President to visit as Tang GAA prepares for special event

Tang GAA is preparing for a very special day tomorrow (Sunday), September 26, with an event incorporating many aspects of the club’s place in the local community.

GAA president Larry McCarthy will be the special guest, while Westmeath GAA chairman Frank Mescall will also be in attendance.

There will be a presentation to the Tang team which was crowned Westmeath Junior football champions in 1971, marking the 50th anniversary of the club’s first championship triumph.

The team was captained by Tom Flanagan and included the late Michael Galvin, who died at a young age and in whose memory the Galvin Cup tournament has been organised by the club for many years.

Virtually every able bodied person from the Tang area attended the 1971 Westmeath JFC final against Athlone on September 19 of that year. But the story goes that Liam Fox had to stay at home to guard the bonfire which was rebuilt atop the windmill at The Pigeons, as some jokers had set it alight on the night before the final!

After their success in the county final, the Tang contingent travelled home in a cavalcade and the Three Jolly Pigeons was the centre of them unbridled celebrations that night.

On Sunday, Seamus McCormack, proprietor of the Three Jolly Pigeons and a former Tang player and loyal supporter of the club, will share some recollections from the victory in 1971.

Sunday’s programme of events will start with Mass at 10am at the club grounds, Joe Fox Memorial Park. The Mass, in remembrance of Tang players, members and supporters no longer with us, will be celebrated by Fr Oliver Devine P.P., with assistance from Fr Jerry Murphy and Fr Paddy Conlon.

The club’s walking track and new astro turf pitch will be officially opened on the day by Larry McCarthy. The walking track has been upgraded with improved lighting and other improvements.

In addition to Tang GAA members, the facilities at Joe Fox Memorial Park also serve Maryland/Tang Underage GAA club and Goldsmiths LGFA (a club which serves the catchment areas of Tubberclair, Tang and Maryland). Those clubs will be involved in tomorrow’s events, while Tang National School will also be represented.

“It’s a day when the whole community can come together and while we will fondly remember people who have passed on at the morning Mass, we’ll have a bit of fun as the day goes on,” current Tang GAA chairman Tom Conlon told the Westmeath Independent.

“The walkway has been getting plenty of use ever since it was set up and it’s a great facility for the whole community,” he continued.

Tom said the club will be actively promoting the astro turf pitch in the near future, and there are hopes that it will be a popular venue for everything from five-a-side games among adults to children’s parties.

The outcome of a fundraising draw with a difference will also be revealed on the day. The dimensions of Tang GAA pitch were measured and with the aid of technology, the pitch was divided into 1,000 squares. Tickets were sold corresponding to the squares.

On Sunday, a cow will be released on to the field and the winner of the top prize of €550 will the person whose ticket has the numbered square in which the cow first answers a call of nature! There will also be a number of runner-up prizes.

In addition, there will be a novelty event on the day whereby six footballs will be kicked on to the field, with the destination of prizes to be decided by where they land.

In looking forward to Sunday’s landmark event, Tom was keen to thank the “fantastic work” of the club’s fundraising committee and the pitch committee.

Tang reached the Westmeath Intermediate football final last year and it took place on September 26, a year to the day from Sunday’s event. Covid-19 restrictions meant all supporters couldn’t attend last year’s final so the club showed the match on a big screen at the club grounds. Having lost last year’s final to Moate All Whites, Tang will be hoping to go one better in 2021.

The showing of drive-in films last Christmas and the appearance of a certain portly gentleman in a red suit were among the activities that Tang GAA hosted last year.

Stressing how much use the club facilities have been getting in recent months, Tom pointed out Tang hosted a number of LGFA inter-county matches this year, including the All-Ireland junior semi-final between Wicklow and Limerick.