Nenagh golf club marks over four decades of support for Tipperary Irish Kidney Association

More than two hundred golfers took part in this year’s Annual Golf Scramble for the Irish Kidney Association at Nenagh Golf Club, continuing a local tradition that has brought golfers and supporters together for more than four decades.

Fifty-two teams played over Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th September, raising €9,035 for the Irish Kidney Association (IKA). The annual event is estimated to have raised close to €175,000 for the charity over the years.

This year was particularly special as several local kidney transplant recipients came together to support the Golf Scramble, including Michelle Barry, Sheila Gregan, Matthew Holland, and John Mounsey.

John Mounsey continues to enjoy longevity of the kidney transplant he received more than two decades ago while Michelle Barry, age 22, a local kidney transplant recipient and camogie player with Éire Óg, also attended the event. Michelle returned to playing camogie following her transplant earlier this year.

There was another personal connection to the event through Matthew Holland, age 22, from Ardcroney, whose mother Jackie works at Nenagh Golf Club. Matthew received his second kidney transplant in December 2025, having received his first transplant when he was 10 years old. He attended the prize presentation in support of the fundraiser.

Sheila Gregan, herself a kidney transplant recipient, is a long-standing member of the Nenagh Irish Kidney Association committee and member of Transplant Sport Ireland. She has become a seasoned participant in transplant sport having represented Ireland at multiple events around the world and continues to win many medals and good memories on the way.

Another stalwart from those early days who remains involved is Michael Fitzsimons, whose late brother Eugene received two kidney transplants.

For everyone involved, this year’s event was about much more than one weekend of golf. The €9,035 raised for this year’s event is the latest contribution that dates back more than 40 years.

FOUR DECADES ON

The Nenagh committee of the Tipperary Irish Kidney Association Branch was established in the early 1980s, with the fundraising golf event becoming an important part of its activities from those early days. A report in the Nenagh Guardian in 1987 recorded then Tipperary Irish Kidney Association Branch Chairman the late Paddy D’Arcy referring to the golf event as being in its fifth year, placing its beginnings around 1982. Paddy, who passed away in December 2018, had received three kidney transplants, the last from his sister.

More than four decades later, the golf event for the Irish Kidney Association continues, thanks in large part to the enduring support of Nenagh Golf Club, which has made its course available for the two-day fundraiser since its early days.

Successive Club Managers, Men’s and Ladies’ Captains and club staff have given their time to help with timesheets, administration and the many practical arrangements involved in running the event.

Seamus Hogan, an inter-county hurler and member of the 1971 All-Ireland-winning team, was instrumental in establishing the golf competition when he was captain of Nenagh Golf Club and continued to support it year after year, alongside his wife Nora.

The Hogan family’s connection with the Irish Kidney Association also became deeply personal through their late daughter, Orla Hogan Ryan, who served on both the Nenagh committee and as Secretary of the Tipperary Irish Kidney Association Branch. Orla lived with chronic kidney disease from childhood and received four kidney transplants, with her first transplant coming from her mother, Nora, in 1991 and her fourth from her brother, Cathal, in 2008.

She passed away in August 2024. Orla was an enthusiastic competitor at numerous Transplant Games and lived her life to the fullest possible. Her involvement with the Irish Kidney Association and the Transplant Games reflected her commitment to the kidney community and her determination to make the most of life following transplantation.

Among those involved with the local Nenagh Irish Kidney Association committee and the annual Golf Event at Nenagh Golf Club from the early years was James Dodd, a retired Nenagh dentist and keen golfer who came to the town from his native Boyle, Co Roscommon, 45 years ago.

James considers himself fortunate that neither he nor anyone in his family has been affected by kidney disease. Through his volunteering for the charity, he has had the privilege of getting to know kidney patients and their families, and of seeing first-hand the transformational impact that organ donation can have on the lives of transplant recipients.

James was among those who helped organise the Nenagh committee alongside the late Sean Donovan, from Tipperary Town, who passed away in December 2020. Sean was a Tipperary Irish Kidney Association Branch official who went on to serve as National Honorary Chairman during the 1980s. Sean’s wife, Doreen, has continued the family’s involvement in IKA fundraising in more recent years, helping to organise an annual golf event at Tipperary Golf Club in aid of the Association.

Mary Keogh, whose late husband Charles was a kidney patient, was involved from the beginning and served as secretary on the Nenagh committee for the Tipperary Irish Kidney Association branch in its early years. Sheila Gregan has also remained actively involved over the years. Her late father Henry Cleary, served as treasurer of the Nenagh committee in the early days.

Down through the years, the Nenagh committee supported the wider Tipperary Branch through church gate collections, fashion shows and other fundraising activities. The golf event at Nenagh Golf Club became the enduring fundraiser, bringing together the IKA, the golf club, and the wider community.

James Dodd praised the support received from the local community and Nenagh Golf Club over the decades.

“Nenagh Golf Club has been really supportive and so generous to us. They have given us the course for the weekend year after year and helped with timesheets, administration and all the practical arrangements. It is amazing to see how long the event has continued and how generations of people have supported it.”

“We wish to express our sincere thanks to the past and present Men’s and Ladies’ Captains, managers and staff at Nenagh Golf Club, as well as the golfers, sponsors, local businesses, volunteers, families and wider community whose support, through participation, sponsorship, prizes and donations, has helped sustain this special fundraising tradition for more than 40 years and, in doing so, enabling the Irish Kidney Association to continue supporting people living with kidney disease and their families.”