Spa GAA held their Cairde Spa fundraising draw on Thursday (February 2) at the clubhouse surrounded by club members and the local community.

At the Cairde Spa draw on Thursday night were Michael Doireann Conor Jim Catherine Jack and Denise Gleeson with Sean O'Brien. Photo: Anne Holland

Winners Pa Eveyln and Noah Murphy with GAA President Larry McCarthy. Photo: Anne Holland

Eoin Ryan Dylan and Donagh Cronin with the Sam Maguire Cup at the Spa GAA Cairde Spa draw. Photo: Anne Holland

On Friday morning enjoying a presidential visit to the Spa GAA Club were Field Committee members Paddy O'Keeffe Billy Morris and Paddy B Lynch with Spa Chairman Michael Cronin Larry McCarthy (GAA President) Andy O'Sullivan and Provincial Council of Britain President Noel O'Sullivan. Photo: Anne Holland

Spa GAA Chairman Michael Cronin making a presentation to GAA President Larry McCarthy to mark the occasion of his visit to Spa GAA Club. Photo: Anne Holland

Larry McCarthy (GAA President) Mick O'Connell Liam Daniels and Ian O'Connell at the Cairde Spa draw. Photo: Anne Holland

The fundraiser, the first major club draw to be held in Spa in over 10 years, had some amazing prizes up for grabs and gained huge support from all corners.

On the night, the club welcomed President of the GAA Larry McCarthy, Provincial Council of Britain President Noel O’Sullivan and Kerry GAA Chairman Patrick O’Sullivan.

Cairde Spa was first launched in September 2022 with the aim of raising funds for new and ongoing projects at the club. As with most clubs and organisations, the pandemic put a halt to many projects and delayed plans that were in the pipeline, but now the club have the chance to continue building and developing for the next generation, creating an environment that will be for the benefit of all ages.

“The response has been fantastic and with the incredible support of the community, both near and far, the draw has been a great success and the club can continue with the development plans that were outlined,” said club PRO Deirdre O’Sullivan Darcy.

“While the walking track has been a wonderful recent addition to the facilities, the projects on the agenda include layout of a new car park, lighting around the walking track, an outdoors skills wall for the players, dressing rooms for the juvenile and ladies teams, new safety features, dugouts, a new scoreboard, perimeter fencing around the pitches, a remembrance garden and more.”

There were 10 winners in the draw:

1st Prize : €15,000 - Pa, Evelyn and Noah Murphy
2nd Prize: €3,000 - Laurna Mulcahy
3rd Prize: €2,000 - Sean and Marian Moynihan
4th Prize: €1,000 - Dave Herlihy
5th Prize: 2 Nights Dinner, Bed and Breakfast at the Killarney Park Hotel - Tim O’Connor
6th Prize: €500 Voucher for Killarney Carpet and Furniture Centre - Denis Kelly
7th Prize: €300 Voucher for O’Sullivan’s Cycles - Adrian Slane
8th Prize: €250 Voucher for Killarney Oils - Ger and James Lyne
9th Prize: €150 Voucher for Killarney Hardware - Paul Russell
10th Prize: Signed Kerry Jersey from Kerry GAA Store - Noel O’Sullivan

“A huge thank you to everyone who has rowed in and supported the draw and helped the club in every way during this event. To the club fundraising committee, Chairman Michael Cronin, our sponsors and to all those who distributed, advertised, sold and purchased tickets over the past few months, to MC Ger Galvin who did a brilliant job as always, to Anne Holland for her wonderful photos and to all our hard-working and dedicated volunteers who keep the show going, míle buíochas to all,” added Deirdre.

The GAA President Larry McCarthy and Provincial Council of Britain President Noel O'Sullivan also made a visit to the clubhouse on Friday morning to see the facilities and also met with some members of the Spa field committee.