It was an emotional night on Saturday in Carrickmacross as the Brian Keenan CSC celebrated 25 years on the road following Celtic at the Shirley Arms Hotel as they remembered founding member Brian Keenan and teenager Aoibhe Byrne who have sadly passed. Committee member Dermot Hands speech was emotional and reminded us about loved ones taken too early and the importance of cherishing memories made.
This Celtic Supporters club is a tight bunch and Celtic fans travelled from near and far to celebrate in the packed dining hall of the hotel. It was a pleasure to MC the night with two Celtic Legends John Hartson and Jackie McNamara as special guests.
Both players played under Martin O’Neill together during the early years of the supporters club foundation. Many boat journeys along with Jim Greenan and his bus crew. I would have met Brian and the bhoys on many of those trips in the early days of More than 90 Minutes.
John and Jackie were room mates and shared some tales from the dressing room along with re-living some famous victories on stage on the night after a delicious meal.
The SPFL trophy stood proudly beside the European Cup in the hotel lobby. Jackie said he forgot how heavy it was as he carried it into the packed room to loud applause with his team mate John holding aloft the European Cup a reminder of the greatest team in Scottish football history, the Lisbon Lions. Jackie also told us of the memories it brought back to him lifting it again.
The pints flowed, the craic was good and music and song went on into the wee hours of Sunday morning and the charity raffle was well supported with some great prizes up for grabs. Guests also got a club pen, keyring and a programme with heart felt tributes, a club history and plenty of pictures of the club members on many trips across the Irish sea and beyond to view. Each page also had a famous Celtic quote at the bottom which sums up who we are and why we are!
Every supporters club has its characters and there are two or three in this one whose exploits brought some laughs on the night as stories were recalled.
A big shout out to Ciaran, Dermot, Shaun and the Byrne Family for the warm welcome shown to us from we arrived and not forgetting the staff in Nallos Bar where the club are hosting an end of season do in the bar on the 30th of May.
Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes & Host of the Celtic Soul Podcast
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