Origin of the East Cork Board
In the early 1920s, it was decided that the affairs of the Association within the County would be managed on a Divisional basis and with this end in view, a meeting was held at the Town Hall Cobh on Sunday April 13th 1924.Seven Clubs were represented at this meeting , but it is a fact that many more Clubs functioned in the area at this time.
The Clubs and their representatives present were:
- Cobh: Jim Cotter, Ben Purcell,
- Carrigtwohill: W. P. Aherne,
- Dungourney: Dan Cahill, P. Moore,
- Midleton: Eamonn Fleming, P. O’Connell,
- Little Island: Jack Mackey, Frank De Lacy,
- Youghal: Jack Murphy, Paddy Lynis,
- Sarsfields: Joe Foley, James Murphy
The meeting was presided over by M. H. Murphy, Vice-Chairman of the County Board, and the following officers were elected.
Chairman: Ben Purcell, Cobh, Vice-Chairman: James Barry, Carrigtwohill, Hon. Treasurer: Joe Foley, Sarsfields, Hon. Secretary: Eamonn Fleming, Midleton.
At that meeting, two Officers were elected , who were destined to play an important part in guiding the affairs of the Board for an extraordinary long time.
Ben Purcell continued as Chairman until the 1944 Convention, held in Aghada, when he had to retire as the result of an accident. He returned to serve as Vice-Chairman from 1951-1953, and again as Chairman from 1954-1964.
Eamonn Fleming served as Hon. Secretary from the first meeting until the 1948 Convention, held in Cobh.
Following in the footsteps of these two outstanding leaders, other Officers gave exceptionally long service to the Board.
James O’Flynn, Ladysbridge, served as Registrar in 1953 and as Secretary from 1954-1982.
Willie Ring, Cloyne served as Treasurer from 1975-1982, and as Secretary from 1983 to date.
Tom Joe O’Riordan, Castlelyons, served as Treasurer from 1983-2000.
Tom Powell, Midleton, served as Registrar from 1929-1930 and 1936-1952.
Billy Cody, Midleton, served as PRO from 1990-2008.
Dave Hoare, St. Catherine’s , served as Registrar from 1985-1999, and as Development/Cultural Officer from 2000 to date.
Several other Officers served for long periods, but the above list only shows those with 16 years or over in the service of the Board.
