Local Notes: Sympathies, Portlaw Heritage Centre, GAA and soccer news and more
Some of the Porlaw U6 players and supporters who took part in the blitz in Mooncoin
It is a sad duty to record the death of Mrs Annie Dooley, Rockett's Rd, Portlaw, who passed away on Wednesday, August 20. Mrs Dooley was predeceased by her husband Ned, her son Edward and her daughter Ann, a well-loved lady by her family, neighbours and friends, Mrs Dooley and her husband Ned raised a big family who were always her pride and joy. A lovely woman who endeared herself to many, by always being there to listen and to help. Sadly missed by her sorrowing family and all who knew. Next week's notes will carry notes of her funeral. May she rest in peace.
Thanks to everyone who came along Sunday for our walk and talk around the Cleirighs Boreen. Thanks to Ger, who gave detailed accounts of the sites along the route and their historical values. Thus was our first event for Heritage Week. The Heritage Centre will be open to visitors during the week so please come and pay us a visit.
The free pollinator planting workshop at Clodiagh House will have you buzzing on Saturday, August 23. Join Waterford City and County Council’s Environment team for a free full-day pollinator planting workshop as part of National Heritage Week 2025, which celebrates the country’s natural, built and cultural heritage, this one-day workshop will reveal the best ways to support native wildlife with native planting.
From hedgerows to rewilding, find out how low-maintenance native planting can look amazing and provide the best habitats for our wildlife. There will be plenty of time for questions and answers with Horticulturist and Environmentalist, Aoife Munn.
Topics covered on the day will include: Pollinator planting techniques; Drought resistant plants; Mini pond building; Wildlife movement; Rewilding and managed areas; Water conservation and much more.
The workshop is supported by Waterford City and County Council’s Environmental Awareness Officer and Biodiversity Officer under funding from WCCC and the NPWS Local Authority Biodiversity Action Fund, and forms part of a set of community training events that work towards advancing biodiversity knowledge in the county during the development of the Waterford Biodiversity Action Plan with the Heritage Council.
The workshop is free to attend but booking is advisable. To book your place on this free full-day pollinator workshop (10am-4pm) in Portlaw with thanks to St Brigid’s Family Resource Centre. Tickets, available through Eventbrite
Premier Intermediate Relegation Final Result: The lads dug deep today to secure a massive win in the relegation final against Tramore. Portlaw went in at half-time 8 points up, showing huge intensity and work rate across the pitch. Tramore came back strong in the second half and threw everything at us, but the boys never stopped, never dropped their heads, and kept battling right to the final whistle. A huge effort from every single player in blue and gold – a proud day for the club. Well done lads. Cul Camp:
We were delighted to welcome Waterford Senior Hurler Mark Fitzgerald to our Cúl Camp. Mark spent time chatting with the kids, answering questions, signing jerseys, and giving the boys and girls a few tips.
A huge thanks to Mark for taking the time to visit, and to all our brilliant coaches and helpers who are making the week run so smoothly. Up the Déise.
What a great start to this week's Kellogg’s CúlCamps in Portlaw with a visit also from Minor All-Ireland winners Gearoid O'Shea and Cillian Brennan, who brought the Irish Press Cup for the boys and girls to see. There was great excitement and plenty of laughs, huge thanks to the lads for giving up their time.
Our Under 15 and Minor boys have a big adventure ahead in May 2026. To help make this possible, the Portlaw GAA club is asking the community to donate recyclable bottles and cans. Every bottle collected brings them one step closer to the Big Apple, with all proceeds going directly to fund the trip.
Drop your recyclables in the orange bins at Portlaw GAA Field or leave them in your own bags beside the bins, and the travelling boys’ parents will take care of the rest. Your support can help turn this exciting journey into a reality.
U14 Camogie Semi Final: Hard luck to our U14 Camogie team, they were unlucky not to win their Semi Final against Tallow. A few things didn’t go their way but you can’t discredit the work they have put in all year.
Thanks to all the girls and the management team Shane, Henry and Ruth for their commitment all year and to all the parents and supporters who followed the team throughout the year. This young team will bounce back into the U14 championship in 2026 with all the experience they have gained from 2025. Best of luck to all the girls in their U13 and U15 championships later in the year.
U6 Inter County Blitz in Mooncoin: On Saturday last, our club was proud to enter two teams in the fantastic inter-county blitz hosted in Mooncoin. With over 800 children taking part, it was a brilliant day of hurling, fun and friendship.
The event was extremely well run from start to finish, and it was great to see so many young players enjoying the games and getting stuck in. A huge thank you to Mooncoin GAA for organising and hosting such a wonderful day and to the coaches and parents who travelled to the event which was enjoyed by all. Well done to all our players who took part and represented Portlaw so well – we’re very proud of you all.
Our Premiers returned to action after a six-week break. We had a couple of early chances with Jordi going closest before Tramore hit us with three goals in 6 minutes midway through the 1st half to take control of the tie, again we had chances before half-time with Sam Croke going closest when he hit the woodwork.
Into the 2nd half and our lads really pushed up on Tramore and we began to make chances. Sam Croke got us back to 3-1 before Samuel Deevy set up Jordi to get us to 3-2. We threw everything at Tramore to force the equaliser with Darryl going closest with a header but Tramore held on.
Overall, a good performance from the lads after such a long layoff and we wish Tramore the best of luck in the next round. We thank David Nolan for his kind matchday sponsorship. It was great to see three generations of the Nolan family, with granddad Buddy and uncle David there to support Alfie and the team.
Forty-five of our junior members underwent heart screening on Thursday last. This was provided to us at no cost through the Dillon Quirke Foundation in partnership with Abbott Vascular in Clonmel. Thanks to all involved in making this happen in particular, Freddy Kelly and Dawn Kehoe Scully. Special thanks to Portlaw National School for the use of the school facilities to perform the screening. Who knows how many lives could be saved by the great work the Dillon Quirke Foundation does; we cannot thank them enough for providing this to our members. Please do your best to support their work if you can.
. Our Youth team had a great win in Ozier Park recently in the Youth Cup semi-final. We took the lead when a Samuel Deevy cross was finished by Sam Croke. We made it 2-0 when Jack Kennedy played a through ball and Croke finished for his second. Our 3rd came just before half-time when Peter Power broke the offside trap and brilliantly finished. Early in the second half Croke brought up his hat trick before Deevy got on the scoresheet to make it 5-0. Alfie broke through and smashed home our sixth before Tramore scored two crackers for the game to finish 6-2.
The final is set for Sunday, August 31 with an 11am kick off where we play Southend. . Difficult night for the lads when we never really got going and struggled to get any good football played. Ballinroad took the lead midway through the 1st half and the nearest we came to an equaliser was a strike from Samuel Deevy which brought a great save from the keeper. We tried to push on in the 2nd half but Ballinroad got the all-important second goal which sealed a deserved win. Still plenty to play for in the season with six games remaining we sit in 3rd place in the league
