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History
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The first mention one can find of Portumna relates to Junior Football game against
Eyrecourt in 1888 which Eyrecourt won by a goal and a point to a point. In the same
year a Football and Hurling Tournament was held locally in a field donated by
Mr. Laurence Taylor. Ahascragh beat Portumna in Kiltormer in Senior Hurling in 1910.
In 1914 the club qualified for its first county final in Junior Hurling and won
defeating Barna by 20 points to 5. Juvenile Hurling made its debut in 1927 and in
1930 Portumna are credited with having levelled and enclosed a playing field of their own.
Portumna were beaten by Castlegar in the Junior Hurling Final in the same year and in
1932 lost the Intermediate Final to Tiernascragh at Tynagh on a scoreline of 6-2 to 2-1.
The Club's first underage success came in 1948, when, after
a replay the minor hurlers beat Liam Mellowes by 3 points. They also won a
hat-trick of East Board Minor Finals at the time. The 60s brought many underage
East Board Titles and during that period also the club developed its very fine
playing facilities on land provided by the Portumna and District Development
Co. Ltd.
Following a lean period at the end of the 60s and the early
70s when the club actually disbanded for a few years with its members lining
out for outlying parishes, the Club reformed in the early 70s and won the
Junior East Board title in 1974. The corner was really turned in 1982 when the
County Junior title was won for the second time and Intermediate status
attained. The Club's dressing rooms were officially opened in 1984 with
challenges between Galway and Tipperary in U-21
Hurling and Galway and Clare in Senior
Hurling. An U-21 B Championship also in 1984 consolidated the Junior victory
but more importantly an U-12 title which was won the same year was built on by
another in 1985 followed by back to back titles at U-14, U-16 and Minor by
1991, a further U-21 B Championship in 1990 led to a very strong squad taking
the Intermediate title in fine style in 1992 after a replay and following two
defeats in the previous three years.
The Club also won the Intermediate Open Draw Competition in
1989, 1990 and 1992. In our first year in Senior, we reached the quarter finals
to be beaten by Carnmore in yet another replay but despite failing to reach the
play-off stage in 1994 the strong commitment by the Senior Team continued and
finally paid off when Portumna reached the 1995 Senior Hurling Final. Portumna
were defeated by Sarsfields that year but it showed a great progression within
the club. Portumna have also won the
U-12 championship at various grades in 1992, 1994, 2000 and 2005, and Minor B
and Minor A titles in 1998 and 1999.
Portumna have enjoyed a lot of success in the past decade.
The club has won the All-Ireland sevens in both senior(2) and junior and a
major breakthrough was made in 2003 with the County and Connacht Cups finally
coming to the shores of Lough Derg. Since 2003 the Club has won four additional
County and Provincial titles in 2005 and 2007, 2008, and 2009. The senior team have also won
the County senior league three times in this period. The 2005/2006 season
marked Portumna's greatest success with the team landing our first All-Ireland club
hurling title by defeating Newtownshandrum of Cork in the final. Since then Portumna have won
the All-Ireland hurling titles on two more occasions 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 and were defeated
by Ballyhale Shamrocks in the final of 2009/2010. This puts the club amongst the most
successful hurling clubs of all time.
It has to be said that the putting in place of a supported
juvenile structure in the early eighties has yielded huge dividends and if
names keep reappearing both on and off the field since then in various
capacities, it is because a lot of people have put an awful lot of time, effort
and money into the club. Tommy McClearn, Tom Quinn, Mike Monaghan, Joe and Pat
Madden, Sean Treacy, Dan Lynch, Christy Hogan Jimmy Heverin, Frank Brien, Sean
& Francis Canning, the late Tom Kelly, Paddy Hickey, John Joe Rourke, Nicholas
Treacy, Martin Carty, Frank Quinn, Celia Keane, Micheal Ryan, John Cormican,
Pat Scully and a host of others who have sweated blood and tears for Portumna.
The schools of the three parishes, Boula, Gortanumera and Portumna have also
contributed hugely to the successes, as has the community school.
Portumna club has produced some excellent county hurlers in
various grades. The following are some of them: Gerald Murray, Ralph
Shaughnessy, Michael Treacy, Larry Burns, Fr. Joe Harris, Donal Corrigan, P.J.
Fleming, Joe Gannon, Nicholas Treacy, John Walsh, Gerry Flaherty, John O
Rourke, Tom Carty, Frankie Canning, Tony, Gerry, Lenny and Davy Burke, John Joe
Rourke, the Treacy brothers, Sean and Vincent, the Cannings en bloc, Dermot O
Brien, Tom Flanagan, Damien Coleman, and O Brien, Eugene McEntee, Shane O
Rourke, Eoin Lynch, the Hayes cousins, Damien, Kevin and the late Keith RIP,
while we also suffered a terrible tragedy with the death of the great Joe O
Meara in the early nineties. The club has also been represented on the county
junior team, namely by Sean Canning, Nicholas Treacy, and Mike Monaghan.
Nicholas Treacy played junior and minor for Galway
in one year. Frankie Canning played minor, U21 and senior for Galway and only
for emigration would have enjoyed a great innings for Galway in their glory
years. Mossie Walsh was another who played all grades for Galway and was also a
star for the Dublin hurlers.
On the All-Star front, Sean Treacy (2), Ollie Canning(4), Joe Canning (2),
and Damien Hayes (1) show up the quality of player the club
has produced in recent years.
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