Monaghan Harps Lotto: Numbers 4, 10, 12 and 16. Jackpot of €1,100 not won. Residual prizes: €100 John Hahessy c/o himself; €40 Paul Corr c/o Barry Sullivan; €40 Connolly family c/o Barry Sullivan; €40 Vincent Mulligan c/o Dermot Coyle. Jackpot for Sunday, January 6 is €1,200. Lotto draw takes place in our clubhouse every Sunday night. All welcome. Thanks to everyone for their support for our Lotto, which has now played a critical role in our club’s funding for almost 25 years. We ask all club members to continue to promote our Lotto as much as possible.

Charity match: Our annual charity match takes place at Gavan Duffy Park on New Year’s Day at 3pm. Funds raised from this always enjoyable day will go to a local charity/charities to be named at a later date. Sponsorship cards are available now from Mary White and Owen Connell. We invite everyone to join us on the day and get 2019 off to a positive start for a good cause.

Juvenile Presentation: We hosted a packed clubhouse for our annual Juvenile Presentation night in the clubhouse on December 15. This was a very busy night, which opened with new Juvenile Chairman Adrian Gunn welcoming the large crowd, including our special guest, Dublin senior star James McCarthy. Frank Burke introduced the U-12 girls who reached their county final, before James Corrigan called up the U-11 boys who had a busy year that saw them win tournaments in Oram and Truagh. Adrian Gunn listed our U-13 Division Five/Six Championship winners, with Finbarr Conlon then commending our U-13 Division One league winners, who retained the Coyle Cup in dramatic style. Eugene McGinnity, who had also spoken about the Harps handballers who enjoyed success at home and abroad in 2018, called forward our U-15s, who contested three finals during 2018. Last but by no means least, Mel McMorrow introduced our U-17s, who closed the year out with a memorable Division One league victory. Player of the Year awards were presented to: John McCrystal (U-12); Oisín Reilly (U-13); Gary Devlin (U-14); Kevin Moran (U-15); Dean Doherty (U-16); and Oisín Fagan (U-17). Thanks to the Morgan family for donating a new trophy for the overall Juvenile Player of the Year, with the inaugural winner being Lochlainn Power. Club Chairman Jimmy Croarkin, Adrian and Mel also presented Volunteer awards to outgoing Juvenile Chairman Damien Morgan and to Finbarr Conlon to mark his services to the club, particularly in co-ordinating our Saturday-morning coaching sessions. Many thanks must go to six-time All-Ireland winner and three-time All-Star James McCarthy for being so generous with his time and for his wise words of advice to our young players. Thanks to everyone who attended and all involved in organising the night and well done to all our juvenile players for their efforts in 2018.

 

Awards: Congratulations to Paddy Donnelly and Jim Dalton on their awards at the Monaghan GAA Volunteer Appreciation night in the Four Seasons Hotel. This is richly-deserved recognition for both men, who have been synonymous with Monaghan Harps for many years. Paddy does great work for the club in a wide variety of roles – not least his long-standing association with our Lotto – while the Hurling Club’s nominee, Jim, has been one of the most tireless coaches around for more than two decades. Their popularity was clear to see from the many comments on our social-media pages. Well done to everyone involved in this initiative, with the awards presented by County Chairman Michael McMahon and Ulster GAA President Michael Hasson.

 

Schools: Best wishes to all the club players currently representing schools’ teams. Congratulations to team captain Dylan Ballantine, team-mates Daragh Croarkin, Liam Conway, Nathan Lavery, Dean Doherty, Tiarnán O’Rourke and Adam McGarry, manager Neil McAdam and all involved in the St. Macartan’s College Rannafast team who won the recent Shield Final!

 

Christmas: We would like to wish all our players, members, supporters and sponsors a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Nollaig Shona agus Athbhliain faoi Mhaise Daoibh! Please join us on New Year’s Day.

 

Church-gate collection: Our church-gate collection took place recently. Thanks to everyone who helped or contributed and to Rose Donnelly and Dermot Coyle for organising.

 

Club Draw: The GAA’s National Club Draw is back for 2019, offering great prizes including a Renault Clio. Books of tickets are available now from club members. All support appreciated.

 

Yearbook: The Monaghan GAA Yearbook is available now at a cost of €10 and gives a full review of 2018 for club and county.

 

O’Neills: A range of Harps gear can now be bought online from O’Neills website. See the club’s social-media pages for the link.

 

County minor presentation: Congratulations to Brendan Óg Ó Dufaigh and Lochlainn Power, who joined their 2018 Monaghan minor team-mates in receiving their Ulster MFC and MFL medals at the recent presentation night!

 

Membership: Registration fees for 2019 can now be paid to club registrar Kevin Treanor or in the clubhouse.

 

Sympathy: The club sends sympathy to the McCabe family on the death of Tommy’s father, Joseph. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

 

Coaching: Upcoming coaching development courses being run by Monaghan GAA include two workshops in early January. Coaches are asked to please contact Noreen McMorrow if interested.

 

Clubhouse: The Monaghan Harps clubhouse is available to book for functions. Contact Jimmy Croarkin on 087 1249635 or Pádraig Callan on 087 2543511 for more information. Anyone looking to book the clubhouse for meetings, functions, etc. is asked to please give a week’s notice for convenience.