Tralee Parnells are the blueprint for growing hurling

By John Harrington

GAA President Jarlath Burns has said he wants to be the catalyst for an explosion of new hurling clubs during his three-year term as Uachtarán Chumann Luthchleas Gael.

To help in this endeavour has put together a Hurling Development Committee that includes people who have successfully set up hurling clubs in football areas because they’re in a unique position to identify where it could be done elsewhere and the likely challenges that will need to be overcome on the way.

One case study that will surely inform their work is the almost overnight success story that is Tralee Parnells hurling and camogie club in Kerry.

Kerry hurling champions in 1918, 1919, and 1924, Parnells disbanded shortly after that third title but were reformed in 2012 to promote underage hurling and camogie in Tralee.

“There was a groundswell of people in Tralee who were trying to get juvenile hurling going around that time,” says current club Chairperson, Stephen Buttimer.

“It originally started in the Na Gaeil club back around 2011 and there were mentors helping out there and kids were going down, but there weren't enough dedicated people who knew enough about hurling to give it the attention it deserved.

“So a group of people got together in 2012 and said they would set up a juvenile hurling club in Tralee because there wasn't any currently there. You'd have to go to North Kerry if you were underage and wanted to play hurling.

“To be fair, the Munster Council gave it great support. The gave the support for a hurling GDA to be based in Tralee for Tralee and South Kerry.

“Then when the club itself got up and running great volunteers came on board. It kicked off straight away.

“We were called a project for a while by Munster but now that project is deemed to be successful because we're well up and running.”

Within three years Tralee Parnells already had mixed teams at U-6 and U-8, camogie teams at U-10, U-12, and U-14, and boys teams at U-10, U-12, U-14, U-16, and minor.

Jarlath Burns believes that if you establish hurling clubs in areas where there are currently only football clubs and then support them adequately to get up and running, then the game itself is a big enough sell to ensure it can thrive.

Tralee Parnells would seem to prove that theory. They’re based in one of the most football mad towns in Ireland and yet children flock to them from a variety of Gaelic football clubs in Tralee and beyond because they relish the opportunity to also play hurling and camogie.

“We call ourselves an ecumenical club,” says Buttimer. “The way it works in Kerry is you get permission to play hurling if you're a member of a football club.

“So basically we draw on all the Tralee clubs which would be Austin Stacks, Kerins O'Rahillys, John Mitchells, Na Gaeil, and then we'd have clubs from outside the town like Ballymacelligott, Churchill, St. Patrick's. So it's Tralee and its environs.

“And, would you believe, we have kids coming from as far away as Dingle and Keel and places like that and even coming up from Skellig Rangers in South Kerry.

“We welcome everybody, whoever wants to play hurling. Friday evening is really the evening in Tralee for hurling once the clocks go forward and, to be fair, the football clubs arrange it so that there's no football training on the same evening.”

North Kerry has always been the heartland of hurling in the Kingdom, but in recent years Tralee Parnells have proven that tradition isn’t a requirement for success.

Invited to take part in the North Kerry U-21 Hurling Championship in 2021, they stunned the Kerry hurling establishment by beating Crotta O’Neill’s in the Final.

In 2022 Their U-15 Féile hurling team won the Kerry Division 1 title and Division 3 John West Féile na nGael national title.

2023 was another big year. Their U-15 camogie team won the John West Féile na nGael Division 5 title and their senior club hurlers won the Intermediate Hurling Championship.

In Kerry you can apply for admission to the county senior hurling championship without winning the Intermediate championship but the feeling in club was that they wanted to be there on merit and now they will be this year with the first match of the new season this weekend in the senior League against Ballyheigue.

They had the option of remaining an intermediate club, but that was never going to be a runner for a group of players and club volunteers who constantly strive for improvement.

“We had a club meeting in August/September,” says Buttimer. “Everyone really wanted to go senior.

“Obviously we'll be starting relatively down the bottom of the pecking order but everyone was keen that we test ourselves so we applied in November to the county board and they granted us senior status at the convention.

“It’ll be a big step up and this year our ambition will be to just hold our own as best as well can.

“But we’ve a very talented minor team – they’re the lads who won the Féile two years ago – and the hope would be that within five to 10 years we’ll be really able to challenge for Kerry senior championships.”

They’re a very ambitious club off the pitch as well as on it. They’ve come this far without a home of their own and have been reliant on the support of Kerry GAA who give them the use of their Caherslee grounds in Tralee.

Since last year they’ve also been able to lease another pitch in Tralee Sports Complex from Kerry GAA for their juvenile players but the ambition is to eventually have a proper home of their own.

“100 per cent, we want to have our own home eventually because it's the last missing link for the club,” says Buttimer. “We've had quite a bit of success underage and senior and the next thing is to get a home of our own.

“It's not that easy. There are not that many green spaces in Tralee itself and we want to stay in the town for obvious reasons because if you went outside it you'd lose the town people.

“But we have a couple of people looking at options. Obviously we'd probably have to buy land or lease it and that would be a substantial investment but we are building up a capital account to help us get there when the time comes, but that's more of a longer-term project and fields don't come up that easily.

“Not having your own home can be challenging. People come and drop their kids but we don't have a centre so it can be hard to get to know people as well as you’d like because there's no club-house for people to mingle in, no central focus, so we have to really try hard to get to know the parents.

“We have a great set of volunteers but it's been the same group for 10 years and you can get fatigued so one of our big challenges is actually getting more volunteers involved. This year we've gotten a couple of new people on board this year to take on some of the younger teams so that's positive.

“But it would definitely be easier to engage with our community if we had a proper home of our own.”

Building that home of their own will be a significant undertaking, but such is the energy in Tralee Parnells Hurling and Camogie club that it’s surely only a matter of time before they do it.

Can their success story be replicated elsewhere? Is GAA President Jarlath Burns’ dream for an explosion of hurling clubs in areas traditionally dominated by Gaelic football a realistic one?

“Absolutely,” says Buttimer. “I was delighted to see Jarlath say that, I'll be following that with interest. I'm delighted that's one of his objectives.

“I think if you give an existing football club or a new hurling club the support they need to get started then they'll take it from there.

“The Munster Council came in under Joe Carton and gave support to Tralee, Kerry GAA got behind it too, and there were a few people in the town who loved hurling who took it from there.

"My predecessor as club Chairperson was Dermot Reen and he was a Legion man in Killarney who had never played hurling and I never played hurling myself growing up. Yes, I watched it, but I never played it.

“But there are people who are really interested in the game and they will put their shoulder to the wheel once the supports are given.

“Definitely I think that if Jarlath has that ambition it would be great to see it happen. I think it would be great for other parts of Kerry to get that sort of support too.

“We have a very good GDA, Colm O’Brien, who has done remarkable things. He’s obviously supported us but he’s also done great things with Firies, Rathmore, Kenmare, and Kilgarvan as well, but he’s only one man.

“There are some great green shoots in Kerry hurling at the moment, but there’s definitely a lot more we could do if we were given the support.”

If you're interested in playing for Tralee Parnells Hurling & Camogie club go here - https://traleeparnells.gaa.ie/