Minute by minute - surviving Glanworth document a fascinating glimpse into the past

A secretary of an organisation may not give too much thought to the act of keeping minutes of meetings.

It is, at base level, a record that can be referred to if something needs clarification or if a dispute arises. However, if maintained well over a long period, they tell a story and early incarnations can serve as important historical documents.

So it is with a set of Glanworth GAA Club minutes which feature in a piece written by Paul Cotter for the 2026 Cork GAA Yearbook.

“The minutes were recorded in a small school exercise copybook and are indeed a model for any secretary interested in recording concisely and accurately the business of club meetings,” Cotter notes.

“Clearly the club was run in a business-like manner by men who valued all the association stood for – the level of interest can surely be measured by the fact that no fewer than 94 members are listed for that year.”

It is not made fully clear how old the club was at the time, though Paul Cotter surmises that the fact the well-attended annual general meeting was taking place in March – relatively late – indicates that it was being re-formed. This notion is backed up by the fundraising efforts.

At the committee meeting held ten days after the AGM, bringing money in was a chief aim:

it was “passed unanimously – that a small deputation, say two or three members, be appointed to wait on Parish Priest, Curate and all shopkeepers in town to ask them to assist in the raising of a fund for the use of the club”.

The canvassing of donations yielded £3 and seven shillings, led by the parish priest, Rev. Cornelius Cahill, who subscribed ten shillings. Later in the year, when a team from Glenroe in Limerick visited, there was a push to get members to donate towards refreshements – club president William Cotter gave a half-crown as part of a total of 17 shillings and sixpence.

Cotter, who was principal of Glanworth Boys’ NS from 1891-1903, was a native of Brosna, Co. Kerry, which seems ironic given that the topic of the membership of non-natives was something that received a lot of air-time.

At a meeting in May, it was proposed “that no players outside the parish be admitted as members of the club to play at coming or other match” and the vote was passed by 27 members to 15.

However, between then and the next gathering, there was a change in sentiment - “that the resolution excluding persons from outside the parish be rescinded and that all persons wishing to become members be admitted.” Quite what happened to cause such an about-turn is something sadly missing from the minutes, however.

The man keeping all the records was the club secretary, who only referred to himself as ‘P O’Neill’. He and William Cottter attended all 21 meetings held during the year, when matters such as the purchase of a set of jerseys (£2) were covered, along with the hiring of wagonettes – horse-drawn transport capable of carrying 16 passengers – for away games.

On occasion, a match that had been fixed did not go ahead, such as the scheduled fixture against Liscarroll, who could not field as the Bishop was visiting the area on the date in question.

Unfortunately, club activities across the next 35 years or so are not as well known as there are no surviving minutes. As Paul Cotter concludes: “We must be grateful therefore for the existence of the minute book for 1895, a document which identifies the existence of a vibrant club unit during those formative years of the Association and be thankful to the men who encouraged so enthusiastically a tradition which still lives today. Surely, they are deserving of our ‘best thanks’.”