There was double cause for celebration as half a century of swimming was marked in style at the Brothers of Charity facility in Kilcornan in Clarinbridge recently.

Because while the celebration to mark 50 years of the swimming pool and sports hall at the complex was long-planned, what put the icing on the cake was the success of one of its young stars at the European Short Course swimming championships.

Two days earlier John Shortt won gold  in Poland; the teenage sensation was a long-time member of Bluefin Swimming Club, one of a number of clubs that has used the pool over the years along with the likes of Octopus Swimming Club, Fiona’s Swim School, Kinvara Swimming Club, and Galway Special Olympics, and his father, Frank, spoke of the important role the pool and local clubs played in his son’s journey to becoming an international star.

“There is a young lad of ours in Poland at the moment and he seems to be doing quite well for himself,” he said to cheers and applause.

“He started in Fiona’s Swim School, loved it from day one, and he moved on to Bluefin around 11 or 12 years of age and swam competitively and progressed up through the ranks.

“Quite honestly, he wouldn’t be where he is now without that pool,” Frank said, adding that his record-breaking son is proud of his roots and the start he got from Fiona’s Swim School, Bluefin, and the pool at Kilcornan.

The Glden Jubilee celebration was attended by many members of the wide variety of groups that use the facilities throughout the year, and proceedings kicked off with swimming and water safety exhibitions in the 20m pool from the likes of the pupils of Kilcolgan Educate Together, which is based on the grounds in Kilcornan, as well as Team South Galway, Bluefin Swimming Club, Kinvara Swimming Club, and Irish Water Safety.

The celebrations then moved into the sports hall, where a number of people spoke on the importance of the complex to not only the local community, but the wider Galway area: as well as local clubs, the hall has hosted the likes of the annual school musical by the students of Seamount College, the Choir Factor competition, Maree Musical Society, and Galway Community Panto, which is staging Pirates of Treasure Island over Christmas and the New Year.

There were performances from the likes of Gort Choir, Stageworks Youtheatre Group, Seamount College, and Limelight Creative Arts, as well as speeches from both users of the hall, and some of the dignitaries who attended the event; while local parish priest, Fr Barry Horan, blessed the building.

The manager of the leisure complex, Alan Concannon, spoke of the wide range of clubs and groups that use the facilities, and said they all contributed to making one big Kilcornan family.

“You don’t realise until you are in here every day how brilliant a place it is,” he said.

“I want to acknowledge the Kilcornan family. To me, that family is the people who support it [Kilcornan], the amazing staff, the community who support it, the sports clubs, the swimming clubs, the drama clubs, all the community clubs, it makes it an amazing place.

He thanked the members of Clarin Services, who had worked hard in the lead-up to the event to decorate the hall for the celebration, and he also paid tribute to both the Brothers of Charity, who he said “have created an amazing place here over the last 50 years”, as well as to Ciaran McGrath.

Ciaran retired earlier this year from running Kilcornan Leisure Centre after 45 years on behalf of the Brothers of Charity, but he has remained involved with the complex even in his downtime, helping organise the celebration and being on hand whenever being called upon, and he was rightly hailed as a major driving force in the success of the complex.

Pictured: Ciaran McGrath, retiring Kilcornan swimming pool manager after 45 years (centre), cuts the birthday cake with Cllr Martina Kinnane, Brother Noel, MC Sean Conneely, Former Brothers of Charity Services Ireland (BOCSI) Sector Manager, Mark Cormican, Kilcornan Leisure Complex manager, Eamon Loughrey, Director of Services (West Region) BOCSI; Felim Lynagh, BOCSI, Brother Alfred, John Connolly TD and Kilcornan Leisure Complex manager Alan Concannon. Photos: Brian Harding.