The Kerryman – May 8th, 1971
Moyvane’s third annual Carnival will be officially opened on Sunday next by Kerry’s Caltex Award footballer Tom Prendergast, and for the ensuing fortnight the North Kerry village will be en fete as it plays host to the people from the surrounding areas of North Kerry and West Limerick, and invites them one and all to come and have the time of their lives at what they have proudly tagged “the Carnival of Carnivals,” the curtain on which drops on Sunday, May 23.The Carnival which is organised and spear-headed by Moyvane G.A.A. Club, has achieved phenomenal success since it was first held in 1969. Its sole purpose to date has been to raise funds to help towards the carrying out of improvements to the Moyvane Sportsfield. The first year the Carnival realised a profit of between 600 and 700 and in 1970 that figure soared to a resounding 740. All these monies have been ploughed back into the sportsfield and to date the G.A.A. Club has lavished about 6,000 on it. The pitch has been paid for, it has been drained, reseeded and enclosed with a seven foot high mesh wiring. A front wall has been erected and an embankment laid.
Now the energetic committee has decided to take a step which is totally unprecedented as far as a parish football club is concerned. They have decided to erect a stand on the pitch which when built will make the Moyvane Sportsfield one of the very few G.A.A. pitches in Munster which can boast of covered-in accommodation.
Tralee’s Austin Stack Park, Cork’s Athletic Grounds and Limerick Gaelic Grounds are the three major G.A.A. pitches in the province with stand facilities. Major venues like Killarney’s Fitzgerald Stadium and Thurles Sportsfield do not boast of stand accomodation and Moyvane is determined that it will shortly oustrip these renowned G.A.A. centres in this respect.
It is estimated that the erection of the proposed stand will cost in the region of 1,000 and this is the target which the committee has set itself as regards profits from this year’s carnival. It is hoped that if the present trend continues – and there is no reason for believing otherwise – this year’s Carnival will be an even bigger money-spinner and that work on the stand can be carried out during the months of June and July. Tenders have already been received in connection with the job. The intention is to cover in 75 feet of the present embankment, thus ensuring patrons at the venue the utmost comfort in which to watch games and at the same time providing then with shelter from the elements.
The improvements already carried out on the pitch have been very favourably commented upon by members of the Co. Board. In fact, when most pitches were unplayable last December Co. Board officials Tadhg Crowley and Murt Kelly visited it and declared that it was one of the best playing surfaces anywhere in the county in mid-winter.
With the exception of Listowel Races few if any other sporting or social events have managed to grip the public imagination as has Moyvane Carnival since its inception two years ago. The centrepiece of the Carnival is the Football Tournament which has proved to be one of the best of its kind in the entire province. Last year an attendance of 3,000 came to watch Finuge defeat Listowel in the Listowel in the final; In 1969 Glin accounted for Finuge in the
