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MILESTONES OF MONAGEA G.A.A. 1884 to 1992 Pat Sugrue
As a result of exhibition games organised in Newcastle West in the summer of 1886 it was decided that a G.A.A. club should be established in Monagea. This Historic event took place the following Sunday morning after a last mass and those mainly responsible for the formation of the club were WiIIiam Hough and Dan Kennedy of Camas. The new club was to be known as the William O' Brien's hurling and football club of Monagea, William 0 Brien was a celebrated politician of the period and an elected member of the House of Commons. Today a plaque honours his memory in the town of Mallow. The colours were to be red and green and they are once again the predominant colours of Feale Rangers, the amalgamated clubs of Monagea, Tournafulla and Mountcollins.
These were a dedicated group of people and as the records show they wasted no time in getting down to the business at hand. Each Sunday training sessions were organised, one hour dedicated to hurling and one hour to football. Shortly after this they were invited to play in a tournament which was held in the commons of Rathkeale. Kilfinny were the opponents on that auspicious day and alas the victors. After this initial defeat the urge to win was so strong that not alone did they train on Sunday afternoons but also every evening of the week. Because interest in hurling was so great over the next few years it was decided in 1890 to disband the football club.
The first record of a hurling game to be played in Monagea was in 1894. This encounter was between Castlemahon's Deel Rangers and Ashford's St Ita's which was played at Camas with victory going to the Castlemahon side. The referee or umpire as he was then known was a Mr. Scanlan of Rathcahill.
The final years of the last century and the first half of the first decade of this century where glorious years for the fledgling club. During these years many victories were achieved over opposition from counties Cork and Kerry and our own Limerick, but their finest hour came on May the 31st 1903 when with Young Ireland's as opposition they contested the Delayed 1902 county senior hurling final. This game took place at the markets field with the city side giving an exhibition of overhead play and eventually winning on a score 2-9 to 0-5.
It was also during this period that Larry Sheehan of Monagea was among one of the first West Limerick men to win an All Ireland medal. His feat was achieved while playing with Commercials who were representing Limerick they captured the first All Ireland football final in 1887. Others from this pariah to achieve this honour were Bill Hough who in 1918 captained the Limerick senior hurling team to victory, and still holds the distinction of being the only West Lmerick man to do so. In 1921 he was also on the victorious side, on both these teams he lined out in his favourite position of centre back. Ned Cregan whose sons Eamonn, Michael and Conor distinguished themselves in later years was a member of the victorious golden jubilee winning team of 1934. A half a century later Kevin Hogan was the recipient of a third level All Ireland Colleges medal with Thomond College.
At this point while on the subject of All Ireland's who could forget the wonderful and talented Monagea Macra na Feirme who in 1983 suffered defeat in the final of the light entertainment competition but like the Phoenix who rose from the ashes, the following year they bounced back and after many hours of dedication and hard work, they graced the stage of the Olympia Theatre in Dublin with comedy, song and dance to bring the laurels back to their native parish.
While Monagea continued to affiliate teams in the championships during the 20's, 30's and 40's and produced many hurling greats too numerous to mention in this short article. Some are still with us and are very active and interested in the affairs of the club, others have passed to their Eternal reward. May they rest in peace. These decades produced no championship winning side although they were victorious in many tournaments.
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