddie is the holder of six Senor all Ireland hurling medals, ten Leinster medals, five All Star
Awards, nine National League medals and has the highest number of points scored in All Ireland Finals at 93
points. He was selected on the “Team of The Century”, the “Team of the Millennium” and was admitted to the
“Hall of Fame” in January 2003. In 1978, with Eamonn Doyle and Fr. Tom Murphy, he founded No Name club
Anthony McCormack
(Chairman No Name Club Limited 2006- 2008)
Anthony is from Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo and is Manager of Ballinrobe Livestock Mart. He became involved with No
Name Club through his own Club in Ballinrobe and almost immediately with the National Organisation where
he served as Regional Representative. His abilities were not lost on the Directors of The Company and he was
co-opted as a Director in 2006. He was an immediate choice as Chairman on the resignation of long time
Chairman Eddie Keher. Anthony has presided over a time of immense change within the Organisation which has
seen additions to Membership, increase in Operations, Development of more Clubs, the setting up of a National
Office and the employment of a Chief Executive and a National Administrator. His energy and enthusiasm is
incredible and he has traveled the country from North to South from West to East at all hours of the day and
night in his efforts to promote and expand No Name Club.
2004
First Club of the Year Awards
presented
On the 4th January 2004 the first ever Club of the Year
Awards were held. In the Newpark Hotel in Kilkenny
Mountbellew were awarded the title of Club of the Year and
were presented with the Bobby Kerr memorial trophy. Other
finalists were Claremorris, Athenry, Gort, Headford,
Castlerea, Tuam, Raheen [Limerick], Youghal, Tralee, Trim,
Naas, Kilmannagh, Nenagh/Borrisokane, Ring of Hook,
Leixlip, New Ross, Clane, Finglas, St Joseph’s Mayfield, Cobh,
Midleton, Lucan and Kilkenny
Brigita Tysencko a
hostess in New Ross
was the first person
not of Irish decent
to reach the
National Youth
Award final
Milestone
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ST. JOSEPH’S [MAYFIELD] NO NAME CLUB
M
ayfield is one of the older suburbs of Cork City. There is a
strong commitment to sporting activities and to volunteerism in the modern vibrant community of Mayfield that
encompasses the two parishes of Our Lady Crowned and St.
Joseph’s which were both part of the former St. Patrick’s Parish . St.
Joseph’s No Name Club caters for the entire area and has done for
the past ten years when it was set up as sub-committee of St.
Joseph’s Community Association to cater for the needs of young people in the Mayfield area.
St. Joseph’s No Name Club is a
warm and welcoming club to
visit. A sense of good humour
and togetherness pervades the
whole club. Adults and young
people show mutual respect,
and the fun in exchanges
between the Committee and the
hosts and hostesses is obvious at
all times. One senses that the
club is a comfortable place to be
for all concerned. Together
adults and young people have
done remarkable work and have
made a big difference to their
area.
Jade Sheehan is very pleased
that No Name Club is one of the
referees who helped her get a
scholarship in Law at Griffith
College in Dublin and she is very
conscious of how much she
learned in the Club. She is a
prime example of how important and influential the Club has
been in the personal development of so many young people
down through the years.
Jonathon Buckley reached the
final of the National Youth
Awards in 2007. He made a
wonderful impression on Judges
and young people alike. He is
studying for his Leaving
Certificate this year. He says that
being in the National final was
“like being a celebrity for the
day, you have so much attention
on you”. He says, “The build up
was fantastic. Then being on the
stage with everyone knowing
your name was almost unreal”.
Jonathon looks at you with an
impish grin and says, “Being
famous is tough”. Like so many
others Jonathon discovered that
The St. Joseph’s No Name Club at a Civic Reception in Cork to mark the winning of
the “Club of the Year” Award in 2003
being at the National Youth
Awards was like being part of
one country-wide family where
everyone even spoke the same
language and everyone knew
what No Name Club is about
and could talk to each other
freely.
Karen Barry said that getting
to the Regional final was great.
“You meet people you never
met before and you talk to
them as if you knew them for
years”. Karen emphasises the
honour it was to be selected to
represent the club at the
Awards. “It was such an honour
to be selected to represent my
club. I was shocked. I never
expected it. When I was selected
I began to think of all the things
I would have to do – read up all
about No Name Club, buy a new
dress - you know what I mean. I
never thought I was that highly
43
not studying to become a
“Quack” but that if she comes
across a remedy for old age she
will let some of us know about
it!!
Maria Kelleher says that she
really enjoyed her time in the
club where she met a whole lot
of new people, made new
friends, had a great laugh and
had good all round fun. While
she was a hostess with the club
she won the Cork Garda Youth
Award for her outstanding work
in the club. She absolutely loved
the various trips the club went
on to Templemore and other
places and especially to the
National Youth Awards.
Jessica O’Connell talked about
some of the things she did in
the club and mentioned that
the whole club went out for a
meal together to celebrate the
end of the year before they
broke up for the summer.
Among other things she mentioned going bowling which was
great fun and they had a great
laugh. She could hardly wait to
get back to the club again after
the summer. She says that the
club recruits its hosts and hostesses from the Community
Maria Hickey, Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr John Kelleher, Danielle Curtin, Kate Twomey
& Joe Mullane from St. Joseph’s No Name Club who hosted the launch of the Cork
Project
thought of that they would
honour me like that. It was a
definite boost in confidence”,
says Karen. Karen is a student at
Cork Institute of Technology
where she is studying herbal
medicine and insists that she is
Some of the present club – Mary Connolly, Ann Twomey, Joe Mullane, Mary Curtin, John Twomey, Jonathon O’Donovan,
Jessica O’Connell, Jonathan Buckley, Karen Barry, Jade Sheehan Claire Buckley
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School and from, St. Patrick’s, St.
Angela’s, Glanmire, St. Aidan’s
and from the Gaelic School,
Coláiste Na bPiarsaigh. “It took
us a while to get to know each
other”, says Jessica, “But soon
we got real close and made
loads of new friends and it was
really enjoyable. It was great to
meet people from other schools
and I became great friends with
them”. With a big happy grin
on her face she said, “I really
loved it”. It was plain to see
that she really did love it.
Jennifer O’Shea says that the
thing the club is most proud of
is hosting the 2004 National
Youth Awards in the Silver
Springs Hotel in Cork. For the
young people of the club it was
a major undertaking. “We had
to make sure that everything
went alright. We had 840 young
people at it. There were so
many people at it that we had
to use two banqueting halls in
the hotel. It was great to meet
Ray Darcy. He was the best com-
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ST. JOSEPH’S [MAYFIELD] NO NAME CLUB
that the Dail Chamber was so
much smaller than what she
expected to be. William
Dollard said they were taken
on a tour of Leinster House and
he discovered that you had to
be quiet in the Dail or you
would get “thrown out”.
The St. Joseph’s Mayfield Club which attended the National Youth Awards in
Galway in 2002
Anne Twomey, St. Joseph’s Mayfield No
Name Club
pere we ever had. We were the
last club to host the National
Youth Awards. The National
Events committee does that now
but we set a very high standard”, says Jennifer with pride
in her voice. Joe Mullane tells us
that the group who organised
the Awards won the Cork Garda
Youth Award for the work they
did organising and hosting the
event. It was the first and only
time that a group – as distinct
from an individual - won that
award.
Jessica O’Connell was among
three club members who were
picked to represent No Name
Club in Nicaragua. Prior to that
members of St. Joseph’s No
Name Club attended a workshop with Newbury House Arts
Centre. “It’s an arts club that do
murals and other paintings”,
says Jessica. “People attended
interviews and me and Janice
O’Riordan and Paloma Pentoni,
who is from Brazil, got picked to
go to Nicaragua. We went for
training in facilitation with people from all over the world like
Hungry, Guatemala, Nicaragua,
17 from Ireland and a whole lot
of other places. We did paintings based on the theme of
‘peace’. I wore my No Name
Club T-shirt and I had to tell
everyone about No Name Club.
They thought we were all alcoholics and they’d come up to us
and wanted to know ‘how long
are you off the drink!!!’ We
must have talked too fast or
something because they didn’t
understand what we were saying”, says Jessica. Well, they are
from Cork after all!!!!!
On the invitation of Mr. Bernard
Allen T.D. members of the Club
went on a visit to Dail Eireann.
As a special treat the club members flew from Cork Airport to
Dublin. Jade Sheehan, who is
studying Law, found it very
interesting. She was surprised
Karen Barry and Jonathan
Buckley told of their involvement in visiting old people in
the Centre in Mayfield every
Wednesday after school. If they
had something on Karen and
Jonathon would participate
with them. “Most of the time
we’d have a conversation with
them”, says Karen. “They were
pretty interested in what we
were doing with our lives and
what was going on. You could
tell they enjoyed having us
there because they kept talking
to us”, says Jonathon. Karen
says, “They told us stories about
themselves and we played bingo
with them and we got really
into it. They told us about their
lives and how different things
were in their time and how
things have changed”
Mary Curtin from St. Joseph’s No Name
Club, Cork
The adult Committee includes
Chairperson Anne Twomey, Vice
chairperson Mary Curtin,
Secretary Joe Mullane, Treasurer
Derek Connolly, Training Officer
Mary Connolly, John Twomey
member of the National Events
Committee, Joe O’Connor and
Jonathon O’Donovan.
In 2007 Joe Mullane the present
Secretary of the Club and who
served on the National Executive
Committee as far back as 1983
received the No Name Club
National Friendship Award. He
had been the National President
from 2003 to 2005 when the
new No Name Club structures
were put in place and the post
of National President became
defunct. Joe has the distinction
of being the last person to serve
as National President of No
Name Club.
The club won many group and
individual awards down through
the years and received several
awards under the “Club of the
Year” programme.
Jonathon Buckley from St. Joseph’s
No Name Club, Cork was a National
Youth Award finalist in 2007
Karen Barry from St. Joseph’s No
Name Club, Cork is studying Herbal
Medicine at Cork IT
Jade Sheehan from St. Joseph’s No
Name club is now studying Law at
Griffith College
2005
2005 No Name Club Ltd. now operates as a Limited Company.
In the interests of the proper development of No Name Club in
the 21st Century it was felt that a revised structure was needed. The old National Executive Committee – the governing body
– ceased to exist and a new Board of Directors was elected and
became the governing body of No Name Club Limited.
Milestone
Kate Donnachie and Kelly Phelan from Cobh heard the Minister tell them that to
effect cultural change “Is really up to you”
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A LETTER FROM A SCHOOL PRINCIPAL
A letter from the Principal of
Tarbert Comprehensive School,
Ms. Mary McGillicuddy, written in
April 2008 gives an idea of how
much Shannonside No Name Club
is appreciated in Tarbert and surrounding areas. It says,
“Tarbert Comprehensive School is
very proud to be connected to
the Shannonside No Name Club.
The club was established as a
result of a joint initiative
between the Parents association
of the school and the Thomas
Lyndon Foundation – a local association which aims to raise
awareness of the problem of
alcohol and drug abuse and also
to provide support for individuals
and families who are affected by
such problems.
MY NO-NAME CLUB YEARS
The No Name Club has been
hugely successful here. Our students come from a rural area,
predominantly small villages, and
once they are gone beyond the
age for the local youth club the
Paddy Creedon, Shannonside No Name
Club
opportunities for structured
social occasions with their own
peer group are few and far
between.
We have always been aware in
the school that this is the “Gap of
45
Danger” – the years between 15
and 17 when there is often nothing to do, apart from sports if
you are lucky enough to be
involved, but actually no social
outlet where teens can meet in
an environment where there is
no pressure to drink and no
access to alcohol. No Name Club
fills that gap – it provides the
opportunity for structured fun,
worthwhile activities that are
age-appropriate and have the
enormous benefit of being legal.
Without No Name Club
teenagers face a stark choice – to
be part of a group, to be accepted on a night out, you are under
intense pressure to drink.
Otherwise you stay at home.
Neither choice is either desirable
or healthy. No Name Club provides a real alternative to a culture that is not only ugly but
dangerous.
We are delighted to have
Shannonside No Name Club
based in this school”
Sean Jones, Shannonside No Name
Club won the National Youth Award
in 2005
By Jackie Shiels
[nee Tedford]
Hostess of The Year 1986
I
won the No Name National Youth
Award in Portumna, Galway in 1986.
When I was asked to write this piece
I had no difficulty in recollecting the
great feeling of pride when I won the
award. The members of the Kilkenny
club I was representing had traveled in
numbers to support myself and Conor
O’Neill, the male representative from
the club.
Support, friendship, fun, are all
words that spring to mind when I
remember my days in the No Name
Club. Winning the award was giving
something back to a group of people
including my peers at the time and the
Kilkenny No- Name committee who
dedicated themselves to ensuring that
the teenagers of our town had a safe
environment to enjoy themselves in.
Teenagers of all generations need to
socialise. Modern life presents, I
believe, unique pressures on teenagers.
The influences of greater wealth and
advertising combine negatively with
peer pressure to encourage substance
abuse at an increasingly young age.
No Name Clubs contribute in no small
way to providing a safe environment
where teenagers can meet, make
friendships and enjoy themselves without drugs and alcohol.
Teenagers today may not know that
being part of a club like the No Name
Club is about having fun,- and great
fun from what I remember - in an
environment where the people in the
background have their best interest &
well-being at heart.
After my time in the No Name Club
ended and I did my leaving certificate I
went to Dublin and trained as a nurse.
I can’t say whether winning the youth
award or being part of the club influenced the direction I took after I finished school but during my teenage
years it was a major part of my life and
I will always have many happy memories of those days.
Happy Anniversary No-Name Club
and congratulations to all who are
involved in the club nationwide. Keep
up the great work!
2002
2006
2006 First Art, Poetry and Essay
Competition held in West
County Hotel, Ennis
The first National Art, Poetry and Essay competitions were held in the
West County Hotel in Ennis in April 2006. The winner of the Art competition was Emma Carpenter from Killester No Name Club. First prize
in the Poetry competition went to Theresa Murphy, from Gort and the
National Essay competition was won by Edel Ní Churraoin from An
Ceathru Rua. The prizes were presented by Senator Brendan Daly.
Part Time Staff employed
– Carole Goulding and
Dominica Healy
As a result of the funding provided by the
department of Health and Children it was
possible for No Name Club to employ two
people as Development Officers on a parttime basis. Carole Goulding from Cork and
Dominica Healy from Mountbellew were the
first two part-time staff employed. Those
two part-time posts are now funded as
development Officers on current staff.
Milestone
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COBH NO NAME CLUB
Cobh, on the South coast of Ireland sits proudly on the Atlantic
Ocean. Its sheltered, scenic harbour was the scene of many a
lonely and heartbreaking episode in the lives of the thousands
and thousands of our fine young men and women who left all
that was near and dear to them to travel across the world seeking a better life for themselves.
Their leaving is commemorated in the beautiful statue of
Annie Moore and her two
brothers who were the first
immigrants to the United States
who passed through the
Immigration Centre on Ellis
Island in 1892. It was from this
lovely town that the ill-fated
Titanic set sail on its disastrous
maiden voyage in April 1912.
It was here in Cobh that the
survivors of the torpedoed
Lusitania were rescued and
kindly cared for. In the hundred
or so years between 1848 and
1950 over two and a half million
people left Ireland from Cobh –
many of them never to return.
Of these, many endured the
appalling conditions of the coffin ships while three individuals
travelled in the opulent luxury
of first class berths on the
Titanic. Cobh has a magnificent
heritage centre located in the
old railway station on the port.
Among the most famous people
from Cobh is European and
World Champion athlete, the
great Sonia O’Sullivan while soccer fans will know that Roy
Keane played for Cobh Ramblers
in his early days. During the
many years of its existence many
fine young people have passed
through Cobh No Name Club.
The present group of hosts
and hostesses in Cobh got
together in September to talk
about their club. There was lively discussion on a wide variety
of topics and opinions were
freely expressed. Explaining
what the Cobh Club does
Jim Hackett a former committee member in Cobh and former National Vice
President
Martin Galligan says, “We get
together and organise events
for ourselves and the other
young people in the town. It is a
good place to get to know yourself and others and to make
new friends” Jade White says it
is a fun place to be and Jamie
Staunton agrees that it is a
place to have a good laugh, get
involved in the various activities,
have a few jokes and, generally,
have great craic.. Jamie talks
about the club’s involvement in
the Cabaret and says, “We didn’t know what we were doing.
We kept changing it as we went
along. We were winging it but
we had great craic. We did a bit
of modern dancing and singing
and half the time we didn’t
know what we were doing”.
The fact that they didn’t know
what they were doing didn’t
seem to bother Jamie or any of
the other hosts and hostesses or
even the members of the Adult
Committee. It was very evident
that it was all about having
great fun. Ciara Mahony and
Amy Gould were the people
who looked after the dancing in
their Cabaret Show. They are
hostesses in the club and they
also go to dancing classes. They
were asked to teach some dancing to others for the show.
Some of the others were into
messing and they found it frustrating trying to get a serious
response but, as Amy says,
“Eventually they copped on”.
After they copped on Martin
says, “We actually read the
rules” which, I suppose is not a
bad thing to do if you are enter-
ing a competition!! Jamie
Staunton says, “It just flowed
out of us. We didn’t need the
rules because we just had the
talent, don’t you know”. When
the first night of the competition came around it was the first
time they saw what other clubs
were doing and they began to
understand how high the standard was. Gary says, “We were
very impressed by the
Dungarvan show. They looked
as if they knew what they were
doing, they weren’t winging it.
There was no ‘winging it’ on the
Dungarvan show”. In case you
get the impression that Cobh
Sean Twomey Chairman of Cobh No
Name Club
weren’t that good, Jamie got
the Award for the “Best
Instrumental” on his guitar and
Martin got the Best Male
Modern Dancer”. Jamie was also
one of the finalists in the 2008
National Youth Awards.
Jamie Staunton a host in Cobh and a
finalist in the National Awards 2008.
Cobh No Name Clubs have
been involved in national Events
for many years. In 1997 the club
won the National Cabaret
Award. In that year they put on
a show which was full of variety
and marvellous talent. The
“Clockwork Dolls” mime held
the audience spell-bound and
you could have heard a pin drop
during it. Then Fiona Daly did
an extract from J.M. Synge’s
2004
First Person born outside Ireland
to win the National Youth Award
The first person born outside Ireland to win the National Youth Award was Maria Walsh from
Headford/Caherlistrane No Name Club in 2004. Maria was born in the United States of America. She is
now the National P.R.O. of No Name Club.
Milestone
2004
National Insurance
Scheme inaugurated
Hostess of the Year, Maria
Walsh, was first person born
outside Ireland to win the
National Award
Towards the end of 2003 and early in 2004
Eddie Keher conducted negotiations with
several insurance companies and in 2004 a
National Insurance Scheme with Allianz
Insurances was put in place which covers
activities and events run by No Name Clubs
throughout the country. It covers all clubs
affiliated to the National organisation.
Milestone
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COBH NO NAME CLUB
47
enjoyed the whole thing.”
National Youth Award Winner in 2000,
Kate Donnachie from Cobh is congratulated by President of No Name Club, Fr.
John Brickley.
“Tinker’s wedding” which was
quite simply magnificent. Her
phrasing, her interpretation and
her understanding of the sheer
poetry of Synge’s language was
as near perfection as anyone is
likely to see on a stage. The
show was colourful and lively
and a delight to watch. I wonder where Fiona is now.
Kate Donnachie won the
National Youth Award in 2000.
At the time she was a Hostess in
Cobh No Name Club. She was a
very special person, industrious
and full of life. Her ambition at
that time was to become a
Doctor and she has achieved
that ambition. For several years
Kate produced a music section
in the No Name Club magazine
“The No Name Club News”. All
through her school years she
won award after award – a Class
Award in her first year in secondary school, a French Award
in her second year, a Maths
Award in her third year. The list
goes on and on. Speaking in the
year 2000 Kate had this to say
about her club, “There are ten
of us – nine hostesses and one
host – in Cobh No Name Club
and I made close friends there.
We have a great time in the
club and there is no pressure on
us. I love it”. Kate met her life
partner in the Cobh No Name
Club.
Laura O’Connell attended
this year’s National Youth
Awards event in Castlebar. “It
was brilliant”, she said, Martin
Galligan, who himself reached
the Regional Final of the
National Youth Award with
Kelly O’Flaherty also from
Cobh, found that being involved
in the Youth Awards event was
brilliant. “I met a whole lot of
people at the Regional Final”,
says Martin “and they were
great. Mikey [Walsh] was dead
on and Jonathon [Buckley] was
brilliant and great fun. It was
great to meet them again at the
National final in Castlebar.
Having to do the regional interviews was a great rehearsal for
a job interview and I really
The No Name Club disco is the
principal social outlet for the
young people of the town of
Cobh. There is no other disco in
the town. The hosts and hostesses in the club are the
providers of this social outlet.
Hosts and hostesses are unanimous in their praise of the club
for giving them the chance to
organise the discos. About once
a year they run a special fundraising disco with the D.J. from
the local Radio Station doing
the honours. They have had a
50’s night, a Halloween Night
and a Fancy Dress night and on
each occasion the hall was full.
The only criticism they get from
outsiders about their discos is
that they are over too soon.
Those who attend enjoy it so
much that they don’t want it to
end. Ciara Lynch thinks that
discos are going to become a
thing of the past and she is
afraid that “parties” are going
to be the “in” thing. These parties are free and there is food at
them but they involve a lot of
drink. Ciara loves her No Name
Club which she says is “a laid
back place where you can have
a good laugh”
When the Battle of The
Bands was mentioned you
could see the excitement on the
Adam Foley from Cobh No Name Club
Then President Michael Browne with Fiona Daly from Cobh a winner at the Cabaret
in 1997
faces of those present and hear
it in their voices. They claim to
be the first club to have a Battle
of The bands. Most of the bands
were local and they had five
bands from all over East Cork.
The hall was “jam-packed”. The
whole event was very well
organised and went down very
well. The idea came from the
hosts and hostesses. Peter Stoat,
who died in a tragic accident
later, was a brilliant musician
and it was he who thought of
the idea first. It was such a
tragedy that he died in a freak
accident on his way home from
Cork. The event was won by a
band from near Youghal and
they got as their prize an opportunity to record a C.D. in a
recording studio. The Cobh No
Name Club paid the fee to the
recording studio. On the night
of the “Battle” the club supplied all the “gear” and all the
bands had to do was to bring
their instruments with them.
The club supplied the backing
system and the amplification.
The club is going to do it again
according to Jamie. Jamie plays
in two bands – a Metal band
and a Rock band. He plays the
guitar in one band and the
drums in the other. He says they
already have seven bands from
around Cork who will take part
in the “Battle”. If interest and
Members of the Adult Committee of Cobh No Name Club 2007 – Breda McCarthy,
Helen Walsh, Adrian Barry, Sean Twomey and Adam Foley
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excitement can help, then the
event is likely to be very special.
Leona says that the club is
going to organise a Fashion
Show and that the proceeds will
go to Charity. The models will
be the girls from the No Name
Club and they hope to hold it in
the Commodore hotel
When they were asked what
made Cobh No Name Club different from other No Name
Clubs they had no doubt at all
about it. “We are better than
other clubs. We have better
members and we are more outgoing. We mix better with people from other clubs”. That’s
putting it up to other clubs!
Many of the Club meetings
are held in Cobh Garda Station
and the hosts and hostesses
think that that is great. “If
we didn’t have the Garda
Station we’d have no place
to meet” says Megan. They
have been taken on a tour of
the Garda Station and Megan
thought the cells were very cold
places. Sean is hoping that the
Authorities will supply the
Station with a Community Bus.
The cost of hiring commercial
buses to go to No Name Club
events is very high. Just to go to
the Youth Awards in Castlebar
cost up to €2,000. It is very long
journey from Cobh to Castlebar
and it is very difficult to raise
that amount of money.
The young people of Cobh No
Name Club say they are more
often happy than bored. Cobh is
a nice safe town and there is
not that much hassle compared
to other places. “We don’t be
afraid of going out at night.
Most people just go out to
enjoy themselves. We try to
keep our discos open during the
summer and at holiday time so
that young people have somewhere to go and our parents are
pleased that we have somewhere safe to go”
The Adult Committee of
Cobh No Name Club is;- Breda
McCarthy, Helen Walsh, Tara
Walsh, Sean Twomey, Adam
Foley and Adrian Barry.
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THURLES NO NAME CLUB
Thurles is the County Town of Tipperary. It was once the seat of the
Norman Butlers when King Edward lll of England named James
Butler as Earl of Ormond in 1328 – not exactly today or yesterday!
Hayes hotel in the town was the venue for the meeting on the 1st
November 1884 at which the Gaelic Athletic Association [the GAA]
was founded.
Some of the people involved in Thurles No Name Club
The first patron of the GAA
was Archbishop Croke of Thurles
after whom Croke Park is
named. Continuing the GAA
connection, Semple Stadium,
formerly the Thurles
Showgrounds, is probably the
most famous hurling venue in
the country. It was purchased in
1910 for the princely sum of
£900. For more than 150 years
the town has had a great record
in the field of 3rd level
Education. St. Patrick’s College
has been a Seminary since 1837.
In more recent times the
Tipperary Institute has become a
dynamic higher education and
research centre. Since 1816
Thurles CBS has provided a first
class secondary education for
boys while the much older
Ursuline Convent, founded in
1787, has provided an unbroken
educational facility for girls for
more than hundred years.
The Presentation Convent in
Thurles has been to the fore in
secondary education for over
150 years and has stamped its
influence for good on the whole
Siobhán Ryan and Deirdre Lannigan
Thurles No Name Club
town. The educational tradition
in Thurles has been further
enhanced by the founding of
Gairm Scoil Mhuire and by
Gaelchoáiste Na Súire which was
founded 10 years ago in 1998.
The town boasts an impressive
list of clubs and facilities for all
its inhabitants and taking its
place proudly on this list is the
Thurles No Name Club.
The Thurles Club is a wonderful mixture of welcome,
warmth, friendship and fun.
Should you visit the club the
first thing that will strike you is
the warmth of the welcome you
receive. Then you notice the
extra-ordinarily good relationship between the adult committee and the young hosts and
hostesses. The banter is good
humoured, funny and indulged
in with great respect for each
other. All those involved know
that there is a serious purpose
to the club. This purpose is
achieved through having great
fun and enjoying everything the
club members do.
“Knowing we are setting a
good example for the other
young people in the town gives
you a strong confidence to be
yourself. I gained new experiences and had a brilliant laugh
along the way. I have also made
friends for life within the club
and, let’s face it, you can't have
enough of them. Within the
club there is a great sense of
friendship, support, encouragement and of course a lot of fun.
All the best things you can ask
for. The club has surpassed anything I could have hoped for
when I first joined” Says Sinéad
O’Hara. Sinéad sums up the
attitude of all the young people
in the club
Parents like Mrs. Freda
Dunne and Mrs. Mary
Gallagher-Cook have good reason to appreciate Thurles No
Name Club. They are very happy
that their sons, Brian and
Ciaran, have the opportunity to
make friends, socialise, gain new
worthwhile experiences, discover the process of gaining independence for themselves in an
environment that is free from
alcohol and other drugs. In
addition they know that in No
Name Club there will be none of
the gratuitous violence that
mars so many social occasions
for young people. While their
sons are at the No Name Club
they know they will not be
attacked, beaten, kicked on the
ground to within an inch of
their lives. They know they will
be safe. Both Mrs. Dunne and
Mrs. Gallagher-Cooke expressed
their appreciation of this situation. County Councillor, Seamus
Hanafin, says “There is huge
credit due to all members of
Thurles No name Club, not just
for the professional way they
run their events, but, also for
the huge work they have put
into filling the obvious gap in
the socialising needs of the
young people of Thurles”
Rev. Fr. Joseph Walsh, a
Curate in Thurles writes, “No
Name Club has not only created
a social outlet, given our young
people an opportunity to organise and be responsible….but certainly one of the most essential
elements has been that one can
have a great night out without
the influence of
alcohol……Those who have
been involved in the club….
Have created a great bond of
friendship and developed it with
many different young people in
our community”
Audrey Fallon, who is secretary of the club, says it is great
to hear parents say they are satisfied that the club is providing
the opportunity for their sons
and daughters to socialise in
safe surroundings.
Sean Coffey, chairman of the
club, says that he is very pleased
that so many of the parents are
happy with the way the club
helps their sons and daughters
but he regrets that there are
Mrs. Freda Dunne and her son Brian with Mrs. Mary Gallagher-Cook and her son
Ciaran
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THURLES NO NAME CLUB
Cian Sheppard on one of their outings
with Thurles No Name Club
some members of the club who
do not always avail of the facilities the club provides. He feels
they need to get really involved
in club activities to gain the full
benefit. It is no secret that Sean
himself met his wife Eileen in
the original Thurles No Name
Club back in 1984. Maybe others
would have the same good luck
and meet their life partner in
the present club! Sean finds it a
bit frustrating that when the
club organises something like an
outing or a trip to some place
there are some hosts and hostesses who do not take part and
they miss out on the enjoyable
social outings. He feels that that
is a great loss for those who
miss out and also for those who
miss their company and their
presence on those outings. Sean
is not sure how to overcome this
difficulty but believes it would
be great if everyone in the club
took part in as many of the club
activities as possible. Among the
trips the club has undertaken
are, The National Youth Awards
in Ennis and in Castlebar, a long
adventurous mystery trip to the
Devil’s Bit, a great trip to
Oakwood in Wales and a trip to
the home of Rugby in Thomond
Park. All of those brought
immense enjoyment to those
who took part. Needless to say,
the club holds regular discos for
the young people of the town
of Thurles and all are well
attended and well conducted.
Mary Lanigan, who teaches
in the Presentation Convent,
notices how positive an influence the club has on those of
her students who are hostesses
in the club. She was particularly
pleased with the way they
mixed with German Students
she was instrumental in bringing
to Thurles. They invited them to
the discos and tried to make
them feel at home. Those of her
students who are involved in No
Name Club are the ones who
have the confidence to get
involved in the activities of the
school as well. As a member of
the Staff of the School she is
very appreciative of the good
influence the No name Club has
on her students.
Aoife Clohessey, a hostess in
Thurles No Name Club, wrote in
her School Magazine at the
Ursuline Convent, “The club is
great fun. We have held a lot
of discos, we took part in the St.
Patrick’s Day parade, we travelled to other No Name Clubs,
we participated in Cabaret and
came second in the national
Cabaret Awards, we stayed
overnight in Ennis at the Youth
Awards. It is brilliant fun and
you meet wonderful people in
the No Name Club. If you get
the chance be sure to become a
hostess. You might regret it if
you don’t!!”
49
by the hosts and hostesses of
Thurles No Name Club;-
Niall Connolly, Thurles No Name Club
himself and Linda.
Linda Bryan from Thurles No Name Club
- Finalist National Awards 2007
Linda Bryan, a hostess in the
club, reached the final of the
National Youth Awards. She was
thrilled and delighted as well as
surprised that she, a person
from Thurles, could reach that
stage. She says that, in a way,
she got the Award “because of
what Thurles had given to me”.
Others know that it had a lot to
do with what Linda did in and
for the club.
This is what Linda has to say
about her club, “Words can’t
really describe what the No
Name Club has done for me.
One thing I know for certain is
that it has changed me for the
better. The No Name Club has
helped me to develop as a person and has played a major role
in all aspects of my life. I have
learned so much; and met so
many truly ‘class’ people and
have become more confident in
speaking up for myself and for
the needs of the community in
general. Being involved with my
club Thurles and the No Name
Club as a whole has been the
best experience of my life and I
look forward to maturing and
making a difference to my community and giving back to the
No Name Club what it has given
to me”!!!!!!
Niall Connolly reached the
regional Final of the National
Youth Award. He found it to be
a wonderful experience and
increased his confidence in himself. It helped him to overcome
his shyness. Adult committee
members now say that it made a
great difference to Niall and
they find it easy and pleasant to
talk to him and the club as a
whole is very proud of both
Young people in the club say
that the club has helped them
to build their confidence; it provides social activities that would
not otherwise be available in
the town. Going to the National
Awards event in Castlebar was a
real eye opener for all the
young people. They discovered
that they were part of a bigger
wider No Name Club family and
they found it so easy and so
exciting to make new friends
with people from so many different parts of the country.
Siobhan Ryan, with good
humoured devilment dancing in
her eyes and her voice animated
with the excitement of remembering, tells of the mystery trip
to somewhere. “No one would
tell us where we were going.
Anyway we eventually discovered that we were going all the
way to the Devil’s Bit” [Now, the
Devil’s Bit is not a thousand
miles away from Thurles!] “It
took us how long to get to the
Devil’s Bit? We walked hills and
hills and hills and fields and we
went the longest way. We got
up to the top and we were
exhausted and we sat down and
we refused to move! And it was
all Sean’s fault and we enjoyed
it no end!”
You could go on and on talking about the enjoyment the
young people get from their
involvement in Thurles No Name
Club but we simply do not have
the space to do it.
There is a great adult committee in Thurles No Name Club.
We would like you to meet
them. They are introduced here
Siobhan Ryan, Thurles No Name Club –
A National Finalist in 2008.
A CELEBRATION OF THIRTY YEARS OF NO NAME CLUB 1978 - 2008
www.nonameclub.ie
Audrey Fallon Club Secretary Thurles
Audrey Fallon [Founding
member.] Audrey is the long suffering and hard working club
secretary. Audrey handles the
busy jobs of keeping the club
matters and the club’s chairperson in order. She deals with all
the correspondence and booking etc.
Sean Coffey, Chairman, Thurles No
Name Club
Sean Coffey [Founding member.] Sean is the club chairperson. Sean also likes to tell jokes
on the many bus trips we as a
club enjoy! Along with all this
Sean has taught many members
how to play a card game called
“Spoons” to dangerous effect.
Kieran Corcoran Kieran is
one of the youngest members
of the adult committee. This
might explain the boundless
amount of energy he has.
Kieran actively takes part in the
clubs trips away. In fact no trip is
complete without Kieran
singing and dancing at some
stage in the day.
Ciaran Corcoran Thurles No Name Club
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THURLES NO NAME CLUB
Ed Smyth Ed came to us as a
bouncer and stayed as the new
treasurer. Ed is an avid rugby
supporter and organised the trip
to watch a Munster rugby
match in the true home of
rugby Thomond Park.
Jody Brolan [Founding
Member.] Jody is the PR officer
for the club. This job involved
him going on air with the local
radio station TIPP FM for an
interview; we think he is still
recovering. Jody was put in
charge of the safety of Audrey
and Irene while they flew
DOWN through the air, on a trip
to Oakwood. He is indeed a
brave man.
Ciara Lanigan [Founding
member.] Ciara is the club’s child
protection officer. At the talent
show in Limerick, Ciara was the
make up lady dishing out foundation galore; she’s a dab hand
with the auld moisturiser even
for our fellas. Nothing but
smooth skin in our club.
Deirdre Lanigan [Founding
member.] When we were
preparing for our talent show,
Deirdre was invaluable. Hours of
direction and countless ideas
flowed. On our trip to
Oakwood, she has shown great
out with its dashing t-shirts and
hoodies. That’s no easy job, as
we are a fashionable lot.
Noreen Moore [Founding
member.]. Noreen has been with
the club from the beginning,
the very beginning!!.Noreen is
the slightly quieter and more
reserved of the adult committee. Noreen is the old reliable at
the discos checking the smoking
area in particular.
Nora O’Loughlin Thurles No Name Club
skill in being one of a very few
who didn’t get or feel sick.
Irene O’ Loughlin One thing
we have learnt about her in our
trips away is she really hates
surfing but has a slightly
unhealthy obsession with Quad
bikes. Many reported that the
instructor had to hide the quad
keys for as he said “just in case a
bike goes missing”.
Mary McMahon [Founding
member.]Mary is the good
woman who has kitted the club
Fr. Joe Walsh [Founding
member] Joe is the club’s contact with the higher powers the parish centre for one. That’s
where the club started after all.
Joe is quick with a joke, and is
always a laugh.
Nora O’ Loughlin [Founding
member.]
Nora has the very responsible
job of minding and charging the
special No Name phone just in
case the president calls!! She
texts everyone on a regular
basis, letting them know what’s
happening. She is the texting
queen. She did a wonderful job
of organising the weekend trip
to Westport which everyone
enjoyed immensely.
Fr. James Walton [Founding
member] Fr. James was the for-
mer treasurer, this suited James
as he has a keen eye for detail.
Fr. James still drops by the discos
from time to time to keep us all
in check.
The 2007 hosts and hostesses
in Thurles No Name Club are;
Niall Barry, Linda Bryan, Aoife
Clohessey, Niall Connolly, Ciaran
Cooke, Reideen Cornally, Louise
Crowe, Christine Cummins,
Aoife Dunne, Brian Dunne,
Caroline Dunne, Michelle Egan,
Michael Ely, Amy Fallon, MaryRose Flanagan, Amy Graham,
Stephanie Hughes, Keelan
Jackson, Jessica Kelly, Sean
Kenehan, Clodagh Large, Daniel
Lawlor, Emma Loughnane, Fiona
McGrath, Sinéad O’Hara, Eimear
Quinlan, Killian Rosta, Jonathon
Ryan, Siobhan Ryan, Moira
Ryan, Casey Ryan, Conor Ryan,
Cian Sheppard, Darragh
Stakelum, Mary Sweeney and
Evan Tuohy
Founding Adult Committee
Audrey Fallon, Ciara Lanigan,
Deirdre Lanigan, Fr Joe Walsh,
Jody Brolan, Mary McMahon,
Noreen Moore, Nora O'
Loughlin, Sean Coffey, Mary
Gilmartin, Mary Campion,
Sharon Cornally, Fr. James
Walton and also involved along
the way was Kevin Mullaney
KILBRIDE NO NAME CLUB
K
Kilbride No Name Club Aran Islands Trip 2006 Back Row (L to R) Edel Carlos. Stephen Battles, Maeve Beirne, Gary Lee,
Sinead McDermott, Cassie Moran, Kelly Mulhern, Andrew O’Beirne, Padraig Kiernan Front Row (L to R) Jason McDonagh,
Niall Carty, Sharon McDermott, John Feeney, Eadaoin O’Connor
A CELEBRATION OF THIRTY YEARS OF NO NAME CLUB 1978 - 2008
www.nonameclub.ie
ilbride is a rural area in
County Roscommon situated
about four miles from
Roscommon town on the
road to Boyle. Like all rural areas it
is very proud of its special identity.
It has its own magnificent
Community Centre with space for
indoor football, bingo, tea/coffee
room, meeting rooms and toilet
facilities. It is administered by a voluntary committee and is the hub of
Parish activities of a widely varying
kind. It is here the Kilbride No
Name Club meets. The manner in
which the club was set up is interesting.
In the autumn of 2004 while
attending a Community
Development Course in Boyle, Mary
Cunningham met a group of ladies
from Castlerea who were in the
process of setting up a No Name
Club in their area. This was the first
time that Mary had heard of such a
club. In December of that year Mary
attended the launch of the
Castlerea Club where she saw, first
hand, how a club was run. The
launch was attended by a number
of other clubs who displayed some
outstanding talent.
It was here that Mary met Ollie
King of the Mountbellew Club who
later proved to be of invaluable
assistance in the setting up of the
Kilbride No Name Club.
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KILBRIDE NO NAME CLUB
In the autumn of 2004 there
was a Parish Mission in Kilbride
with a particular emphasis on
Youth. With this in mind
Stephen Banahan from Derrane
Parish Council and Timmy
Donnelly from Four Mile House
parish council invited parents to
come to meetings with a view
to forming a club for youth.
Initially about 20 young people
came to meetings to see what
they would like have done for
them. Mary Cunningham
attended one of these meetings
and introduced us to the No
Name Club. The young people
were very interested in this and
we contacted other clubs for
information.
From the outset, Ollie King of
the Mountbellew Club was a
great source of inspiration providing information on the formation of the club etc. Ollie
invited the adults to various
club functions to give us an
insight into how such events
were run and the role of the
adult committee. At all times
assistance was only a phone call
away. In October 2004 we were
officially affiliated to the No
Name Club and both Ollie and
Dominica Healy the local
Development Officer worked
tirelessly to get our club up and
running. They got together with
members of the Kilbride Adult
Committee visited the second
level schools in Roscommon and
Strokestown to introduce the
youth to the No Name Club.
From this hosts and hostesses
were recruited and thus the
Kilbride Club was formed. The
Kilbride No Name Club meets in
the Kilbride Community Centre,
located four miles from
Roscommon Town. The hosts
and hostesses come from
51
Fourmile House, Roscommon
Town and the broader
Strokestown area.
Kilbride No Name Club 1st
adult committee was elected as
follows: Chairman: John
O’Connor, Secretary: Dymphna
O’Rourke, Treasurer: Kathleen
Battles, Training Officer:
Stephen Banahan, PRO: Mary
Cunningham and Entertainment
Officer: Timmy Donnelly.
In October 2004 we were officially affiliated to the No Name
Club. The club is four years in
operation now and this year
there are 40 hosts and hostesses
in the club. John O’Connor, the
Chairman of the club, says that
they had 22 hosts and hostesses
the first year. The following year
John O’Connor, Chairman of Kilbride No
Name Club
the numbers went up a lot and
“we discovered that big is not
always best”. This year there are
40 hosts and hostesses.
Dymphna O’Rourke, the
Secretary of the club, says that
when the club is visiting other
Dymphna O’Rourke of Kilbride No Name
Club
clubs they don’t always have full
numbers. “We get a huge commitment to the National Youth
Awards and to the Cabaret. We
would like to have bigger numbers going when we go to support events organised by other
clubs. At our own meetings we
get a great turn out. They have
great ideas and most of the
things they want to do we try to
facilitate them as best we can.”
Says Dymphna.
Annabelle O’Grady is a hostess in the club for 2 years. “I
really enjoy the Cabaret because
I love the singing and dancing
together. Putting dances together is great fun. It’s great to do it
together as a group. Working
on it together as a club nearly
gives me more satisfaction than
the actual performing in the
competition”, she says.
Sarah Crowe says that when
she talks to others who are not
members of the club she likes to
tell them how good it is to be in
the club. “You get to be really
creative”, She says, “like making
up your own dances in the
Kilbride No Name Club Youth Award Hosts & Hostesses 2004-05 Back Row (L to R) Jason McDonagh, David O’Rourke (Youth
Leader), Carmel O’Rourke, Rachel Garvey, Claire Kiernan, Nicola Carty, Patricia Kelly, Stephen Battles, Brian Kelly, Eoin
McLynn. Front Row (L to R) Ciara Banahan, Mary Cunningham (PRO), Niamh Simms, Lorraine O’ Grady, Eimear Brehony, Kelly
Mulhern, Louise Keegan.
A CELEBRATION OF THIRTY YEARS OF NO NAME CLUB 1978 - 2008
www.nonameclub.ie
Cabaret. By working together
on something like that you get
to know one another very well.
When we have it all together
we are going to take the
Country by storm”, says Sara
with a laugh. “There are loads
of people in the club that I
knew from school – I just knew
their names. Now I have got to
know people really well that I
would not have got to know
otherwise. Everyone is really
nice and we all get on really
well. When we go away to
other clubs we find that they
are very nice and friendly and in
No Name Clubs everyone is really friendly and welcoming.
When you meet people from
other No Name Clubs it’s very
easy to talk to them because
Sarah Crowe and Annabelle O’Grady,
Hostesses from Kilbride No Name Club
people who get involved in No
Name Club are interested in getting involved in things and in
meeting new people. The club
helps you not to be shy. If it’s
coming up to the Cabaret you
try to find out what their club is
doing for the Cabaret and you
try to get to know what the
competition is like. You talk to
them about what is going on in
their club and it is a great way
of starting a conversation. It
helps you to get started and
then you can move on to other
topics of conversation”, says
Sara. “It’s a really good way to
meet new people from different
places and to make new friendships and working with the
adults is great. Dymphna mothers us” says Sara with an impish
grin. “We meet every week or
every second week and we
decide what we want to do and
we have a look at how we got
on at the events we attended
last week. We went to the
National Karaoke competition
because one of our girls had
reached the final. We went to
support her and we really
enjoyed that. We love travelling
to all those kind of places.”
Andrew O’Beirne, a host in
the club, agrees with Sara that it
is a great way to meet new people. “I didn’t know these two at
all. I’m from Strokestown,
Annabelle is from Roscommon
Town and Sara is from Kilbride”.
Andrew travels 15 miles to
attend his club and finds that it
is well worth the effort to be
there. “When I joined first I hadn’t heard a whole lot about the
club so I didn’t know whether it
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KILBRIDE NO NAME CLUB
Andrew O’Beirne and Helaine Duffy from Kilbride No
Name Club
would be good or not. I wasn’t really
expecting much I suppose. Jason told me it
was great and I believed him. I really enjoy
it. It’s great”, says Andrew. Jason was one of
those who were in the first group of hosts
and hostesses and when Andrew was asked
if he thought his own group did as well as
Jason’s he said, “Ah! Yes. We made it better”. With a smile he went on to say “They
showed us what to do and they introduced
us to a, load of people. Without them we’d
be lost. The first year they made sure we
were getting on alright.
Carmel O’Rourke is a former hostess and
is now a student in Mary Immaculate
College in Limerick where she is studying
early childhood Care and Education and will
eventually be teaching young children up to
six years of age. Carmel was a member of
the very first group of hosts and hostesses
to join the club. When she finishes her studies she would like to join a club as a member of the Adult Committee. “Being a member of the club helped me to be a little bit
more mature. During my time in the club I
made such good friends. We are all really,
really close and we keep in contact with one
another”. Jason McDonagh agrees. He says,
“We were all only about fifteen when the
club started and we all gelled really well
and got to know each other. Myself and
Carmel were in that very first group of hosts
and hostesses. We came into it there was
nothing at all to go on” says Jason. “We
were the pioneers”, says Carmel “we really
didn’t know what to do at the start. We
were thrown in at the deep end”. Dymphna
O’Rourke says that at the beginning the
adults did not have any idea much either.
The young people decided that they would
like to go any visit other clubs from other
places and everyone agreed to do that.
Bernie Kearney, Community representative
in Kilbride Parish
Jason was in the Regional Final of the
National Youth award. “I found it really
good”, says Jason. “If you were to tell me
four years ago that I would be up on the
stage representing Kilbride No Name Club I
would not have believed you. In your club
you are in your own little group but it
boosts your confidence so much to go out
and meet so many different people and you
are treated as being on the same level. In
the Cabaret you meet so many people with
so many different talents. I have left the No
Name Club now and I am in Sligo IT where I
am studying Architecture and there I have
met so many people who were in other No
Name Clubs. Of course I was disappointed
when I did not make it to the National
Youth Award Final but Paddy Burke, who
went through, won the National Award and
I felt good about that. I felt good too that
Sinead went through and represented
Kilbride in the Final”. Sinead McDermott
was a National Finalist in the Youth Awards
in 2006 where she represented the Kilbride
No Name Club and is now doing Social
Studies in Waterford IT.
Sarah Crowe joined the club last year.
“That was the year Sinead was in the final
of the National Youth award” says Sarah.
“We went to the Awards in Castlebar and it
was great. Siobhan Tully is in the final this
year and I think that is really good to have
someone in the National Final two years in a
row. I know that Siobhan will win the
National Award this year”, says Sarah. “The
best thing about the club for me”, says
Annabelle O’Grady “Is all the new people I
have met. I would not know anyone from
Strokestown because it is so far away from
us in Roscommon Town but I have got to
know them and it is great. Before I joined I
though it was like a cult and I might be
brainwashed or something but it is way better than anything I have ever been in before
because we go everywhere like the Karaoke
finals, Lough Key Forest Park where we took
part in an adventure thing like the Crystal
Maze where we had to do different tasks
like go through an obstacle course with
three levels of difficulty, the Cabaret, the
National Awards and “go-karting” in
Kilteevan and we did ice skating in Dublin,”
she says. Helaine Duffy from Strokestown
said the ice skating was great “It’s over a
hundred miles from here”, she says. This is
Helaine’s second year in the club and she
finds that having the extra year makes it
easier for her to make suggestions. She
knows what is going on now and she gets
more involved in everything in the club. Her
parents, too, are very happy that they know
she is safe and well looked after in the club.
The members of the club make suggestions
about what they would like to do. The suggestions are discussed and then the club
decides whether they want to do this or
not.
Bernie Kearney, is a representative of
the local community, and had the height of
praise for the Kilbride No Name Club. He
says that the community sees No Name Club
as a great benefit to the community. In the
old days when there was a youth club in the
area the expectations of young people were
not as high as they are now. Facilities then
were very poor but now things have
changed for the better. Membership of the
old club began to fall off at Intermediate
Cert time and this left a big gap in the provision for the older teenager. The No Name
Club now fills that gap very well. “One of
the big benefits I see in the No Name Club is
that the young people are learning to do
things for themselves. When they are
younger they just want to let off steam but
the older age group are interested in development and like to see what they can do to
help in the community. Later on in life that
experience will stand to them and they will
be good community people”, says Bernie.
“In this parish”, says Bernie “There are 14 or
15 parish groups and all of them need people, especially young people, to help out
and the youth that have been in No Name
Club are the very ones they will be looking
for. The groups will be looking around and
asking themselves ‘who can do a responsible
job here’ and they will look to those who
have passed through the No Name Club”.
Carmel O’Rourke says that she was astonished at the amount of work the adult committee members put into the club. “The
amount of work they put into it is unreal.
The amount of organisation; sorting out
problems and even phone calls to one
another is unbelievable and we are really
grateful to them for all they do”, she says.
Dymphna says that no matter where they
go they are really well behaved and “We
would never be afraid to bring them anywhere. We know we can trust them,” she
says
This year the club organised the provision
Carmel O’Rourke and Jason McDonagh from Kilbride No Name Club
A CELEBRATION OF THIRTY YEARS OF NO NAME CLUB 1978 - 2008
www.nonameclub.ie
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KILBRIDE NO NAME CLUB
53
Sinead McDermott from Kilbride was a National
John O’Connor, Bernie Kearney, Dymphna O’Rourke, Carmel O’Rourke, Andrew O’Beirne, Jason McDonagh, Sarah Finalist in the No name Club Youth Awards of 2007
Crowe, Helaine Duffy and Annabelle O’Grady from Kilbride No Name Club
of defibrillators for the community and they succeeded in getting the whole community
involved in the project. The No
Name Club started it and everyone got involved and they got
12 units for the parish. As a
result the community got to
know of the work the No Name
Club was doing with young peo-
ple in the area.
Bernie Kearney had the final
word when he said, “Kilbride
leads and Ireland follows”.
Hosts and hostesses include
A. Kelly, A. Mannion, A
O’Beirne, A. O’Grady, B.
Brennan, C. Greene, C. Brennan,
C. Somers, C. Moran, C. Farrell,
T. Ryan, S. Tully, S. Crowe, C.
Hanly, S. Healy, R. Cuddy, P.
Mlotkowski, D. Regan, D.
Gavigan, P. Kiernan, O. Morris,
E. O’Connor, E. Carlos, N. Tully,
N. Farrell, E. McDonagh, E.
Feehily, E. Garvey,
N. Barrow, M. Gaynor, M.
Feeney, F. Madden, G. Walsh, G.
Jordan, L. Mannion, L. Early, H.
Duffy, J. Murray, K. Battles, K.
McAleer, J. Kelly, J. Creavin, J.
Feeney, J. Kelly, and J. Fannon.
The Adult Committee is; John O’Connor, Chairman,
Dymphna O’Rourke, Secretary,
Kathleen Battles, Treasurer,
Brian Battles, P.R.O., Stephen
Banahan, Training Officer, Mark
Mellotte, Enda Kelly and
Lorraine Byrne
CLAREMORRIS NO NAME CLUB
I
t started on the 30th October 2001
and has been an absolute treasure
in the life of the town of
Claremorris ever since. Sean Kenna,
Anne Whittle, Con Nolan, Áine
McGrath, Kevin Prendergast, Laura
Deehan, Brian Finn, Katherine Kirwan
and Fr. Peter Gannon are among the
adults whose devotion and hard work
have contributed to making Claremorris
a model club in the West of Ireland. It is
a warm and friendly place to visit and
in hosting the Regional Youth Awards in
the Dalton Inn for quite a number of
years has made a vast contribution to
the No Name Club Organisation in
Counties, Mayo, Galway, Sligo,
Roscommon and Donegal. It has played
an important role in the social activities
of many clubs including Castlerea and
Kilbride. Both those clubs speak highly
of the way Claremorris has joined with
them in promoting social activities for
their young hosts and hostesses. The
adults in the club have been inspiring
leaders.
In their short few years in existence
the club has produced National Award
Winners in 2007 and 2008. Paddy Burke
was the Award Winner in 2007 followed
by Andrew Finn in 2008. In addition the
club reached the National Finals of the
Cabaret Awards in 2006 and 2007.
The club has consistently contributed
in a very worthwhile manner to the
local community and, at present, are
deeply involved in trying to set up their
own Youth Centre in Claremorris. Their
efforts in this regard have been outstanding with superb work by both
Adults and Hosts and Hostesses in the
project. It now looks as if their
Herculean efforts will finally be rewarded with Government recognition and
funding likely to come through in the
very near future.
The club has contributed in a very
special way to the development of the
No Name Club organisation in the
Region and has taken a leadership role
whenever required to do so. It is totally
unselfish in its work for the young people of the town of Claremorris and for
the young people of all the clubs in the
country.
TUAM NO NAME CLUB
T
he Tuam No Name Club has been a stalwart club within the No Name Club Organisation for many, many
years and has contributed handsomely to the welfare
of the organisation and its development in the West
of Ireland. It has had representatives on the National
Executive Committee on many occasions and these include
Esther Geraghty and Tommy Reilly.
The club has produced
National Award winners during
its existence. Rochelle McIntyre
from the club is the present
holder of the title of Hostess of
the Year 2008 and Shane Fahy
was Host of the Year in
2001.David Meehan was a
National Award Finalist in 1998
Stephen Higgins was a National
Finalist in 2000. Sinead
Monaghan was a National
Finalist in 2003. David Curley
reached the National Final in
2005. Fergal Quinn reached the
National Final in 2006.
The club won the National
Cabaret Overall Award in 2000,
2005 and 2007 and reached the
National Finals in 2004 and
2006. Gillian Geraghty was the
driving force behind the Cabaret
successes while she, herself, was
a hostess in the club and later as
a member of the Adult
Committee. Like Mountbellew
the Adult members of the Tuam
Committee were anxious to
spread the good news about No
Name Club and members of the
club were instrumental in setting up other clubs in the West
of Ireland.
The present Adult Committee
includes Chairperson, Esther
A CELEBRATION OF THIRTY YEARS OF NO NAME CLUB 1978 - 2008
www.nonameclub.ie
Geraghty, Gillian Geraghty,
Sharon Collins, Ann Lardner,
Shane Sice, John Talty, David
Curley, Una Canney, Thomas
Monaghan, Fr. Sean
Cunningham, Damien Burke,
Lisa McCann, Edwina O’Connor,
James Bermingham, John
Geraghty, Marie Collins, Ciara
Eagleton and Catherine Vallelly
The club has made an excellent contribution to the quality
of .life for young people in
Tuam and surrounding areas.
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WESTPORT NO NAME CLUB
“It was a great challenge for
everyone taking part” says
Secretary of the Westport No
Name Club, Connie Grady, when
describing a sponsored climb of
Croagh Patrick to raise funds for
Autism in County Mayo. “Many
of the young people climbed
Croagh Patrick for the first time
and, while team building was an
important goal, we succeeded in
raising over 2,000 for Autism”,
says Connie.
The club was set up in the
Winter/Spring of 2004/2005 and
has gone from strength to
strength since then. It reached
the Cabaret [Variety] Award
finals in 2007 and again in 2008.
The club has shown that it is
willing to take part in all the
activities of the Organisation
whether it be at regional or
national level. It has arranged
all sorts of great activities for its
young members including, bowl-
ing, table quizzes, discos, charioty events and National No Name
Club events like the Variety
Awards and the National Youth
Awards.
The club has contributed very
well to the life of this beautiful
town and has provided a safe
and entertaining social life for
the many young people who
have availed of its services since
it was first set up. People like
Mel Kenny, Connie Grady, Chris
Grady, Marie Lyons, Sarah
McGreal, Declan Grady and Fr.
Michael Mannion have been
unselfish in giving their time
and work to ensure that there is
always something worthwhile
for the young people of
Westport to do. Its weekly meetings are lively, interesting and
creative and the young people
of Westport are reaping the
rewards of this commitment,
dedication and unselfishness.
helping others through fund
raising and other projects for
the Special Needs club, the
Tigers, for the Special Olympics
Committee and for the Share a
Dream organisation.
In 2004 the Hosts and
Hostesses produced a superb
C.D. “Believe in Us”. Some of
the songs on the C.D. were composed by members of the club.
The C.D. was recorded at Sunset
Studios in Galway and the proceeds from the sale of the C.D.
went to charity. The quality of
the production was superb and
a pleasure to listen to.
John Gilmore and Sinead
Curley, National Youth Award
Winner 2005, spoke eloquently
of what the club meant to them
and their colleagues over the
years and thanked all the adults
involved –especially Oliver King
and Dominica Healy.
Vincent Flynn (Tiger Club for
Special Needs) and Michael
Hughes (Chairman of
Mountbellew Development
Association) both spoke of the
wonderful asset Mountbellew
No Name Club is to their organisations and the region generally.
MOUNTBELLEW NO NAME CLUB
The Club was set up in 1996.In the course of those
years the Mountbellew No Name Club has left its mark
on the local community and on the National
Organisation, as well as having an outstanding and
positive influence on the young hosts and hostesses
who passed through the club.
Not satisfied with being a
truly excellent club itself, it
wanted to ensure that clubs
with similar potential would be
set up all through the West of
Ireland. Adults and hosts and
hostesses from the club travelled
throughout Connaught to meet
other interested people and
helped them to set up successful
clubs. People like Oliver King,
Gerry Sweeney, Dominica Healy,
Bro. Alf, Paula Higgins, Marie
Ruane, John Gilmore, Seamus
Hogan, Susan Kelly and many
others freely gave of their time
and energy to promote the No
Name Club organisation in
Counties Galway, Mayo,
Roscommon, Clare, Limerick,
Donegal, Tipperary and Sligo.
Their efforts were singularly successful as shown by clubs like
Headford, Claremorris,
Castlerea, Shannonside,
Ballinrobe, Tuam, Westport and
many others.
On the 16th May 1998 Oliver
King was elected to serve on the
National Executive of No Name
Club where he distinguished
himself by his insightful contributions to debate and discussion
on the development of the
National Organisation. It was
obvious from what he said and
did that he had an unfailing
respect, trust and belief in the
young people who were members of his club. This attitude
rubbed off on many of his contemporaries on the National
Executive and was clearly
demonstrated in his dealings
with hosts and hostesses in his
club and in his dealings and cooperation with individuals and
other organisations in his local
community in Mountbellew. He
is now on the Board of Directors
where he continues to contribute with wisdom and understanding and where his leadership qualities are invaluable.
The club was less than two
years in existence when it began
to make its mark in various ways
within, and outside, No Name
Club. In 1998 the club reached
the National Final of the
Cabaret Awards. In the same
year Marie Ruane, a hostess in
the club, was a finalist in the
National Youth Awards. 1999
was a very special year in the
club. Paula Higgins was declared
the National Youth Award winner, Seamus Hogan was among
the finalists and the Cabaret
Group won the National
Cabaret Awards with a superb
show. The successes continued in
the year 2000. Bláithín Walsh
was a National Youth Awards
finalist and the Cabaret Group
reached the National Cabaret
Awards Final. In 2001 the club
again reached the National
Cabaret final and Susan Kelly
was a finalist in the National
Youth Awards. Cathy Crowe followed in the footsteps of Paula,
Marie, Seamus, Bláithín and
Susan by reaching the final of
the National Youth Awards in
2002. Two years later Aoife
Murray became the Lions Club
International Young
Ambassador for Ireland and
Britain and the Club received a
special award for the Promotion
and Development of No Name
Club. In the same year 2004
John Gilmore became the sixth
member of the club to reach the
Final of the National Youth
Awards and the club, once
more, reached the final of the
National Cabaret Awards. John
is now a member of the Board
of Directors and has spent a
period as a part-time
Development Officer working to
set up clubs in his area. The
sequence continued when
Sinéad Curley won the National
Youth Award for 2005. During
all this time the club members,
hosts and hostesses worked tirelessly in their local community
ATHENRY NO NAME CLUB
Athenry No Name Club was re-launched on 29th June 2003. The
club that existed prior to this lapsed for various understandable
reasons and it was great to see it re-started in 2003 through the
great work of Mary Booths and Fr. John Gorman. Twenty-five
hosts and hostesses were recruited and with 14 committed
adults the Club was re-launched and has become a very important part of the lives of the young people in Athenry.
Chairperson of the Club, Vincent Ryan, says, “Being able to
socialise without the use of alcohol and other drugs and making
new friends in a safe and fun environment has become a selling
point to the many young people that we approach every year”.
The club has organised participation in the Regional and
National Youth Awards, The National Variety Competition, Rose
competitions and numerous fund-raising campaigns. They are
active in the Regional Activities and are a source of encouragement to others. Vincent Ryan cites the Tsunami Disaster
Fundraising Campaign as one of their more successful ventures.
They kidnapped their local Garda, Gerry Fahy, and locked him
up for 12 hours. The ransom they raised amounted to 14,000
euro. The club is in excellent shape thanks to the efforts of people like Vincent Ryan, Ann Walsh, Marion Courtney, Gerry Prior,
Gerry Fahy, Celia Donnelly, Marion Quirke, Gary Murphy, Katie
Donnellan, Mark McCormack, Cait Cummins and Denis Coleman.
2006
A Lithuanian National reaches the
Youth Award Final
Brigita Tyschenko from New Ross No Name Club was born
and raised in Lithuania and came to Ireland when she
was 12 years of age. She had no English. She sat her
Junior Certificate Examination in St. Mary’s Secondary
School, New Ross and got four A’s, four B’s and two C’s
in the examination. She was one of the finalists in the
National Youth Awards of 2006.
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T
hey call New Ross “the heartbeat of the
Southeast”. Built on the confluence of the Barrow
and the Nore it is a strategically located modern town.
In 1189 Isabella, the daughter of Strongbow, built
what was known as “a beautiful city on the banks of
the Barrow” Isabella died in 1224 and forty years later
the construction of the town wall commenced in the
year 1265 and enclosed an area of more than 39
hectares. From this time until now the streets of New
Ross have remained virtually the same as they were in
the 13th Century except that they have been modernised.
In the 1798 rebellion a large
part of the town was destroyed
and had to be rebuilt. During
the 19th century the town merchants developed a substantial
trade with the colonies in North
America and ships carrying Irish
Emigrants to the New World
regularly sailed between New
Ross and the northern states of
America. One such ship, the
Dunbrody, is now berthed on
the quays in New Ross and is a
major tourist attraction. The
town is the gateway to the
beautiful scenic areas of County
Wexford. New Ross is the home
town of one of the founders of
No Name Club, Eamonn Doyle.
The club has the distinction of
being the Club that had the very
first National Youth Award finalist whose 1st language was neither English nor Irish. She was
Lithuanian. Her name was
Brigita Tysencko and she
arrived in Ireland when she was
12 years of age with not a word
of English. She went to school in
Diana Jensen from Denmark is a member of the Adult Committee in New Ross
No Name Club
she was here last year’ but it
was different for me. My mother did not go to school here and
I had no sister who went to my
school before me”. Brigita
thinks that this may have been a
good thing because the people
in the school – teachers and
pupils – had to take her as they
found her. For them she had no
previous history – she was just
language helps you learn the
culture. I think if I had the
opportunity to learn Irish I
would have loved it”, says
Brigita. She spoke about the difference in culture between
Ireland and Lithuania and says,
“Take the drinking. I really think
alcohol plays too big a role in
Ireland. I hate when I go out
and some of those I am with say
that they are going to get
‘twisted’ and I wonder what is
the point because they won’t
remember the night. I ask them
‘had you a good night? And
they say, ‘yes’ and when I ask
them ‘why?’ they say, ‘because I
can’t remember it’ and that’s
what I can’t understand. In
Lithuania when you go socialising you don’t need to drink. I
hate that pub culture you have
over here. But there are things
about Ireland that I love. The
people are away more friendly.
They are really helpful and
open-minded. I love the way
they sing all the time especially
on No Name Club outings on
the bus. They sing all the time”.
Brigita Tysencko from Lithuania was a
hostess in New Ross No Name Club
New Ross and when she did her
Junior Certificate exam she got
4 “A’s”, 4 “B’s” and 2 “C’s”. She
is now studying for her Leaving
cert and hopes to do
Business/Commerce in UCC. She
has another distinction in being
the only person to tell the compere at the National Youth
Awards [who happened to be
Síle Seóige] that she was talking
too much! Brigita says, “It was
very difficult to come to a new
country where you had no family and no friends and no
English. Do you know when you
go to school and you hear people say ‘oh, yea! your mother
was here in such and such a year
and your sister is so-and-so and
Alan Malone was Host of the Year in
1998 and a member of New Ross No
Name Club
Brigita spoke of the role the
New Ross No Name Club played
in helping her to settle in to
Ireland. She felt that her opinion was always listened to in the
Club and that she was trusted.
“I made so many friends in the
No Name Club. It was great.
Without it I would not have
made as many friends. It helped
to improve my English. In school
there were topics that were
never talked about but in the
club there were phrases that I
learned and my vocabulary was
widened”, said Brigita. Brigita
speaks absolutely fluent English
with a pronounced New Ross
accent!!!
Diana Jensen is a member of
the Adult Committee and she
also was born outside Ireland.
She is from Denmark. She could
easily relate to what Brigita was
saying. She arrived in this country when she was nine years of
age. She differed from Brigita in
that her mother was from New
Ross and Diana could understand English. Her mother spoke
to her in English and Diana
answered in Danish. Diana still
speaks Danish regularly. She is
the Treasurer of the club. She
works as a Florist in New Ross.
Her daughter, Mikele, is a member of New Ross No Name Club
and Diana is proud of her and
thinks it is great to have her in
the club with her. Diana looks
so young that she is often mistaken for a hostess in the club.
As a mother, Diana finds it a
great relief to know that Mikele
Carmel Cleere [nee O’Connor] one of
the first group of hostesses in the first
Kilkenny club with Eamonn Doyle, her
daughter Nicola, a hostess in New Ross
and Fr. Tom Murphy
Brigita. Speaking about how she
was received Brigita says, “I love
Ireland it is such a friendly place.
No one has ever made a racist
remark to or about me. I am so
proud of being Lithuanian but
sometimes I forget that I am not
Irish. The Irish culture just grows
on you. I still speak Lithuanian
as my first language in my home
with my Mother in New Ross. I
regret that I did not have to
learn Irish because learning the
Diana Jensen, Esther Murphy, Brigita Tysencko and Martin Dempsey New Ross No
Name Club
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NEW ROSS NO NAME CLUB
The New Ross No Name Club at the 2004 National Youth Awards
is in a club that looks after her,
allows her to make great friends
with students from schools
other than her own and gives
her the chance to socialise in a
safe environment. “I am terrified of drugs”, says Diana “And
I can honestly say I trust Mikele
and it is good to know that No
Name Club supports me in that
trust”
Esther Murphy [does that
name sound a bit Irish?] is also a
member of the Adult
Committee. She knows all about
Brian Boru and about the
Salmon of Knowledge! She was
delighted to hear Brigita and
Diana talk so positively about
the way they were received in
the No Name Club in particular
and in Ireland in general. “That
they feel welcome and to feel a
part of the country is fantastic”,
says Esther. “ I feel proud of the
members of the club that they
were so accepting of Brigita and
made her feel so much a part of
the club. We have English people and two Nigerians in the
club at the moment and a girl
from Zimbabwe and we make
no distinctions between any of
she feels the No Name Club is a
wonderful asset. It gives them
confidence and helps them to
stand up for themselves and
they learn from each other that
they do not need either drink or
any other drug to have a good
time and enjoy themselves. “We
had 600 young people at the
Graduation Ball in the hotel last
year and there was not one
alcoholic drink sold in the hotel
that night”, says Esther.
Lisa Ann Roche Hostess of the Year
2002 from New Ross No Name Club
the members. The one thing
they all have in common is the
No Name Club and they are all
treated equally. They come in
here and they are all treated as
individuals and it doesn’t matter
what school you are in or where
you are from you are all equal”.
Esther says that as far as she is
concerned the biggest worry
that parents have is that their
children would get involved in
drink and drugs. In this regard
Martin Dempsey is the
Chairperson of the club and he
says that when people from
other countries come into the
club the committee sits down
and works out the best way to
treat them so as to make their
entry into the club as smooth
and as enjoyable as possible for
them. Martin says that the club
sends out its application forms
to the Schools – The C.B.S.,
Good Counsel, St. Mary’s, Our
Lady of Lourdes, and The
Vocational College - and when
they come back they hold the
interviews and select their hosts
and hostesses without any distinction between native born
Irish and foreign born young
people. The result is that they
have Irish, English, Lithuanian,
Nigerian, Zimbabwean and others as hosts and hostesses in the
club. Martin says that within the
club the hosts and hostesses
“learn how to co-operate with
each other. They learn to trust
each other and the committee.
They learn to support one
another and learn to talk to
each other. We try to give them
the space to be themselves and
to talk to us if they want to, or,
if they feel that they need help.
They learn to identify and to
solve problems. We learn to listen to them. We get to know
them very well and we would
know fairly quickly if someone
needed to talk or whatever.
They learn to have confidence in
us. They get to know people
from other schools and it does
away with the rivalry between
the schools.” Martin says that
the big strength of the New
Ross Club is the Committee. “We
have one of the best committee
I have ever worked with”, says
Martin “There isn’t one of them
that you could not trust with
Alan Malone National Award winner
1998 with Hostess of the Year 1998,
Áine Geraghty from Kilkenny No Name
Club
your life and everyone is treated
with respect. It’s like a big family”, says Martin.
Brigita agrees with Martin
that New Ross No Name Club is
like a big family but, she adds
that when she went to National
Events such as the National
Youth Awards, The National
Cabaret awards and the like, she
began to realise that the whole
National Organisation was like
one big family whose members
found it very easy to get to
know one another. Brigita talks
about friends she made in different parts of the country like
Caroline Kenna from
Claremorris and Jenny Murphy
from Dungarvan and she keeps
in touch with them regularly
even though there is quite a distance separating them. Martin
says that when he sees what
young people get out of being
members of the club it helps to
“keep him going and to do the
very best you can. There is nothing else that I do that gives me
as much satisfaction as the work
I do in the No Name club”.
Esther and Diana agree
wholeheartedly.
The New Ross No Name Club of 1998
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57
The town of Castlerea was built in its present location in the 14th century. Its previous location was at Ballinapark about a mile on the
Galway side of the present town. You can still see some of the ruins of
the old houses and the church which formed part of the older town.
Clonalis House is situated in Castlerea and is the ancient home of the
O’Connors, Kings of Connaught and the family from which Rory
O’Connor, the last High King of Ireland came.
The O’Connor Inauguration Stone, similar to the Stone of Scone which
lies in Westminster, belonged to the O’Connors for 1,500 years. A truly
remarkable archive containing up to 100,000 documents can be
viewed in Clonalis House.
Also contained in this great
archive is a copy of the last
Brehon Law Judgement ever
handed down and dating back
to 1580. The harp belonging to
the blind Irish Bard and Harpist,
Turlough O’Connor can be seen
at the house. In the library of
the house a pedigree of the
O’Connors can be seen. It lists 11
high Kings of Ireland and 26
Kings of Connaught including
Ruairi Ó’Crochubhair, the last of
the High Kings of Ireland. The
first President of Ireland the
Poet and writer “An Craoibhín
Aoibhinn” Douglas De hÍde
[Douglas Hyde] was born on the
17th January 1860 at Longford
House. Sir William Wilde, father
of the well-known writer, Oscar
Wilde, was born here in 1815.
Sir William was one of the leading Doctors of his time. Among
his most notable achievements
was perfecting instruments for
operating on eyes, ear and
throat. There are many clubs
and community associations in
Castlerea and among the best of
those is Castlerea No Name
Club.
Castlerea No Name Club started in the year 2004. Fiona
Conneelly is a member of the
club for two years now and her
friend, Niamh Finan, is in her
third year as a hostess there.
Fiona describes the members of
the club as very enthusiastic.
“It’s great craic and you meet
loads of new people and it’s a
great opportunity to go out and
enjoy yourself without any worries about alcohol or drugs. You
have so much in common with
everyone that it is easy to start a
conversation and make new
friends and get to know people
from all over Ireland. At last
year’s Youth Awards we met
people from Limerick and Cork
and everywhere. It was great.
When you go to Roscommon
you might meet people from
Kilbride No Name Club and it’s
grand to see them and recognise them and have a chat.
There is always something going
on”, says Fiona.
The club gets its hosts and
hostesses from Castlerea
Community School. In
September 2007 Fiona and
Niamh went in to talk to the
students there and were accompanied by Paddy Burke from
Claremorris who was the
National Award Winner in
2007.We went to all the 3rd
year and 5th year students.
Niamh says, “It was a bit overwhelming at first to have to go
in to your own school but once
we got the first few minutes
over it was grand. The students
were very attentive and we got
a great response from them.
They asked what we did in the
club, where we went to and all
about the Ball at the National
Youth Awards and the variety
Show and all of that. We got a
great response.”
In the club they organise the
usual discos. They ran a
“Simpsons Quiz” in which all
Fiona Conneeley of Castlerea No Name
Club
the questions had to do with
the Simpsons. [In case there is
anyone out there who doesn’t
know – the Simpsons is a series
of television cartoon programmes]. Niamh says, “We got
a great reaction to it. Loads of
people came to it. It was a fundraiser for the club”. Paul
Glynn, who is Chairman of the
Club says, “We wanted to do
something to raise the awareness of the No Name Club and
we got a huge reaction to the
quiz. It was open to everybody
and of course everybody is
expert when it comes to the
Simpsons. Mary Mullarkey, the
Principal of the School, gave us
the Community School as a
Niamh Finan of Castlerea No Name Club
venue and we filled the hall and
were even stuck for space. For a
while we were afraid we would
have to turn people away. There
was huge enthusiasm. It was a
big success”.
Fiona tells of a cake sale for
Telethon which they ran during
this year. “We made a load of
cakes and scones and we got
some from the shops as well.
We had cheesecake and yogurts
and everything. Everyone in the
club participated and they all
brought stuff for sale. We held
it in the school and set up our
tables at break time. We wore
our t-shirts and sold the stuff to
the students. We made €200 at
the cake sale and the Club doubled that so we had €400 to
give to People in Need”, says
Fiona. There was a picture of
the presentation of the cheque
in the Roscommon Herald and
that helped the publicity for No
Name Club.
My daughter, Elaine, joined
No Name Club in Castlerea in
October 2005. It has been a
wonderful experience for her. I
would recommend this club to
any parent. All teenagers should
be encouraged to become
involved in it. I myself had been
involved in a youth organisation
for many years in town, and I
saw the teenagers who became
involved and participated in the
club over the years, were the
ones who grew up to become
confident young adults. The
importance for young people to
be part of a youth organisation
in this difficult climate is imperative. Young people are easily
influenced by what they see
around them and peer pressure
is foremost in their young lives.
We, as parents, must accept
responsibility for our children
and try to guide them in the
correct path in life. We can do
this by encouraging them to
become involved in their community, to participate in organisations and to look further than
the small circle of friends
around them. I can say without
hesitation that the No Name
Club has given Elaine this
opportunity.
The friendships she has made
when visiting other clubs
throughout the Region has
opened up for her a whole new
experience. Her self-confidence
and belief in herself has grown.
I think the involvement of the
local Gardai in the club is fantastic. It gives young people a bond
and respect for them that for
some is slowly fading in communities today. The club gives
young people the confidence to
go out and enjoy themselves
without consuming alcohol or
any other illegal substances. This
club eliminates the pressures for
our young people and this is
what we, as parents, should be
trying to accomplish. I know we
can’t wrap up our children in
cotton wool, and there will be
times when they will be exposed
to situations where there will be
alcohol etc, but the young peo-
“My Mom and Dad think the
No Name Club is great”, says
Niamh. “It is something to do in
Castlerea, especially if you are
not into sports. It’s great to be
with people of your own age
and to go to other places like
Claremorris”.
Claire Morgan, the mother
of Elaine, a hostess in Castlerea
No Name Club took it upon herself to write;
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CASTLEREA NO NAME CLUB
wanted to make it something different”,
says Fiona. “Myself and Niamh Kelly dressed
up in ‘Winnie The Poo’ outfits and Michael
and Rachel came with us to do face painting. We got a Garda Escort so it was lovely
for the family. We made a big thing of it
and his parents were delighted. It was
upsetting to see the little boy so ill and we
were close to tears. It was very emotional
but it felt nice afterwards to think that we
were there and we made his day”, says
Fiona with a little smile.
Niamh Finan, Paul Glynn and Fiona Conneelly
Castlerea No Name Club
ple who are members of No Name Club will
know that they don’t need to partake in
these substances to have a good night.
Like any other organisation it is only as
good as the people who run it and I would
like to take this opportunity to thank the
Adult Leaders of the No Name Club in
Castlerea who give up their free time to
help our young adults cope with the pressures they are faced with in our society
today. They have given our teenagers the
confidence and self-reliance they need to
cope with life.
“We went to a lot of discos”, says Niamh.
“We went to Kilbride, to Claremorris, to
Oranmore, Mountbellew and Westport. The
day we went to Westport we teamed up
with Claremorris. We hired a bus and then
picked up the members from Claremorris.
We went on to Galway and went ice-skating
and then we went to the disco in Westport.
We got to know a lot of people from
Claremorris. It was great to go off with a
different club”.
Fiona says the most important difference
between herself, her No Name Club friends
Her family requested that instead of flowers anyone who wanted could make a contribution to Castlerea No Name Club. A sum
of money now exists in the club and will be
used by the club when they put on what
they are already calling “A Penny Day”.
Peter, her husband and Shauna, her
daughter are devastated. We offer them our
very deepest sympathy. We know she is on
the side of the Angels in death as she was
on the side of her angels in her family and
her No Name Club in life. May she rest in
Peace.
Paul says, “I want to pay a complement to
Niamh because when Penny died Niamh
took over the duties of secretary. No one
told her to do it. She just did it. She knew it
needed to be done and she did it and we
thank her for that”.
The present Adult Committee of Castlerea
No Name Club is; - Paul Glynn, Chairperson,
Michael Gutherie, Treasurer, Ciara
McCormack, P.R.O., Joe McElwaine, Training
Officer. Penny Burchill’s role as Secretary has
now been taken over by Niamh Finan.
In conclusion, I would have no hesitation
in recommending this club to any parent, or
young person who is finding life as a
teenager hard to cope with, and wants an
organisation that is well run and will give
them the support and help they need to
deal with the pressures and demands of
today’s society.
“We held a traffic light disco”, says Fiona.
“Everyone came to it. As you came in the
door you got your sticker – red, orange or
green. Green meant that you were ‘free’
and ‘single’. Red meant that you were ‘took’
– a ‘no go’ area – a danger zone -you couldn’t go near that person at all Stay away!
Orange meant that you were a ‘maybe’ –
open to offers – and prepared to think
about it. It created great interest”, says
Fiona. .“It was a great conversation starter”,
says Paul. The idea came from Ciara
McCormack who is a member of the Adult
Committee and is herself a Garda. She
comes up with great ideas all the time! She
identifies very well with all the young people in the club.
“We did a “Share a Dream” project. There
was a little boy from a nearby town who
was very ill with a congenital heart defect.
The Share a Dream foundation asked us
would we do something. We have an association with the Share a Dream Organisation.
For his birthday his parents wanted something special to happen at his party – they
The Late Penny Burchill from Castlerea No Name Club
with Dominica Healy, Mountbellew
and those who are not in No Name Club is
that “We know how to enjoy ourselves
without alcohol and other drugs. In fact we
enjoy ourselves a lot better because we are
fully aware of what is going on”.
The Castlerea No Name Club at the 2006 National
Youth Awards
Niamh says that if she was talking to the
Garda Commissioner she would tell him how
important it is to young people to see the
Gardai involved in organisations such as the
No Name Club. “It has made such a difference to the way we see the Guards”, she
said. For the Guards, too, Niamh says, “It
changes the way the Guards see the youth. I
would say ‘thanks’ to the Commissioner for
all the voluntary hours the Guards have
given us and I would ask him to encourage
the Guards who are not yet involved to
become part of the No Name Club”.
Paul, Niamh and Fiona spoke with great
affection about Penny Burchill. Penny was
Secretary of the club and a live-wire. She
went into hospital on Christmas Eve and
died on Christmas morning 2007. Everybody
in the club was deeply shocked and the
shock waves went all over the country. “We
were all shocked”, says Fiona. “She was so
bubbly, so lively, so full of ‘get up and go’. If
you wanted to go somewhere all you had to
do was get a few more with you and Penny
would always go. She was a Legend. She
just was!”
A CELEBRATION OF THIRTY YEARS OF NO NAME CLUB 1978 - 2008
www.nonameclub.ie
2007
First National Table
Quiz held in Killeshin
Hotel, Portlaoise won
by Cobh.
Clubs from all over the country
attended a Table Quiz organised by
the National Events Committee in the
Killeshin Hotel Portlaoise on Sunday,
28th October 2007. The first winners
of the Eamonn Doyle Trophy was the
Cobh Club.
Milestone
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ATHBOY NO NAME CLUB
59
Athboy got its name from the ford on Athboy River and its name in
Irish is Baile Átha Buí – the town of the yellow ford. In 1400 A.D. the
first bridge on the river was built and 70 years later the town had
become important enough to be granted a Royal Charter [in 1470
A.D.]. The town, like so many other towns of the time, was a walled
town and some of the original wall still exists in the grounds of the
Church of Ireland. The town was dominated by the Plunkett family
which is the same family as St. Oliver Plunkett.
could use their talents at.“It’s a
wonderful achievement to set
up this club and to have it for
our own age group,” he said.
“You are the future of Athboy
and should always use your talents in a positive way – so much
are being used in a negative
and destructive way.”He pointed
out that the opening followed
closely on a report on drugs by
the health authorities that said
the illegal drug trade is a ‘huge
business’.“Yet, this is a business
with victims. We have seen in
our own community the effects
of over-drinking and the use of
drugs. To combat it at local level
and provide a centre for yourselves is a wonderful achievement.”
T
he Plunketts were
replaced at the
Cromwellian Plantation
by the Bligh family who
later became Earls of
Darnley and had the largest
land holdings in County Meath.
The Hill of Ward – Tlachtga – is
a prehistoric settlement and Iron
Age ring fort. This hill is associated with an ancient Fair
[Aonach] which was held every
three years at the feast of
Samhain on 1st of November.
The last recorded fair was in
1168 and involved the last High
King of Ireland, Rory O’Connor.
Monks of the Carmelite Order
came to Ireland in about 1260
and one of their chief houses
was in Athboy. The monastery
was located at Danescourt near
St. James’ Church of Ireland.
Provincial Chapters of the
Carmelite Order were held in
Athboy in 1325 and 1467. In
1540, during the reign of Henry
VIII, the Abbot was forced to
surrender the property – a
church, a tower, a mansion,
eight houses and 4 acres of
meadow at Adenstown known
as Friar’s Meadow. In 1543 the
monastery was granted to
Thomas Casey and was later
turned into a mill. The great
Irish Scholar, Fr. Eugene
O’Growney, was born in Athboy
in 1863. In 1893 the Gaelic
League was founded mainly
because of the writings of Fr.
O’Growney. He died in Los
Angeles six years later in 1899 at
the very young age of 36. He is
buried in Maynooth where he
had been a professor of Irish.
The committee of hosts and hostesses at Athboy No Name Club - Saoirse Timmons
[Sec] Bernadine Kearney [Chair] Fiona Gath [Treasurer] Charlotte Cumiskey
[A/Treasurer] Back; Ciara Beirne [P.R.O.] David Kearney [Host of the Year] and
Sarah McGloin [Hostess of the year]
constant use by the members of
the club who visit it regularly.
They are not the only people
who visit it. Even the then
Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, himself
dropped in. The members of the
club were so proud of their club
that they invited Mr. Ahern to
come and see for himself what a
good club they had. They
showed him around the premises, told him about their activities and gave him a real warm
welcome. The Taoiseach was
very impressed and why wouldn’t he be? It’s an impressive club
to visit and they are doing top
class work.
The club was founded at the
The present Parish Priest of
Athboy, Fr. Patrick O’Connor, is
also the chairperson of Athboy
No Name Club. The secretary
of the Club, Annette Clarke, has
resigned her position because
she is so busy with the work she
is doing in her role as Career
Guidance Counsellor in the local
Athboy Community School. She
will continue to be a member of
the adult committee with Fr.
O’Conner, Liz McCormack, Mary
Flood, Tina O’Growney, Esther
Sullivan, Loretta Martin, Hannah
McGloin, Kieran Perry and
Maura O’Donohue. Athboy No
Name Club was founded in the
autumn of 2005. Through the
auspices of Liz McCormack the
club secured premises. The official opening of the “Drop In
Centre” took place in December
2005 and was performed by
Government Minister, Mr. Noel
Dempsey, T.D. The centre is
open Monday to Friday and is in
request of ten concerned young
people who had experienced a
number of tragic suicide deaths
of their peers and were looking
for a safe, warm, comfortable
place where they could meet
one another and discuss the
issues that concerned them.
They felt they needed a positive
alternative to the drink and
drug culture they saw around
them. Several adults were only
too pleased to offer support and
encouragement and the club
was affiliated to No Name Club
Ltd.
Fr O’Connor described the
opening of the No Name Club as
“a seed for so many other
things which the young people
Athboy No Name Club members at the 2008 National Youth Awards in Castlebar
A CELEBRATION OF THIRTY YEARS OF NO NAME CLUB 1978 - 2008
www.nonameclub.ie
Hannah McGloin, a member of
the Adult Committee of the
club, said that the members of
the club who went to the
National Youth Awards in
Castlebar in 2007 really enjoyed
themselves and became very
conscious of the fact that they
could truly enjoy themselves
without the use of alcohol or
other drugs. The message that
such enjoyment was possible
came across in a big way at the
Awards. Mary Flood, P.R.O. of
the club said that despite what
they learned at the Awards
there is still a huge problem
with drugs and alcohol in the
population generally. Even
though they had great fun in
Castlebar and enjoyed themselves so much, they are still
under huge pressure when they
come home and go out socially.
Perhaps the experience they had
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ATHBOY NO NAME CLUB
Among other things they did
were Art classes, Drama with
‘Crooked House’, Golf classes
with a professional golfer in the
K Club, met professional footballer, Niall Quinn, Archery, a
course on sexual health and
other courses. This is a busy club
that does very valuable work.
Hannah McGloin, whose
daughter Sarah is a hostess in
the club, says that the club has
made a big difference to Sarah.
“She loves it”, says Hannah
“And it’s great for me because I
know where she is”.
Mountjoy Prison Governor, John Lonergan with Sarah McGloin and David Kearney
from Athboy No Name Club
in Castlebar will give them the
courage to socialise without the
use of alcohol and that the
experience will show them that
it is worthwhile to keep away
from the drink
Fr. O’Connor says that the club
has raised the awareness among
their hosts and hostesses of the
difficulties that alcohol can create. The club has made strong
efforts to build the self-esteem
of the young people so that
they are better equipped to
withstand the pressures to
drink. To help build this selfesteem the club has brought in
various people and have provided programmes such as
“Aware” and other programmes
that are helpful in that area.
There are other programmes
that the hosts and hostesses participate in that enhance their
self-esteem such as First Aid and
others. As a result of their participation they have more belief
in themselves and are better
able to stand on their own two
feet and resist the temptation
to get involved in drinking just
to prove that they are part of
their group. It gives them
respect for themselves and others according to Father
O’Connor.
Annette Clarke, who is Career
Guidance Teacher as well as a
member of the Adult
Committee, says that she has
noticed and been “astonished
by how much they have come
on over the past year. I was really, really impressed by the way
they were able to talk about
themselves. A number of them
said that their favourite thing
over the whole year was the
self-esteem course. It was an
excellent course. From my experience as a teacher young people don’t like these kinds of
courses very much but this particular course was very special
and they had no hesitation in
saying that it was their favourite
The Chairperson of the Hosts
and Hostesses committee is
Bernadine Kearney and she
describes the club as sociable
and friendly. “Young people can
come in and enjoy themselves in
Saoirse Timmons says the club
is really great. When people
come in “maybe they didn’t
know anyone and now they
have got really close. It’s really
good to go down and sit with
your friends and your parents
know that you are safe and you
are going to come home grand
at the end of the night. They
wish there was something like
this when they were growing
up. I’m doing my Leaving so I
don’t come as often as I used to.
There is a lot of pressure on you
when you are doing your
Leaving but you can come here
and you relax”.
Shauna Doherty says, “It’s a
really good place to be and with
all the courses it really gets your
confidence up. You get to know
Hannah and Sarah McGloin, Shauna Doherty, Saoirse Timmons, Bernadine Kearney,
Mary Flood, Liz McCormack from Athboy No Name Club 2007.
Keith Doherty, Athboy no Name Club
was a National Award finalist in 2007
an environment where we can
get away from alcohol and
drugs”, she says “We welcome
newcomers and if they need a
hand or some comfort we can
help. If they have any problems
or want to talk to someone or
one of the adult committee they
will listen and help you to get
anything you want off your
chest. It’s great. Everything is
confidential and no one will go
out and talk about what you say
outside. We trust each other
absolutely”. Fr. O’Connor and
Liz McCormack said that they
were very pleased to hear
course of the whole year. I was
really impressed by the level of
maturity they showed. Some of
this had to do with the different
projects they had done such as
the ‘Derelict Site Project’ They
also said they loved the driving”.
The Pride of Place project – Newly
planted flower bed and hanging baskets outside the restored door of the
previously derelict house in Athboy.
Won Best Youth Project Award presented by Meath Co. Council
Bernadine say such things.
The driving was a course given
by famous Rally Driver,
Rosemary Smith. Those who participated in it got a lot out of it
and they loved it. They got an
opportunity to drive under
Rosemary’s supervision in circumstances that were very safe.
They also had the Garda Traffic
Unit in to speak to them about
driving and the horror of the
accidents that happen on our
roads.
everyone better so it’s more
relaxed and you can talk to people in confidence because you
know they won’t tell anyone
back. You get great advice as
well.”
The Club participated in the
Meath County Council “Pride of
Place” project. They decided to
renovate an old derelict house
in the town. They all got
together and worked hard on it
and brought about an incredible
transformation of the site. They
won the award for the best
youth project.
Athboy No Name Club’s mission statement is to promote
a varied programme of activities to respect the dignity,
value and uniqueness of all
young people, supporting,
advocating and helping to
safeguard their inalienable
right to enjoy life, feel
respected and to mature
without a reliance on alcohol
or other drugs
This is a special club – warm and
friendly with a fantastic group
of young people and adults.
Bernadine Kearney Chairperson of the
Youth Committee at Athboy No Name
Club 2007
A CELEBRATION OF THIRTY YEARS OF NO NAME CLUB 1978 - 2008
www.nonameclub.ie
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TOMMY HANNON
61
TOMMY HANNON
By Eamonn Doyle
The No Name Club has long been
fortunate with the high calibre of
person attracted to its fold and
none is more deserving of this
high accolade than Tommy
Hannon from Portlaoise.
T
ommy has served at all levels of
the organisation for over 20 years
– as Executive Committee and
Board member and long-time
P.R.O... He has had an active part
in many sub-committees and
amongst that myriad of involvements he
will forever be remembered for his remarkable contribution over many years as adjudicator at both Regional and National Youth
Award Finals. In this respect the organisation is also indebted to Tommy’s wife, Jo,
who for that same number of years was an
ever affable, able and considerate adjudicator. Any young person who attended for
those interviews will gladly recall how comfortable and at ease they were made to feel
during what was, for them, a daunting and
trying ordeal.
values and beliefs which
would stand greatly to
him all his life. After
Primary School – where
his parents were teachers – he attended
Summerhill College in
Sligo, later joined An
Garda Siochána, married
Jo, helped rear six children, and spent his
entire working life in
Laois. He was the first Garda Juvenile
Liaison Officer in the region and, if anyone
ever suited that role to perfection, it was
he. Many a young person has good reason
to be grateful for Tommy’s understanding
and compassion and for following a finger
pointed in the right direction. He was a
long-time member of Foróige and, having
served at all levels with it, became its leader
and National Chairman in course. In his
younger days his sporting life centered on
football when he graced many a team and
competed with the best. Latterly his sporting passion is golf and is still well capable of
hitting a ball “out of sight”.
Always passionate about what really mattered, and sensible in approach, we all at No
Name Club have many reasons to be grateful for a wonderful contribution to the
organisation given honestly, openly and
generously. Amongst the many endeavours
undertaken, it was his dream to secure Fulltime Staff and a National Office for the No
Name Club and he worked tirelessly towards
that end. It is now very fitting as he retires
from the Board of Directors that that dream
has been fulfilled.
Tommy, we wish you and Jo a very happy
retirement and many, many thanks.
Eamonn Doyle
As P.R.O. he brought imagination, flair and
colour to the production of Newsletters and
Magazines. Only those who have had their
own experience of such a task will fully
realise the enormity of such endeavours and
what goes into such productions. Sourcing,
sifting, editing, writing or re-writing material, attending all manner of events, taking
photographs, arranging and consulting
about design and layout – all the time keeping an eye on deadlines, taking deliveries
and organising distribution are but some of
what’s involved. Suffice to say, it just doesn’t
happen easily. That it is done genially and
without fuss is indicative of the competence
of the man.
Tommy is a native of Drum, Co. Roscommon
where he grew up with a love of place,
faith, family and friends – enjoying rural life
to the full and, at the same time, aware of
Tommy and Jo with Lisa Ann Roche at the Regional Youth Award Finals
ROSCREA A REFORMED
GETS
LITTLE OLD WOMAN
STARTED A
IN June 1981 some people from Roscrea,
who were concerned at the increase in
teenage drinking in the town, attended the
National Seminar of the No Name Club in
Kilkenny to see what the whole thing was
about, and were so impressed with the
whole concept of putting on a night’s entertainment for all the family without alcohol
that they decided to try the No Name Club
in Roscrea.
s a mother of a modern teenage daughter
[in 1985] I am very
aware of the dangers that
lurk in the night. So, in my
wisdom as an over 40 I see
fit to drive my off-spring to
the No Name Club and collect her and her friends
afterwards.
It causes me some inconvenience and petrol money
but I have peace of mind
knowing that while
teenagers are at the club
they are looked after and
safe from unscrupulous
exploiters. I also know that
they won’t be allowed to
leave the hall and go
around the back! So, all in
all, I was glad to do my bit
until – one dark night the
Law got me – seven
teenagers and myself all in
one small car – you see my
A CELEBRATION OF THIRTY YEARS OF NO NAME CLUB 1978 - 2008
www.nonameclub.ie
daughter collects many
friends.
Like the “Old woman
who lived in a shoe” I didn’t
know what to do. After a
firm warning about having
too many children I sped on
my way. Now, I do know
what to do.
[Extract from a letter to
No Name Club News from a
‘Little Old Woman –
reformed’ – c.1985]
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DUNGARVAN NO NAME CLUB
The origins of Dungarvan on the south coast of County Waterford can be traced back to the
Stone Age. In the 3rd century a people called the “Decie” came from Tara and settled on the
coast of County Waterford and occupied the site now known as Dungarvan. It was from
these people that Waterford became known as “The Decies”.
Some claim that Dungarvan was
founded in 135 A.D. The name
Dungarvan derives from a
monastery which was built there
in the 7th Century by St.
Garbhan. It has the ruins of an
Augustinian Priory which was
founded in the 13th Century
and its great tower was incorporated into the Catholic Church.
In 1185 Henry 11 was King of
England and he sent his son,
John, to Waterford. In order to
secure the territory he began to
build Dungarvan Castle in the
year 1185. The castle was occupied by the British for around
750 years to the year 1920. Its
remains can still be seen beside
the river.
The Waterford, Dungarvan and
Lismore railway was opened to
rail users on 12th August, 1878 –
just one hundred years before
No Name Club was founded. It
was expensive to build and it
had 53 level crossings on the
line. Dungarvan GAA Club
stands proudly at the head of
the Waterford Roll of Honour
with 20 County Senor Football
titles to its credit together with
six County Senior Hurling titles.
In 2006 Dungarvan Town
Council presided over by Mayor
Damien Geoghegan, awarded a
Civic Reception for Dungarvan
No Name Club. The Reception
held in the Civic Offices
Dungarvan was in recognition
of the club’s contribution to the
young people of West
Waterford. Special Scrolls were
awarded to Jenny Murphy on
becoming the 2006 National
Youth Award Winner and to The
Dungarvan Club itself following
their victory in the 2006 Variety
Awards. We were especially
honoured on the night to have
all three founder members in
Dungarvan with us namely,
Eddie Keher, Eamon Doyle & Fr.
Tom Murphy
Lorna Daly is a former hostess
in Dungarvan and she spent two
years recently as a hostess.
“Before No Name Club started
there was nothing in town for
us young people”, says Lorna.
“In 4th Year I applied to become
a hostess in the club. I was a student in Árd Scoil Na Déise which
is an all-girls school. Then there
is the C.B.S. School which is an
all-boys school. Then there is the
Friary – St. Augustine’s College –
which is a mixed school and
there is the Vocational School.
Before we joined No Name Club
we just stuck to our own school
and we didn’t mix with the
other schools. After we joined
No Name Club we made good
friends with all the other
Some people from Dungarvan No Name Club – Lorna Daly, Catherine Walsh, Jenny
Hurley, Jenny Murphy, John Donovan, Brendan Walsh, Teresa Daly, Cordelia Burke,
Joe Moynihan and Paddy Fitzgerald
everything and before that he
was not involved in anything. In
the club I always felt that I
could say what I wanted and I
would be listened to. I really
enjoyed myself in the club.
Teresa Daly – Lorna’s mother –
was a hostess in the first
Dungarvan No Name Club back
in the ‘80’s. “The club in those
days was very different to what
goes on in Lorna’s club today”,
says Teresa. “We used to have
‘singing sessions’. There was
about forty of us. There was a
Lorna Daly with her mother Teresa Daly, choir and most of the choir
Dungarvan No Name Club.
members joined No Name Club.
We put on a little show every
schools. It was great to meet
week for the people who
new people and to meet people
arrived. We were in Lalor’s Hotel
from up the country” says
and we set up little tables all
Lorna. “The things I enjoyed
around and we served tea and
most were the cabaret Show
coffee and biscuits and we’d
and I always enjoyed going
entertain them”, says Teresa.
away to places. I liked meeting
“Adults, parents and people like
people from other places. I met
that would come to the club
loads of people in Headford
and we’d put on entertainment
because I had a cousin in that
for them. We’d do a bit of
club. That was great and I made
singing and we’d do a bit of
friends with girls from
dancing in our white tops and
Roscommon and all over. We
black skirts and the fellas had to
still keep in contact and I go
wear white shirts and black
and meet them. Before I got
pants. Then some of the people
involved in no Name Club I did
would sing and the rest of us
not find it easy to talk to people
would go down and serve the
I didn’t know but when I meet
tea and coffee. Then we’d
people from
change
other No
over and
Name Clubs
the ones
I feel so
that served
comfortable
the tea
that it is
would
easy to get
sing” says
on with
Teresa.
everyone.
“We didn’t
The club
go many
took me out
places like
of myself. I
they do
see my
now. The
brother who
whole idea
has just
was to put
joined. He is
on entergetting
Catherine Walsh and Jenny Hurley, Dungarvan No tainment
involved in
for young
Name Club
A CELEBRATION OF THIRTY YEARS OF NO NAME CLUB 1978 - 2008
www.nonameclub.ie
and old and there was no alcohol involved. People used to
come in and enjoy themselves
and it was a lovely way to spend
a night. That was every
Thursday night. We used to
make special non-alcoholic cocktails. I was in that club for two
years. It used to run from 9 p.m.
to 10.45 p.m. We left a box near
the door and if anyone wanted
to give a few bob they put it in
the box. The hotel was very
good and they didn’t charge us
anything”, said Teresa. Lorna
said, “You’d never get them to
wear black skirts and white tops
now. It’s a bit weird. I couldn’t
imagine ourselves serving tea
and coffee and a few people on
the stage and not having people
fighting over who is serving and
who is not serving”. When
asked which she would prefer –
then or now – Lorna said a very
emphatic, “Now”
As a mother Teresa is “delighted
that Lorna joined the club. She
used to be extremely quiet in
herself but within the space of
three months the whole town
knew she was changed. Every
person I met used to tell me
they couldn’t believe the difference in Lorna. I put it all down
to the club. It is absolutely brilliant and I cannot say enough
good things about it” says
Teresa with a smile. Like every
other parent of teenagers
Teresa is very concerned about
drink and drugs and feels it is
great to have a place they can
go and be safe.
Brendan Walsh is an
Engineering Student in U.C.C.
and when he was a host in the
club he was a finalist in the
2006 National Youth Awards. At
that time he had a tremendous
interest in maths. He recollects
that “For me the club was a
place to go that had a very positive atmosphere with outgoing,
enthusiastic people who wanted
to get the most out of it. It was
all good-natured and all good
fun. You could try things and
you were given responsibility if
Brendan Walsh was a finalist in the
2006 National Youth Awards and Jenny
Murphy was the National Award winner
that same year.
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DUNGARVAN NO NAME CLUB
63
The Dungarvan No Name Club at the National Youth Awards 2006
you wanted it. That positive
atmosphere gave me a chance
to develop as a person”, says
Brendan. “Having been in No
Name Club helps big time when
you go to College. By then I had
learned how to enjoy myself
without drink and I found I
could go out with my friends in
College and enjoy the night. In
the No Name Club the dangers
of alcohol were never emphasised. What was emphasised was
the fun you could have without
it” says Brendan. “It was a very
positive approach and more useful than scare tactics about the
dangers. You discovered for
yourself that you could have fun
without alcohol - and you had
fun just making that discovery.
Brendan says that reaching the
National Youth Awards Final
was a brilliant experience. “I relearned how to play the piano
after a lapse of five years and I
did it in front of 800 people”,
says Brendan with a big smile. “I
was pleased”, he said “That
when I was given the responsibility to represent the club I did
not mess it up. I am still quite
proud of that to this day. When
I was selected to represent my
club I was delighted and very
humbled. I was very grateful. It
was a great honour and a brilliant experience.
Brendan would like to see
something like No Name
Club in College. Perhaps a
College Society or an older
version of the club. Many of
the Societies that exist in
college have a lot of drink
associated with their activities and he would like to
have something where you
could have a bit of craic.
There are quite a few former
hosts and hostesses in U.C.C.
and Brendan would be willing to work with them to set
up a Third Level version of
No Name Club. It would, he
feels, take a good bit of
ground work to get it started and people would have to
be prepared to make it work.
Catherine Walsh is a hostess in
the club and a student in Árd
Scoil Na Déise. This is her second
year in the club. “It’s fantastic”
she says “And I really love it. I
always wanted to join it because
my father was involved in it”.
[Catherine’s father, Paul, was
one of the founders of the present Dungarvan Club but, unfor-
tunately, he died last year as a
very young man]. Catherine says
that there is a really great
atmosphere in the club and “it
is something everyone wants to
get involved in. and those who
did not get in are very disappointed”, says Catherine. “The
Variety Show was great fun”,
she says “You had the lead up
to it and going to it and everyone wanted to make it work
and it was really fun. We got
together with the adults and we
threw around a few ideas. We
had auditions just to see what
people could do and then just
put the show together” she says
as if it was the easiest thing in
the world to do. When she was
questioned she admitted that it
took a lot of work but they truly
enjoyed it. “The lead up to the
stage presentation was great.
Then the stage was a bit sad
because it was the last time you
were going to do it and you felt
sad about that”, she said.
“During the whole period of
preparation of the show we got
to know each other a lot better
and got a lot closer to them. It
was a place where I felt relaxed
and there was a great atmosphere”.
Jenny Hurley is also in the club
Brendan Walsh, Dungarvan, 2nd from R at Back, and Jenny Murphy, Dungarvan, 2nd from R front, with the other finalists,
Judges and Compere, Síle Seóige at the 2006 National Youth Awards
A CELEBRATION OF THIRTY YEARS OF NO NAME CLUB 1978 - 2008
www.nonameclub.ie
for two years and is a student in
Árd Scoil Na Déise. She sees the
club as a place where you make
new friends and have chats
about things in which they are
interested in an easy relaxed
atmosphere with no drugs or
alcohol. It’s a place where there
is no pressure of any kind on
you. She says that the club is
able to organise things for other
young people like discos, paintballing, overnight stay in the
Cistercian Abbey of Mount
Mellary with your friends and
friends from other clubs, we did
bowling and there was a climbing wall, the Variety Show, and
many other things. Jenny says,
“I don’t know how the adults
put up with us all the time. They
help us organise all the events
and they take us away to other
places and sometimes have to
give up a whole weekend or
have to stay up all night. We
really appreciate all they do for
us.
Cordelia Burke is the Treasurer
of the Club and was a hostess
with Teresa Daly in the original
No Name Club in Dungarvan
back in the 1980’s. That club,
according to Cordelia, was very
different to today’s club. “I
remember that there used to be
a menu of all the cocktails on
the tables. I can’t remember
what was in the cocktails but I
do remember that what we
made was never what was in
the menu”, She says with a
burst of laughter. “As long as it
was colourful and there was a
little umbrella stuck in the cocktail it was grand” she says. “The
variety was very low key compared to what’s done today. It
was very popular and it was the
right thing at the right time. I
got roped into today’s club by
Paul Walsh and once they get
you inside the door here you
don’t get back out again” she
said with her infectious laugh.
Cordelia has been ‘on the stage’
for years and years and has
been a terrific asset to the club’s
variety shows. “I was a nice nun
in the ‘Sound of Music’. I was
one of the three daughters in
the ‘Pirates of Penzance’. I sang
in the choirs and I was involved
in lots of musicals”, she says.
Cordelia says the work in the
club is very time-consuming. She
hopes that when her kids are
old enough to join that there
will be someone there to make
sure the club is running and she
feels that if she does not give of
her time now how can she
expect others to do it in the
future. Cordelia has a lot of
skills to offer the club and the
club benefits very much from
her involvement.
Paddy Fitzgerald is the
Training Officer in the club. He
is also the ‘Alcohol Officer’ in
the GAA at County level. He
feels that at last people are
beginning to realise the problems that are out there for
young people and he believes
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DUNGARVAN NO NAME CLUB
Cordelia Burke, Dungarvan No Name
Club
that a partnership between No
Name club and the GAA would
be very effective and valuable.
He feels that that is something
that should be encouraged by
both organisations. Paddy
believes that there are a lot of
adults who are only waiting to
be asked to help out with young
people. The difficulty lies in trying to identify them. Paddy says
that he knows that they would
not have a club at all were it
not for the amount of work the
Chairman, John Donovan, does.
“I don’t know where he gets the
energy from or how he does all
he does. There is no one else in
the club could do the work he
does or give the amount of time
he has contributed to the club. I
don’t think we can ever thank
him, and I don’t think the young
people can ever thank him for
the amount of work he has
done in the club since he started”, Says Paddy
Joe Moynihan Headmaster in
St. Augustine’s College is also on
the Adult Committee of the
club. At the time the No Name
Club was set up in Dungarvan
Joe was involved in working
with Transition Year Students
and was a Counsellor in the
School. He had, and has, an
intense interest in the welfare
of young people and when he
got the “call” from John
Donovan to get involved in No
Name Club he was glad to
answer it positively. He was
happy to get involved because
he was constantly hearing from
students in his school that
“there is nothing for us. There is
nowhere to go and nothing to
do”. Joe believed that his
involvement in No Name Club
could make a difference. One
very positive thing that Joe gets
from being in No Name Club is
that as well as getting to know
his own students he also gets to
know students from the other
schools and he finds this beneficial for himself in his work in
school. In the club his students
call him “Joe” but in school they
do not and he acknowledges
that the members of the club
are brilliant in the way they
understand the difference in his
roles. As the Principal in the
College Joe believes that the
club “is hugely important for a
number of reasons. Firstly it is a
place to go for young people. It
helps them to understand the
issues surrounding the consumption of alcohol. I see them going
out and having a ‘blast’ without
the drink. They get the ‘lectures’
about alcohol from school and
T.V and other sources but in the
club they learn by doing – experiential learning. They learn
about friendship and they learn
about the value of other people
and, as Cordelia mentioned,
learning that you can contribute
to others and they learn to take
on responsibility. They learn so
much about life and living.
Adults, too, do a lot of learning
in the No Name Club situation.
They learn about the different
personalities and behaviours of
young people and they learn to
manage that. In effect they are
educationalists and that is a
great experience for any adult.
John Donovan and the late
Paul Walsh were both involved
on the Parish Council and the
same question kept coming up
at their meetings – “What are
we going to do with the kids?”
John and Paul looked at various
organisations. Eddie Keher
made a presentation to the
council about No Name Club
and Eddie’s message struck a
chord and that was the origin of
the present Dungarvan No
Name Club. A year was spent
preparing the ground before
the club was set up and it paid
dividends. It worked well. One
of the things that impressed
John was an occasion when
Dungarvan Minors won the
County Championship. The cup
was paraded around the town
and the intention was to fill the
cup. However, Paddy Fitzgerald
had the strength of character to
stand up and object to the cup
being filled with alcoholic drink
and he succeeded in preventing
it happening. John knew he had
a recruit for the adult committee of No Name Club!
Volunteering for the kind of
work involved in a No Name
Club is not easy but they succeeded in putting a good committee together. Then Paul
Walsh died after one year in the
club and John says, “Without a
doubt that was the biggest loss
this club ever sustained. It was a
miracle that we survived his
leaving us. To be honest with
you I don’t think he left us and I
think he stayed with us for some
time afterwards.” John says he
feels proud of what the committee has done. “The adults in the
club have provided the opportunity for the young people to
grow up a bit. I think the real
value for us is that as well as the
young people growing they
make us feel younger – both
things happen,” says John. “We
have great fun in the club but
the biggest problem each year is
not being able to take in all the
people that want to join the
club. It is gut-wrenching for the
adults every year that we have
to go through the selection
process and I feel really bad
about the people we leave
behind. I have a sense that
sometimes, maybe, the ones
who need it most don’t get in. It
works for those who get in.
People are comfortable and
happy in the club. We’ve had up
to 100 hosts and hostesses. This
would be regarded as very big
but I believe that we touched
each one of that 100 young
people. The limit of membership
is 65according to the National
Committee and that has raised
some issues for us,” says John
whose distress at having to
leave people out was very obvious. He says, “I feel proud of
the club and my involvement in
it because over four years we’ve
had up to 300 young people
meeting up to 50 times in the
year and in all that time there
hasn’t been any occasion when
anybody outside the club had to
complain about any of our
members and I think that is phenomenal. That is 200 nights multiplied by 100 people including
discos that were open to the
public and many other events.
We meet every weekend and
even though people may disagree we work out our disagreements and that is a huge
source of pride to me. This may
prove to be the finest generation we’ve ever had”, says John.
For John the club is the source
from which many young people
in Dungarvan get support for
improving and developing their
own character.
Jenny Murphy was National
Hostess of the Year in 2006. Idir
an dá linn chuaidh sí mar dálta
go Oilscoil Corcaigh, áit in a
bhfhuil sí ag déanaimh staidéir
ar Gaeilge agus stair. Tá sí ag
súil le bheith in a múinteóir
nuair atá a cuid staidéir criocnaigh aici. Fuair sí an grá atá
aici do’n gaeilge nuair a bhí sí in
a páiste ag freastail ar scoil lán
gaeleach agus chuaidh sí go dtí
John Donovan, Chairman, Dungarvan
No Name Club
A CELEBRATION OF THIRTY YEARS OF NO NAME CLUB 1978 - 2008
www.nonameclub.ie
an Gaelteacht ‘chuile bhlian
nuair a bhí sí ag freastail ar an
meanscoil. Anois tá an gaeilge
go liafa aici. Jenny says that it
was brilliant to win the National
Award and her work as Hostess
of the Year gave her a great
insight into the national organisation. “I got to know how the
organisation was run nationally
and I got to meet a lot of people involved in it that I would
never have met if it wasn’t for
winning the award. I met great
people in the final of the
awards and I speak to two or
three of them almost every
week still”, says Jenny. Jenny
would be very interested if
something along the lines of
No Name Club was started
for third level students in
UCC. “I think that is something that is needed and I
think it would be welcome,”
she says. “I think it would be
easy enough to get a club
together because the structure is there already in relation to societies within the
Paddy Fitzgerald, Dungarvan No Name
Club
College. If you know some
people to work with it
would be easy to get going.
There is a lot of time after 5
o’clock when lectures are finished” she says. Perhaps she
will do something about it
next term. Jenny says that at
the time she won the award she
was really conscious of how
much it meant to her and it was
only later when she looked back
on it that she began to realise
what an enormous achievement
it was and how important it was
to her. She appreciates all the
support she got fro her club
during the whole weekend of
the Awards. She was delighted
that all the finalists were so easy
to get on with and there was no
competitive element to be seen.
Jenny paid a special tribute to
all the adults in the club. She
truly appreciates the opportunities they gave her. She loves to
look back on her time in the
club because she enjoyed it so
much and it holds great memories for her. “I will never forget
it. It had such an impact on my
life” says Jenny. She firmly
believes that Dungarvan is the
best club ever! Who would
have the courage or the audacity to argue with that?
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RING OF HOOK NO NAME CLUB
I
f you really want a delightful experience drive along the Ring
of Hook where you will have stunning views and see castles,
forts, abbeys, beaches and sea cliffs. You can see the Hook
Lighthouse or visit such lovely places as Dunbrody Abbey or the villages of Duncannon with its military fort and Templetown which
used to be the seat of The Knights Templar in Ireland. The Knights
were given the lands in County Wexford in recognition of the part
the knights played in the Crusades. In Ballyhack you can take a
ferry to Passage East on the Waterford side of the harbour. You
can visit Loftus Hall, the haunted convent, if you are in a spooky
mood. And if you are looking for wonderful places to eat you will
have no difficulty finding one because there are many.
65
fashion show, did a bed push, had a colour
day in the school and many other fund-raising activities. It was not all about fund-raising. They had self defence classes,
Halloween Fancy dress disco, took part in
the National debating competition, they visited children in hospital, went ice skating,
held a Christmas Snow Party, ran a concert
for senior citizens, went quad biking, went
on a trip to Trabolgan, attended training
courses, did a beach clean-up, attended a
training course on child protection and took
part in all the No Name club National Events
including, Karaoke and the national Youth
Awards. It is a lively, busy and happy club.
Marc Rossiter is a host in the club. He
was a finalist in the National Youth Awards
Hook is the place mentioned in the
phrase “by hook or by crook”. The Norman
Invasion of Ireland began in 1169. According
to the legend Strongbow coined the phrase
during the Norman assault on Waterford in
August 1170. He is supposed to have said
that he would land his army in Ireland by
Hook [Head] or by Crook [village]. Hook is
in County Wexford and Crook is in County
Waterford. They face each other across the
Suir Estuary. In fact Strongbow actually
landed in Passage where a beachhead had
already been secured by an earlier landing
party. This is the area in which the Ring of
Hook No Name Club now operates in
much more peaceful times.
Indeed it is a peaceful area and far from
the warlike activities of Strongbow in the
past the young people of the area, through
the activities of their No Name Club, contribute handsomely to that peace. Their
focus is on how they can improve the quality of life in their beautiful community. They
are very conscious of the role the Ocean
plays in their lives in this magnificent penin-
At the Club Awards from Ring of Hook No Name Club – Malachy Mullen, Eamon Power, Stephanie Foley, John
English, Mary Cushen, Carrie Power and Amy Foley
Rachel Colfer, Marc Rossiter and Clara Williams, Ring
of Hook No Name Club
sula in the Atlantic Ocean and it is no wonder that some of their fund-raising efforts
went to the Royal Lifeboats Institute at
Fethard-On-Sea. They are well aware, too,
of the contribution made by those members
of the community who have now advanced
in years and they put on a party for the Old
Folks of the area at Christmas to acknowledge that contribution. They have raised
funds for many causes in the area and have
used all sorts of methods to raise those
funds. Stephen Browne, one of the Adult
Committee, shaved off the beard he has
proudly sported for the past 25 years. They
did bag packing in the local shop, held a
Chrissie Browne, Mary Weafer, Imelda Hayes, Stephen Browne, Eamon Power, Sean Hayes and Jim Furlong from
Ring of Hook No Name Club.
in 2008 and we all remember his entertaining stage performance the night of the
Awards in Castlebar. Mark describes the
experience of being in the Awards final as
being “Different because I was never in anything like that before. It was great going to
Castlebar to represent my club. And it was
great to meet so many new people. It was
great to be selected by my club and I was
glad to do it. Marc says that there are ten
hostesses in the club and just two hosts. And
himself and Kieran Brown are “Spoiled for
choice even though I have already made my
choice” he says with a sideways glance at
Clara. Marc says it is great to be involved in
all the activities in the club and having a
laugh as well as doing so many worthwhile
things. “Putting on the show for the old
people made me feel better about myself
because I saw them enjoying themselves and
we gave them presents.
Speaking about the adult committee
members in the club Marc says, “I think the
adults in this club are great. They come here
and give up their evenings, they attend the
discos, and they went to Mayo to the
National Awards which involved a whole
weekend. If there is an argument they don’t
take offence and they will still be there for
us. Without them we wouldn’t be able to
do anything in the village because there are
no facilities for us in the village.”
Clara Williams, a hostess in the club, had
a special interest in seeing Marc at the
Awards. She says, “It was great fun. I hadn’t
ever been to anything like that before. I
loved it because it was so, kind of, formal
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and you get to dress up. I didn’t know what
to expect. I think it was like watching the
‘Rose of Tralee’ or something like that only
different. The disco was good as well and I
only slept for about an hour that night, but,
I slept the whole way home”, She says. Clara
says it was a very long journey that took
them up to seven hours travelling.
Rachel Colfer, another hostess in the
club, talked about all the things they do in
the club. She mentioned that the bed push
was an 18 mile journey pushing a bed.
Rachel herself is a member of the Lifeboat
crew and was pleased that the club raised
funds for it. Being involved in the Lifeboats
is very good and interesting according to
Rachel who says that the training is really
hard and that there are a lot of different
skills to be learned. Even though she is a bit
nervous of the water it did not stop her
from getting involved. She got involved
because her uncle, Pat Colfer, was lost at
sea. She got involved so that she would be
able to help others in the event of an accident happening at sea. “I really enjoy being
in the No Name Club because all my friends
are in it”, she says “And it is a good club
and we do good things.” Rachel then went
on to list the many things they have done in
the club and that she enjoyed being
involved in. Again she mentioned the satisfaction she got out of putting on the show
for the senior citizens. “It was good to see
all of them happy and they realised the
effort we put in to doing the show. They
appreciated it”. “In my time in the club”,
says Rachel “I learned how to respect our
leaders. I learned how to get along with different types of people”. There was mention
at this stage about a talent competition
they held in the club at which they had a
“Thorny Rose” a “Briar Rose” and a
“Stinging Nettle”. They had to judge people
who fitted into those categories – “not an
easy thing to do because you didn’t know
what to expect from the competitors
whether they were supposed to be thorny
or rosy or whatever”, according to Eamon
Power whose job it was to judge it. “I don’t
think those who did not win felt too left
out”, says Eamon and “there was no danger
that I would be assaulted”.
Stephen Brown says that the young
hosts and hostesses are very good at suggesting things to do. They run it by the
adult committee so that insurance and other
issues can be sorted. Then they organise
whatever it is and carry on with the activity.
Stephen, who is on the adult committee in
the club for five years, finds that the young
people are very well-mannered and they go
from being a “bit wild” to becoming more
mature.
Eamon Power sees the time spent in the
club by the young people as a process of
learning. “Many of the things they learn
now may only be useful to them in years to
come. They learn how to make decisions
and how to respect others by being quiet
when quietness is needed”, says Eamon.
“They learn to respect each other and they
learn life skills that will be useful to them
when, for instance, they are parents themselves attending school board meetings, parents meetings and the like. There will
always be meetings in this world. There will
always be leaders needed – people who are
prepared to take on something and do it –
and it is great learning for them at this age
to learn how you actually do that. It helps
them to develop those skills they will need
all through their lives”, he says.
Sean Hayes, another adult committee
member, says “You can see them change
and grow up and getting new ideas. You
can see them getting stronger in themselves
– more confident – and getting more understanding. Having a Garda involved in the
club – Jim Furlong – they learn to have
respect for the Law and their own safety. He
is very good with the young people in the
club. Jim Furlong and the other Guards have
a very special interest in the club and they
give it a lot”, says Sean. He spoke about
how important the club was to him as a parent. His daughter, Ciara, always wanted to
go to discos even if it was as far away as
England but there were no discos near at
hand.
Now the No Name Club provides this service and it is something for them to look forward to. We no longer have to say “No” to
her all the time. Ciara was a hostess in the
club and she looked forward to being
involved and getting to go to the club discos. “It was a big help,” says Sean “And the
good thing about it was it was local and it
was a safe place for her and everyone knew
her and had respect for her and the adults
involved were prepared to look after the
young people who were there. As a parent I
was confident letting her go to the discos
and I didn’t mind one little bit.
There was absolutely no danger for her.
They organise fund raising events for the
club like colour days in the school and they
raise plenty of money. It’s great for them,”
says Sean.
Jim Furlong is a Garda and is on the adult
committee. He says that getting to know
the young people in the club is a big help to
him. He finds that the club is a great way to
begin to understand the young people.
Clara says that having Jim in the club has
helped her to gain respect for the Gardai
and has helped her to trust Jim. Jim is happy
that the only contact he has with the young
people is through the club
Mary Weafer says that she enjoys the
club. She says the young people in the club
love to do things that are worthwhile and
she likes to help them to do that. “There
are a lot of sporting activities around the
place but if you are not into sport there is
not a lot to do. When the sun is shining you
have the beach but if its not there is not a
lot to do. It’s great that they can meet up
and have a chat outside of school. They can
express themselves in their own way.” She
says.
Richard Tobin, the owner of the Fort
Conan Hotel in which No Name Club holds
its discos, says that he was very impressed by
Marc Rossiter from Ring of Hook No Name Club was a
finalist in the 2008 National Youth Awards
the behaviour of the young people
involved. He used to hold discos in the hotel
for teenagers but he got such hardship that
he stopped the discos. Needless to say when
No Name Club came seeking his premises
for their discos he did not want to give it.
He got guarantees from the adults involved
and he is very glad to have No Name Club
events in his hotel now. After previous discos the floor of the hotel would be covered
with chewing gum but after a No Name
Club disco there is never as much as one
piece of chewing gum on the floor. This he
attributes to the great leadership shown by
the hosts and hostesses who convinced the
young people who attend their discos not
to litter with chewing gum. “The hosts and
hostesses are treated with great respect by
the other young people,” says Richard. He
also appreciated the way parents come and
collect the young people after the discos
and is generally very impressed with the
whole organisation surrounding No Name
Club events in his hotel. “The work the
adults are doing is absolutely invaluable”,
says Richard “And the young people appreciate it,” he says.
Chrissie Brown talked about all the
things they have done in the club since it
first started with a fun day combined with
fund raising. She instanced giving €1,500 to
Crumlin Children’s Hospital. It was a charity
very close to Mary Foley’s heart.
“When Mary died it put a damper on the
club and set us back a lot. Even when she
was ill and could not come to the club she
wanted someone to go back to her and tell
her what was going on”. Says Chrissie
The club suffered two major losses in its
short history.
Mary Foley was the founding member of
the Ring of Hook No Name Club which was
established in 2003. Mary was P.R.O. and
secretary in its first year and P.R.O. for the
remaining years. She was the backbone of
the club even in setting it up. Mary was a
great ambassador for the NO Name Club
and was held in high esteem by all. Mary
had a serious illness but this didn’t stop her
putting in tremendous work and dedication.
She had great time for those around her,
especially the youths of the club in which
she would encourage them and brought out
the best in each individual. Sadly Mary died
in January 2007. We lost a great friend and
team leader. The No Name club donated a
garden seat to Mary Foley’s family in her
memory. This was put in her garden where
she was buried. This was our way of showing her family how much we appreciated all
Mary’s hard work and dedication to the
club. May She Rest In Peace.
Ronan Baillieul was chairperson of The
Ring of Hook No Name Club in 2004. He was
a very generous man, always there to help
out in any way. He was wheelchair bound,
so this limited him somewhat in carrying out
his chairperson role as he would have liked,
but he had great support from all in the
club. Ronan died in late December 2007.
May He Rest In Peace.
Past and present committee members
included, Orla Fitzpatrick, Paula and John
Donohoe, Roland Baillieul, Mary Foley,
Chrissie and Stephen Brown, Teresa Foley,
Jim Furlong, Dermot Morrissey, Thomas
Kelly, Caroline Murphy, Josephine and Cyril
Stafford, Mary Boland, Gillian Lavery, Mary
Weafer, Sean and Imelda Hayes, Ber Hearn,
Dora Mulligan, Malicy Mullen and Eamon
Power.
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HEADFORD/CAHERLISTRANE NO NAME CLUB
smaller group. And we love it.
The teenagers are thriving and
as a committee so are we”
states Bernie.
The group has raised vital
funds for various groups. In
particular the group organised a
fashion show last year and
because of it they were able to
S
ince its opening in 2002
Headford/Caherlistrane has
become one of the leading
clubs in the West of Ireland.
Three main people supported
the original Host and Hostesses
and because of these three the
Headford/Caherlistrane No
Name Club has become what it
is today. Local Garda Peadar
Brick, Noreen Walsh and Bernie
Divilly took on the task of
becoming the small but dedicated spine of the club of 25 host
and hostesses. Within their first
year the No Name Club found
on the border of Mayo and
Galway travelled to possibly
every club within the No Name
Club organisation. Late nights
and hard work has developed
into successful and competent
young and older individuals
with the No Name Club
Organisation.
The club reached National levels when Maria Walsh, current
PRO and Board of Director, won
the honour of becoming
National Hostess of the Year and
since winning it would seem the
Mikey Walsh, Headford/Caherlistrane
No Name Club
Bernie Divilly, Headford/Caherlistrane
No Name Club
67
Bernie Divilly, Sec. National Events Committee from Headford No Name Club, Anne
Donohue, National Secretary from Portumna and Lisa Ann Roche, New Ross
organisation just can’t get rid of
her, “I stay involved on some
many levels because I know how
important it is to have a No
Name Club both in my local area
and on a National Scale. There
are numerous young people out
there who need that little extra
something to help them and
assist them through the teenage
years and No Name Club is perfect for it – Not only do we
thrive on allowing young people
to gain independence we develop their confidence, team building and organisational skills”.
Her mother – Noreen Walsh has
aided the development in a quieter fashion sticking to the No
Name Club only on a local level
however without her both
Bernie and Maria admit – “We’d
be lost”. “Bernie and Mum are
the women really behind the No
Name Club here, I just come in
and out when ever I can – they
organise the trips, the events,
the everything really!” says
Maria. Bernie Divilly,
Development Officer for the
Galway and Mayo South areas,
has become one of the hard
working individuals within the
No Name Club organisation to
date. Chairperson of the Events
Committee, Bernie ensures that
all young people enjoy their
events with style and elegance,
particularly evident at the year’s
National Youth Awards and
Variety Awards as well as the
National Karaoke competition.
Secretary of the Management
Committee is amazing to think
that Mrs. Divilly thrives on
events such as the ones mentioned, “I suppose I help as
much as I can – I love seeing the
thousand or so young people
enjoying their night(s) in a safe
and substance free events!” says
Bernie.
Sadly the departure of Garda
Brick was hard on their club as
he worked continually on making the No Name Club a success
in the area and on the National
scale., However, the club has
gained numerous young adult
committee members such as
Rory Bane, Paul Murphy, Deirdre
Walsh, Suzanne Creavan, Ronan
Maria Walsh Headford No Name Club,
National Aweard winner 2004 and
National P.R.O.
The Walsh family from Headford Noreen, Maria, Vincent and Eileen
Connelly, Alan Bane and Aidan
Murphy. “It is amazing to think
that so many still want to come
and get involved – we love having more and more young people on board”, says Noreen.
This year unlike previous years
Headford/Caherlistrane decided
to take on a smaller number of
host and hostesses and because
of this has developed a closer
bond with the 15 young members in the club. “We decided to
focus on a smaller group as previous to this we had up to 65
and it was so many that we
decided to try and keep at a
buy 3 defibrillators for their
local areas – Headford,
Caherlistrane and a third in the
local Presentation College in
Headford for all the young people that are enrolled there.
Other young members that have
thrived in the association
include Maria’s brother Michael
– National Host Participant in
2007, Marcella Creavan –
National Karaoke Participant
and the many young people
that have contributed to
Headford/Caherlistrane reaching
numerous variety finals and
regional awards.
AWARDS 1986 HOSTED BY PORTUMNA
On 23rd March 1986 the Portumna Club hosted the
National Youth Awards. The winners of the awards were
Jackie Tedford, Kilkenny and Liam Conroy from Portumna.
On the same day the National Disco finals were held
“and after some very exciting competition Valeria Delany
of Roscrea won the individual competition whilst
Caroline O’Connor and Jerry Kelly of Athlone were winners of the Pairs Competition. After a great session of
Old Time, Céilí and disco dancing the evening drew to a
close, with everybody, young and old alike, very tired but
happy”
[extract from No Name Club News 1986]
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ERRIS NO NAME CLUB
This club serves a large and important part of the County Mayo. It is
doing wonderful work in the area.
Edith Geraghty is Chairperson of
the club and her drive and
dynamism has played a major part
in the success of the club. Only in
existence for a very short time the
club has already made a major
impact on the lives of the young
people in the area. Great credit is
due to Helen Cox, Fr. Francis Judge,
Natalie Barrett, Denise Gallagher,
Paddy Fahy, Aine Connor, Ann
Lynsky and Mary Togher
2007
All No Name Club Staff fully trained and
accredited as Child Protection Officers
All part-time and full time staff have undergone extensive training and are, themselves, now qualified as Trainers in this area.
Milestone
OUR NATIONAL SECRETARY.
Since 1996 Anne Donohue has been our hard working National
Secretary. From Portumna Anne has been at the heart of everything
good that has happened to No Name Club. She is a dedicated and
very competent secretary. Anne has a delightful personality that sees
the good in everyone and the humour in every situation. Her positive
attitude to everything and her unfailing good humour has been one
of the greatest resources for the members of the board of directors.
Her calm disposition, even under difficult circumstances has been very
important to the other members of the board and to the members of
the organisation in general. Anne is a bright and intelligent young
woman who has make an enormous contribution to No Name Club
for many many years. Thank you Anne, and long may you continue to
brighten the lives of all those around you.
WEXFORD LIKE TO TRAVEL
In 1986 the Wexford club liked to travel to other clubs in the
South-East. Not only that, but last year a host organised a bus and
tickets to the Bruce Springsteen concert at Slane Castle. The sun
shone and everybody had a great day. In August hosts and hostesses held the second annual beach party and barbecue. Three
lunatics braved the icy Irish Sea at midnight. Then it rained!
[Extract from “No Name Club News” 1987
2008
First National Karaoke Final was held
in Killeshin Hotel, Portlaoise.
It was won by Lisa Mangan and Stephen McKelvie from
Dungarvan No Name Club. Fr. Tommy Murphy presented them
with his perpetual trophy. The competition took place on 24th
February 2008.
Milestone
Mairead and Paul O’Donnell Host and Hostess of the year 1985 were both members of Letterkenny No Name Club.
DONEGAL
OPENS UP THE
NORTH-WEST
Fr. Tommy Murphy presents his cup to the first ever winners of the
National Karaoke Final, Stephen McKelvie and Lisa Mangan, Dungarvan
On 17th January 1982 Donegal No Name
Club opened its doors for the first time.
The committee which brought the club to
Donegal were Chairman, Alec Reid,
Secretary, Mary Gallagher – later replaced
by Mairéad Creaton – Treasurer, Pat Martin,
and Entertainments Manager, Jimmy
McGrory. They ran the club in the Hyland
Central Hotel in Donegal Town. The club
has always adhered to the original formula
– Cabaret, Old Time Dancing and Disco.
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Cork Project
69
Cork Project launched by the
Minister for Health and Children
The “Cork Project” was an
undertaking funded by the
Health Promotion Unit of the
Department of Health and
Children and by the Irish Youth
Foundation. It funded a parttime worker – Carole Goulding–
to set up new No Name clubs in
the Cork area and it proved to
be as successful as the limited
funding at the time would
allow. Its major success, however, was in proving that if the
resources were made available
No Name Club would respond
positively.
This experience later resulted
in the Health Service Executive
[who by now were satisfied that
they would get value for money]
making funds available to
employ part-time staff throughout the country. This new funding has resulted in a remarkable
expansion of No Name Club and
an enhancement of the organisation’s ability to reach more
and more young people.
The then Minister for Health
and Children, Micheál Martin
T.D., launched the Cork Project
on Monday 16th September
2002 in the Silver Springs Moran
Hotel in Cork. Present on the
occasion were The Lord Mayor
of Cork, Councilor John Kelleher,
Mr. Dan Boyle T.D. and Mr. Dan
Wallace T.D. as well as members
of An Garda Siochána from the
Cork Division, Mr. Liam O’Dwyer
of the Irish Youth Foundation
and Hosts and Hostesses from
Midleton, St. Joseph’s Mayfield,
Cobh and Dunmanway clubs
with members of their adult
committees. Hostess of the Year,
Lisa Anne Roche acted as M.C.
on the occasion.
The Minister said that he felt
it was important for him to be
present on this occasion because
it is an important occasion when
a new Development Officer is
appointed to develop new clubs
and to assist the clubs that are
already in existence. The
Minister was concerned about
the difficulty facing the country
in trying to change a culture of
alcohol misuse and abuse which
is so prevalent and which causes
so much misery in our society He
mentioned his embarrassment
when he visits other countries
and notices that Ireland is
always at the top of the League
when it comes to alcohol consumption. He was pleased to
avail of the opportunity to talk
to committed young people on
this occasion. In the course of an
inspiring address the Minister
spoke directly to the young people present when he said,
“When I talk of cultural change
– changing the way we live, the
way we do things – it is really up
to you to do it. We have a role
as well. You are the most selfconfident generation of young
people in the history of our
country and you have every reason to be. When I was Minister
for Education and Science I
spent a lot of time meeting
Industrialists who had invested a
lot in this country and they kept
giving me one simple message.
They kept on saying, ‘you have
the most intelligent, productive and capable young people across the Western
World’.
“The most important thing is
that you believe in yourselves.
The one thing that pulls us all
back as we go through life is
that at different stages of our
lives we lack belief. We don’t
think we’re up to it. So, very
often, if we are with a crowd,
we might just do what the
crowd wants us to do instead of
just being confident enough to
say, ‘look! I don’t want to go
down that particular route. I
want to do something else’. You
have every reason to be confident about your own ability and
about your capacity to do great
things for yourself, your community and your country. Through
your clubs and the activities
you are involved in you can
actually shape the future.
You can change the way we
do things. The future is in
your hands. You can change
the culture.”
“I want to wish each and
every young person every success and happiness in your life.
Continue to believe in yourself.
Continue to believe in your ability to do great things. Don’t
allow anyone to shake you from
that belief. You have an ability
to contribute and enrich a full
and useful life. Go out there and
enjoy your life”, said the
Minister.
“You can shape the future. You can change the way we do things,” said the Minister to this group of hosts and hostesses at
the launch of the Cork projecT.
2008
First permanent staff
members appointed
On 28th April 2008 the first Chief Executive, Martin Ryan,
and the first permanent Administrator, Noeline Browne,
commenced employment as full time Staff. Anthony
McCormack commenced full time employment as
Development Manager on 14th July 2008.
New Chief Executive appionted 2008 - Martin Ryan
Milestone
2008
First National No Name Club Ltd.
Headquarters set up in Kilkenny City
In June 2008 the National Office in Kilkenny was opened and occupied for the first time
Milestone
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New National Administrator appointed to
Staff 2008 – Noeline Browne
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NO NAME CLUBS – PAST AND PRESENT
ARMAGH
Newry
Forkhill
Bawnogue/Deansrath
Drimnagh
Corduff
CAVAN
Cavan
GALWAY
Portumna
Ballinasloe
Loughrea
An Cheathru Rua
Tuam
Athenry
Mountbellew
Gort
Headford/Caherlistrane
Claregalway
Letterfrack
CARLOW
Carlow
Tullow
CLARE
None
CORK
Cobh
Dunmanway
Midleton
Youghal
Bandon
Mallow
Bishopstown
Mayfield
DONEGAL
Pettigo
Donegal
Letterkenny
Buncrana
Gweedore
Milford
The Rosses
Ballybofey
Bundoran
Ballyshannon
Glenties
Ardara
DUBLIN
Castleknock/Clonsilla
Ballinteer,
Killester
Blanchardstown
Cabra
Finglas
Howth/Sutton
Blakestown
Ballyfermot
Clondalkin
Tallaght
Lucan
Saggart/Rathcoole
Ronanstown
Templeogue
Crumlin
Dunlaoire
Palmerstown
Malahide
MAYO
Castlebar
Ballinrobe
Westport
Achill
Claremorris
Erris
Balla
Lacken/Newcastle, Louisburg
LEITRIM
Carrick-On-Shannon
KERRY
Tralee
Shannonside
Killarney
KILDARE
Leixlip
Clane
Naas
Newbridge
Kilcullen
Maynooth/Kilcock
Celbridge
KILKENNY
Kilkenny
Thomastown
LIMERICK
Raheen
Limerick
LONGFORD
Longford
LOUTH
Dundalk
Drogheda
LAOIS
Portarlington
Mountmellick
Portlaoise
MEATH
Trim
Athboy
Navan
MONAGHAN
Emmyvale/Nth. Monaghan
Carrickmacross
OFFALY
Tullamore
ROSCOMMON
Castlerea
Kilbride
Boyle
Ballaghadereen
SLIGO
Sligo
TIPPERARY
Thurles
Roscrea
Nenagh
Templemore
Tipperary
Cahir
TYRONE
Carrickmore
WATERFORD
Tramore
Passage East
Waterford
Dungarvan
WESTMEATH
Athlone
Mullingar
WEXFORD
New Ross
Wexford
Enniscorthy
Gorey
Ring of Hook
WICKLOW
Bray
Arklow
Baltinglass
Newtownmountkennedy
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Autographs
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Autographs