Friday evening, 4^th May at 6.15p.m. saw the official naming and opening of the Paddy Walsh Memorial Park at our local grounds. The ceremonies began with all the invited dignitaries present on the new field with a large attendance on the embankments all around.

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Mr. Marty Fleming Jnr., M.C. for the night then proceeded to welcome all our special guests on the night. He welcomed Mr. Christy Cooney, Chairman, Munster Council, Mr.Jim Cronin, Chairman, Cork County Board, Mr.Frank Murphy, Secretary, Cork County Board, Mr. Pierce Murphy, Treasurer, Cork County Board, Mr. Jerry O’Sullivan, Dev, Officer, Cork County Board, Mr. Pat Horgan, P.R.O. Cork County Board, Mr. Ger Lane, Chairman, East-Cork Board, Mr. Willie Ring, Secretary, East-Cork Board, Mr. Tom Fitzgibbon, East-Cork Board, Mr. Jim Healy, Chairman, County Minor Board, Mr. Marty O’Brien, P.R.O. County Minor Board, Mr. Dave Scully and Mr. Tony Cody, East-Cork Referees Board, Mr. Dave Hoare, East-Cork Dev. Officer, Mr. Michael Aherne, T.D., Rev. Fr. Pat Beecher,P.P. and Rev. Fr. David Donellan and special guest, Miss Irene Walsh, sister of the late Paddy.

The group then retired to the main gate of the complex where Miss.Irene Walsh officially unveiled the commemorative plague in honour of her brother’s lifetime service to the Castlemartyr G.A.A. club, in what proved to be an emotional experience for all present.

The group then returned to the new pitch where the assembly was next addressed by Mr. Michael Leahy, Chairman, Castlemartyr G.A.A. Club to address the gathering. Mick again welcomed everyone to our special night and referred to the many years of work by many people over the years, too numerous to mention, that had brought this field to fruition. He went on to thank our club sponsors, without whom this event would not have been possible and he thanked the county Board for awarding us the fixture that allowed us to open the field in a fitting manner. He thanked Ned Moran and son Billy on the work they carried out on developing the field and he then lauded the late Mr. Paddy Walsh, in whose honour this venue was being fittingly named.

Marty then called on Mr. Jim Cronin, Chairman, Cork County Board to address the gathering. Mr.Cronin spoke highly of the late Paddy Walsh and on how fitting that this new magnificent playing-field should be named in his memory. He then recounted that the club should be proud of the many players that it had supplied to Cork teams over the years but also of the many administrators in the club whose work had led to the opening of this second field along with the excellent field that they already had.

Marty then called on the Chairman of the East-Cork Division, Mr. Ger Lane for a few words. Ger commented that the club had made a great achievement on opening this venue and hoped that with the good youth policy that the club had in place that it would go on to further success on the playing field in the future.

Mr. Christy Cooney was then called on to address the gathering. He recounted the clubs history from its beginning in 1924, the four great games in the county final in 1935, the wins in 46,50,51 and 54 which amassed 4 East-Corks and a County title and was a special time for his own family as his late father, the great Paddy Cooney was involved in all these successes. He recounted that the county win in 1964 was another great era and that football came to the fore in the 80,s with Football titles in 82,85,86,87,90 and 91, and an Intermediate League title in 1992. he then commented on some of the great families that had served the club throughout the years including the Abernethys, the Dowlings, the O’Keeffes, the Barrys and the Whytes. He then mentioned Mr. Castlemartyr, namely the late Mr. Paddy Walsh, and he recalled that Paddy’s passion and love for his community and especially his club knew no bounds. He said that he was delighted that his sister , Irene was present to open the field and that it was a marvellous honour to her family that this event was taking place. He remembered that when ,as a child, he came to the pitch in Castlemartyr, the first person to welcome him was the late Paddy himself. He observed that when you were asked to do something by Paddy, you didn’t refuse, as it was an honour to be asked. He reflected that Paddy and his own father and many other Castlemartyr men were up there now commenting on the going’s on in this new field with great interest and probably some wit.

He then led the group to the main entrance to the new field where he officially cut the red ribbon to declare The Paddy Walsh Memorial Park officially open.

It then was the turn of the Rev. Fr. Pat Beecher P.P. assisted by the Rev. Fr. David Donnellan, to bless the new playing field and to hope that the venue would encourage many to partake in playing and administering Gaelic games at this venue in peace and happiness for many years to come.

It was then over to the hurling teams of Killeagh and Carrigtwohill, who were led onto the field by the Castlelyons pipe-band, to provide the action for the next hour and it was fitting that it was a hard fast game fitting for the opening of such a venue.Victory went to Killeagh by a point and the honour of first goal in the new "stadium" went appropriately to popular Killeagh man and farmer Andy Leahy. Afterwards, both sides were unanimous in their praise of the condition of the playing surface, which they felt was one of the best that they had ever played on.

At half-time, it was very apt that Mr. Peter Hogan, Chairman ,East-Cork Juvenile Board was called upon to present the winning trophy and medals to the victorious Castlemartyr u-13 football team, who won the East-Cork title on the night of Paddy’s sad passing. Congratulations to the team and to the Juvenile club, under Chairman, Mr. John Whyte and the trainers of the team on their marvellous victory. Thanks to the noble gesture of the Fr O Neills club for conceding the Title to Castlemartyr who were leading with a few minutes to go when Paddy was taken ill. Honour and sportsmanship are still alive thank God.

The members of the club gathered in the hospitality room after everything had been unfurled, tucked up and locked away for the night and a general feeling of both relief and pride in a job well done was palpable in the air with everyone concerned happy that the occasion had been carried out in a manner fitting to the memory of the late great Mr. Castlemartyr himself, Mr. Paddy Walsh.

The club would like to thank those who helped in any way to make the opening the success that it was. Thanks to the FAS workers, those who finished the score-board and attended it on the night, those who arranged the advertisements on the field, those who painted everything for the night, those who made the flags, those who arranged parking so efficiently, those who sold tickets, those who produced the excellent programme and sold it on the night, those who brought food and drink and helped in the hospitality room on the night, those who stewarded on the night, those who cut and raked the field during the previous weeks, those who prepared the dressing-rooms and other jobs too numerous to mention here.Also our thanks to the Gardai for their help on the night and also The Order of Malta.

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Part of the above article was written by our PRO Dave O Keeffe for the weekly notes.I would like to add that it was a great occassion for the village and it gave the whole place a buzz coming up to it and in the days afterwards.

Paddy Walsh was the driving force behind the opening of the field and it was a pity he did not live to see it opened. It had been bought in 1987 but a decision had been taken to develop without getting into major debt so its development was slow but carefully considered. No greater honour could be bestowed than to name the new field after him and I'm sure he's a proud man up there looking down with Joseph, Frank, Pete and many other great Castlemartyr men.Looking to the future I was delighted to see men from the new estate in Castlemartyr helping in the weeks preceding and acting as stewards on the night. New blood is always welcome and when the are nice guys as well it is all the better.

After all was finished we adjourned to Barry's. Only low point of the evening came when during the great night and sing song afterwards in Barry's one of our new men (a Tipp man) sang "Slievenamon". The fact that he sang it well and also had been seen painting gates RED a few evenings previous in the field prevented his immediate expulsion from the bar.