Oranmore Maree GAA One Club is delighted to announce the opening of the first phase of the club’s Sports Centre of Excellence, Chubb Renville Gaelic Grounds. Phase I of the project covers the development of the pitches and associated facilities, including our new entrance road and car parking. This phase is divided into Phase IA and IB, with Phase IA covering the delivery of the club’s state of the art full size 4G Astro Pitch. Phase IA is currently at the final stages of completion, with the 4G Astro Pitch due to host its first games on the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd of November, when U11 boys’ and girls’ teams from St. Vincent’s and Kilmacud Croke’s in Dublin come to play Oranmore Maree GAA One Club’s U11 teams.
These first games are a major milestone in this ambitious project and reflect the key objective of the club to develop outstanding facilities for use by the growing number of children in the community. Oranmore Maree GAA One Club wish to take the opportunity of the partial opening of the facilities to welcome our neighbours and members of the wider community to visit the site where they can experience the facilities the club is developing for the area.
Phase IB will see completion of the three full size grass pitches in the facility. Two of the pitches were seeded in September of this year and will be ready for training and games by September 2026. The completion of the third grass pitch was held up this year due to weather related delays. This will now be completed in Q2 next year and available to play on in Q2 2027.
The club submitted a new planning application for the project in October to cover retention of some minor changes in layout that arose due to constructability and safety issues during Phase I. The application includes an updated design for the club’s planned Dressing Room Building (four dressing rooms plus meeting rooms, public/accessible toilets and a baby changing area). It also includes updated locations for the planned ballwall, storage shed, and the replacement of a playground (there is a large one adjacent to the development in Renville Park and others in the locality) with a Sensory Garden. There is no Sensory Garden in the area. The accessible Sensory Garden will be a therapeutic amenity for the community, especially for those who need it most.
In further good news for the Renville Project, on the 3rd November, Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, Dara Calleary TD, announced the award of a grant of €245,700 for the development of walkways around the Chubb Renville Gaelic Grounds. The grant is issued through the 2024-2025 Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme (ORIS).
This project was submitted through Galway County Council and their support and help in obtaining this grant was of great benefit to the development and local area. The walkways will have low level lighting and therefore be available for use by the local communities throughout the winter, with the development being an important extension of the existing facilities in Renville Park. Currently there are no lit walkways in the area to allow people to walk safely during dark evenings. This also demonstrates the club’s commitment to providing facilities and amenities where possible for the whole of the local community.
The amenities being developed by Oranmore Maree GAA One Club are greatly needed in the Oranmore Maree area. There has been a huge population growth in recent years within the area, with the population approaching 10,000. This has led to the Oranmore Maree GAA One Club operating at beyond maximum capacity with nearly 100 GAA teams at present using the limited existing local community sporting facilities. With over 2,500 pupils attending schools in Oranmore & Maree every day and with a combined membership of 1,800 people in the club (nearly 1,200 boys and girls), the vision for Chubb Renville Gaelic Grounds arose out of an urgent need to develop new sporting facilities to cater for the rapidly expanding playing numbers from juvenile to adult level. The club membership has doubled in the last 6-7 years and is expected to continue to grow strongly with the ongoing and future development of many new housing developments in the area.
Oranmore Maree GAA One Club originally invested over €1.1m in the project between land purchase, planning and fundraising costs to get to the start of the development phase. The budget for Phase I is €4m, which is partially funded by the Government’s Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF).
Chairperson of Oranmore-Maree GAA One Club Sean Greene says “this development will have an immensely positive impact on our club, both for its current and future members. They will have access to best in class facilities which will make a marked difference to inclusion, player participation and performance. The whole club is extremely excited to see the first games take place on the new 4G pitch. It is fitting that the first game will take place between juvenile teams. One of the main aims of Chubb Renville Gaelic Grounds is to facilitate young current club members and future generations to come.”
The club set up Renville Gaelic Grounds Management Committee in 2017 to develop this state of the art project. Chairperson of this committee, Padraig O’Callaghan says, “this project has been a labour of more than eight years of planning, fundraising and commitment from the Renville Gaelic Grounds Management Committee & Oranmore Maree GAA One Club. To see it now become a reality is phenomenal. It is a momentous moment for the club, the management committee, the community and GAA sports. A further boost to the development is the news we now have the grant for walkways around Chubb Renville Gaelic Grounds. We are extremely grateful to Galway County Council for their support and help in obtaining the grant. This facility will be used daily by members of the community during the darker months and will make a great difference to quality of life for people in the locality.”
Oranmore Maree GAA One Club Development Officer, Derek Cullinane, says “For over 50 years, Oranmore Maree GAA has been at the heart of our community, ensuring all people are given the opportunity to participate in gaelic games and in supporting the holistic health of our members and our wider community. Chubb Renville Gaelic Grounds will greatly enhance quality of life within the Oranmore-Maree Community, not only through the planned playing facilities but also through the Community Areas included in plans for the development. It is fantastic to see the full size 4G astro pitch ready to play on for our club members and visiting teams. These are really exciting times for the club.”
The 4G Astro pitch will be available for use by other teams in the area. Please refer to the club website (https://www.oranmoremareegaa.com/) and the booking section of this website for booking links.