| 词条 | Canon Punch Park |
| 释义 |
Canon Punch Park is a park in Limerick, Ireland developed in 1957, when the City Board bought a field adjacent to Hyde Road from Limerick Corporation (Limerick City Council) and CIE. They named the new park after the colourful President of the County Board, Canon Edward Punch. In the 34 years that the grounds were in ownership of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), there were a litany of problems ranging from vandalism, to unsuitable soil, to clubs not wanting to play there because they had developed fields of their own. Reasons for developing a new FieldThe City Board who organised 14 different competitions in 1956 was badly handicapped by the lack of a properly enclosed pitch of their own on which to play their games. The plan for the new grounds was to supplement rather than supplant the existing pitches. They wanted the additional pitch to speed up their programme and thus avoid playing some of their matches in the failing light of November. The City Board opened a special Hundred Thousand Shilling Fund to finance the field purchase and equipment. The special committee which was to guide the work of fitting the new grounds for their purpose was representative of all the leading city GAA clubs and had in addition, the assistance and advice of prominent officers of the County Board, the Schools Board, and the Inter Firm League. Representing the City Board were Chairman- Seamus O’ Ceallaigh (Young Irelands), Vice Chairman- Tony Nash (Treaty Sarsfields) Treasurer- Willie Naughton (Treaty Sarsfields) Secretary-Matt O’ Connell (St Patricks) Registrar-Tom Boland (Patrickswell) Representing the County Board were President Canon Edward Punch, Treasurer- Mick Fitzgibbon (Young Irelands) Secretary-Sean O' Connell (Ahane) Representing the Inter Firm Board was Chairman Denis Moran and the GAA schools were represented by Tadgh O' Ceallaigh, Brother Delaney and Brother Davis. Acting as trustees were the Chairman and Secretary of the City Board and the Secretary of the County Board. In 1958 there was over 100 games played under the City Board but the cause of widespread regret was that even though they had the site, Canon Punch Park was still not ready for matches. The Championships were played in time but the secondary competitions like the leagues were still being played in the winter months. Development WorkTopsoil was transported there from the Canons old home in Crecora when the County Council in the course of road making in the Crecora district had to excavate some land belonging to the Punch family. The topsoil was distributed over the pitch by machinery supplied and manned by one of the Canons parishioners. By 1961 the pitch had been leveled and walled on three sides. The remaining wall was going to cost £1,000 and dressing rooms and other amenities were also planned. The local St Brendan Schoolboys were granted permission to train in the Canon Punch Park in 1962 and they did some good work in clearing the pitch. In 1963, the City Board approved the completion of the purchase of a final strip of ground to complete the area of the new park. This extra acquisition was agreed upon as the result of a suggestion from a deputation representing the Limerick National Athletic and Cycling Association that provision should be made for the laying of an athletic track. A deputation from the grounds committee met with the City Manager in December 1962 in relation to work that the Corporation was to do with drains that were causing an obstruction and preventing match play. An assurance was received on that occasion that the work would be undertaken right away but no work was done by March 1963 and the opening of the grounds was delayed because this work had not been completed. The City Board contacted the City Manager again and the urgency of the position was put to him. In 1963 subject to the stipulation that every effort be made to accommodate all those wishing to play matches in the new grounds, Claughaun club were granted permission to use it as a club grounds on the undertaking that they would keep the main pitch cut and ready for match play at all times during the season. It was eight years after the GAA bought the Park that the first games were finally played in Canon Punch Park on October 17, 1965. Criticism of the new GroundsIn 1966, a report in the Limerick Leader said "Canon Punch Park was far from what most Gaels would like it to be. It was described as being fairly well enclosed but the pitch was a wide one and would need a lot of play and plenty of rolling before the surface is of the billiard table variety. Dressing rooms were also badly needed". The condition of Canon Punch Park deteriorated a few years after its first games and a headline in the Limerick Leader in 1970 read "Park is disgrace to GAA" (Gaelic Athletic Association). The scribe who was former City Board Chairman, Seamus O’Ceallaigh, said that he "had a very sad walk last Sunday morning as it took him by Canon Punch Park and it was dreadful to see its totally neglected state". He said that it had turned into "a plain commonage, the front gate wide open with eleven wandering horses grazing the weed ridden plot that gave such promise of a splendid playing space a few years ago. One set of goalposts was gone entirely and the other tottering to decay". He said that "those in control should be charged with bringing the association into disrepute because of the state into which the Park has been permitted to deteriorate" and that "in the nearby Caledonian Park where the pitch potential was not a patch on Punch Park only a few years ago, three soccer matches were in progress all watched by a large number of spectators, despite a bitter cold breeze. Just across the railway line in Pearse Park, another soccer game was being played with a good attendance". He said that "it is common talk now amongst the soccer fraternity that they will shortly be able to acquire Punch Park ‘for a song’ because of the state of disuse it has been permitted to get into by those at present controlling it". He said that "it would be tragic if Punch Park was permitted to fall into other hands. Those that conceived it were well aware of the task involved in planting Gaelic Games in an area steeped in the traditions of other codes". The City Board answered this article a couple of weeks later in the Limerick Leader by stating their thoughts on why the field had gone into disuse. The Board said that "Punch Park has been considered a White Elephant by City GAA clubs". The City Board accused Seamus O’Ceallaigh of leaving a mess for the incoming officers when he retired from his position as Chairman of the City Board at the 1965 Convention. In 1965 the officials of the City Board immediately set about establishing the true position in relation to this Park. Legal details etc. had to be checked before any development could be undertaken. The work was carried out in 1965 and the first matches were played there on October of that year. The City Board went on to say how they encountered great difficulty in maintaining the pitch in proper playing condition due to vandalism. Breaking and removal of padlocks, burning of wooden gates and digging holes on the playing pitch were some of the vandalistic acts perpetrated. Further work was carried out during 1967/68, which entailed the rebuilding of a boundary wall that had been leveled to the ground and the concrete blocks taken away. By 1969 many of the clubs in the city had their own grounds and from then on teams preferred to play at any club venue rather than at Punch Park. A soil analysis was carried out on a sample from Punch Park in 1970 and the opinion given by the analyst was that the soil was unsuitable for a good playing pitch. Beginning of the EndThe field then went into disuse for a number of years but in 1977, Old Christians got official permission to take possession of Punch Park but after a few years they left it and concentrated on the grounds at Rathbane. The field went into disuse again and it finally was lost to the GAA in Limerick when two local soccer clubs called Prospect F.C. and Hyde Rangers bought the field from the GAA for £18,000 in a joint venture in February 1991. It is an indictment on the local GAA that a playing field in a densely populated area of the city with a strong sporting tradition in soccer and rugby could not still be a GAA field. It had the potential to be Limericks version of Pairc Ui Rinn or Parnell Park but instead it is now home to Hyde Rangers F.C. and Prospect Priory F.C. and the clash of the ash will never be heard there again. References 5 : Parks in County Limerick|Gaelic games grounds in the Republic of Ireland|Limerick GAA|Sports venues in Limerick (city)|Sports venues in County Limerick |
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