Recognition for the volunteers in the GAA is how Devenish’s Sean Treacy describes his selection as a winner of a GAA presidential award, which will be presented in Croke Park this coming Friday evening.
The Devenish St Marys GAA official will travel with his wife, Sharon and three daughters, Cianna, Grace and Sarah with a large number of Devenish GAA members also travelling to Dublin this coming Friday. Treacy will be presented with his award by the GAA President John Horan at a function in Croke Park which will be shown live on TG4 at 7.30pm.
Treacy said, “This is a fantastic achievement but it’s an award for the club and not just myself. Two years ago we took it upon ourselves to complete a book and many long weekends were had getting pictures, stories and the end product is a credit to all at Devenish St Marys.”
He continued, “The GAA was something I grew up with, the Devenish club are the mainstay of our village and from mens to ladies to youth football and plenty of other activities the GAA lives long in many households.”
The book itself is a fantastic read with some really intriguing match reports, evocative pictures, but most crucially, frank accounts of club meetings down through the years that give a unique snapshot into how Devenish GAA conducted its affairs.
Sean Treacy has given extraordinary service to the GAA in the work has done producing this historical book that will preserve the heritage of Devenish Gaelic games for future generations and is an exemplary figure in this regard.
Treacy believes the book that he got help from so many but names such as JJ Treacy, Gerry Burns, Sean O’Loughlin, Maeve Carty, Nuala McAloon and Mary Cullen cannot go amiss.
The book itself touches on so many fantastic stories, with one of the main highlights being that Devenish supplied the entire Fermanagh full back line and full forward line in the 1991 Ulster Championship clash against Antrim, they were for the record – Michael O’Brien, Bart O’Brien, Damien McGarrigle, Mark Gallagher, Brian Carty and Paul Coyle, while the great Johnny Leonard came on and scored in the second half to leave an astonishing seven Devenish players on the County team.
The Devenish mens Senior team are also the longest running club in the current Senior Football League Division 1, with the St Marys club being in the Division 1 league since 1982, while also winning an impressive 10 County Football Championships and 14 Division 1 titles in a period from 1960 to 2017.
Sean Treacy is a modest man and the work that has gone into the book is nothing short of a pure master class, Treacy admits it has all been worth it, “I suppose from the Centenary year it has really took off the and I decided to really go for it. We held a superb Book launch with so many people admiring the book and sales have been tremendous.”
He continued, “As you read the book you get to know where you come from and where you are going so it’s really something and it’s great to hear the brilliant reviews the book has been getting. It is very important that this great club is kept alive for future generations and the people know what this club has gone through.”
The awards, organised with the support of AIB and TG4 are staged annually by the GAA and provide the GAA President with an opportunity to acknowledge outstanding commitment and long service across the club, and county network from people whose highly valued contribution may not be recognised on the national stage.
Sean is pictured on the right, long term friend Gerry McLaughlin is on the left.
