Bridge in Limerick: The Early Days
In 1933, the CBAI which had been formed in Dublin let it be known that they were prepared to help anyone interested in forming branches. Some ladies, notably Mrs WJ O'Sullivan, Mrs Denis Corboy and Mrs Mary Heffernan asked Fred Williams and Harry Friel to come to Limerick to do this. At the Stella restaurant, after explaining the rudiments of duplicate the first
tournament was held. Next the ladies prevailed on Billy Williams, a brother of Fred, who was working in the Bank of Ireland in Limerick to call a meeting which was held in a room over the Imperial Bakery in Sarsfield Street (courtesy of Mrs Kiely). At this meeting a branch of the CBAI was formed with Billy Williams as Hon Secretary/Hon Treasurer. The following were key figures in the early days: Robert Walker, Drs Hubert and Mary Roche-Kelly(Hubert was President of the CBAI), Mr and Mrs Larry Byrne, Mr and Mrs Jack O'Sullivan, Dr and Mrs Denis Corboy, Seumas and Dr Troy, Maurice Gubbins and Miss May Gubbins, Mr and Mrs Cecil Mercier, Captain Campbell, Mr J Hurley-Byrne, Fred Conry, Mrs Roberts, Mr and Mrs Charles O'Malley, Dr Charles McDonnell and his daughter Mrs Doris Mcnamara, Lou Dundon and Mrs May Murphy. Bridge was played in the Stella for 3 years, moved to the Savoy and then to Cruises Hotel . During renovations to Cruises it returned briefly to the Stella, moved back again to the Savoy and then to the Monument. A regular feature in the first 30 years was a match with Galway. After the original group notable names associated with Bridge in Limerick include TD Cooper, May Tracey, Louis de Courcy, Joe and Madge Honan(President of CBAI and IBU), Michael and Nancy Hurley, Mary Duggan, Gordon Holmes(capped for Ireland in 1963), Alf Drewery (Hon Treasurer CBAI), Paddy Keane (Regional Treasurer for many years), Anne Walshe (Regional Treasurer for many years) and Malachy Skelly who donated the magnificent Skelly Salver and the Treaty Stone Trophy for the Limerick Bridge Congress. Maisie Cooper relates how this started. 99 O'Connell Street was the home of a Gentleman's Club one of whose members was TD Cooper the husband of Maisie. The roof was in disrepair and money was needed for this purpose. TD came home one night and said to Maisie "Maam, do you think a bridge Club could make money?" Maisie was positive in her reaction and that was how the 99 was formed. Maisie also started the Hazel Club which was run by Lou Dundon for many years and then Vera Gould. Monument Bridge Club Roll of Honour
The following is a list of those members of the Monument Bridge Club who have won National Championships over the last forty years. It is hoped to extend this list to include all "Limerick" winners of National events.
2000-01 Mark Burke, Ger Connolly, Pat Liston and Pat Quinn - Burke Trophy
2000-01 Mark Burke, Ger Connolly, Pat Liston and Pat Quinn - Kelburne Cup
2000-01 Bob Pattinson and Liam Walsh - Revington Cup
2000-01 Ena Cleary and Anna Glynn - Jackson Cup
2000-01 Catherine Murphy and Tom Molamphy - IBU Simultaneous Pairs
1999-2000 Kay Cussen and Donal O'Sullivan - Lambert Cup
1999-2000 Brid Kirby and Marie Hanrahan - Jackson Cup
1999-2000 Brid Kirby, Marie Hanrahan, Ena Cleary and Maureen Griffin - McMenamin Bowl
1998-99 Catherine Murphy and Kitty Long - Jackson Cup
1998-99 Frank Radmall and Brendan Martin - Kervick Trophy
1997-98 Ena Cleary and Gordon Lessells - Davidson Cup
1997-98 Josephine Wallis and Josephine Dullea - New Ireland Trophy
1997-98 Donal O'Sullivan and Mary O'Sullivan - Jim Fitzgerald Trophy
1995-96 Donal O'Sullivan and Mary O'Sullivan - Hagerty Trophy
1995-96 Maureen Griffin, Danny Liddy, Noreen Doyle, Ann Harte - Bankers Trophy
1994-95 PJ O'Dea and Yong Yuan - Revington Cup
1994-95 Robert Knight and Oliver Hyde - Hagerty Trophy
1991-92 Interprovincials: Des Houlihan (Captain) , Chris McInerney, Ena Cleary, Diarmuid Reddan, Mark Burke, Pat Liston, Brid Kirby, Marie Hanrahan, Aidan Cleary, Gordon Lessells, Pat Walshe, Rory Boland
1990-91 Joan Coyle, Tom Molamphy, Catherine Murphy, Kitty Long - Bankers Trophy
1989-90 Noel Hickey, Angela Hickey, Brid Kirby, Marie Hanrahan - Kelburne Cup
1989-90 Mark Burke and Pat Liston - Davidson Cup
1989-90 Tom Fitzgibbon and Danny Dillon - Kervick Trophy
1989-90 Donal O'Sullivan, Mary Curtin, Pat Keating, Breda Keating - IBU Team of 4 (Inter B)
1988-89 Mark Burke and Gordon Lessells - Revington Cup
1988-89 Des Houlihan (with Sean Gillen, Michael McDonagh and Pat Byrne)- Egan Trophy
1986-87 Aidan Cleary, Ena Cleary, Mark Burke, Pat Liston, Gordon Lessells - Burke Trophy
1986-87 Aidan Cleary, Jimmy Powell, Mark Burke, Gordon Lessells - Wang-Irish Times Team of Four
1984-85 Mark Burke and Noel Hickey - Lambert Cup
1982-83 Aidan Cleary, Ena Cleary, Des Houlihan, Pat Quinn - Holmes-Wilson
1982-83 Pat Liston and Gordon Lessells - New Ireland Trophy
1981-82 Aidan Cleary and Ena Cleary - Dewar's IBU Pairs
1981-82 Mark Burke and Pat Liston - Golden Jubilee Competition
1980-81 Mary Levins and Nancy Cahill - Kervick Trophy
1977-78 Rose O'Brien and Brother J O'Shea - Kervick Trophy
1969-70 Helen Keane and Ann Power - Civil Service Cup
1967-68 Paddy Keane and Ned Chambers - Civil Service Cup
1963-64 Alf Drewery and Michael Lynch - Revington Cup
Gordon Holmes during the 1960s won many national championships and represented Ireland partnered by Michael F O'Connell from Cork. Among the Pairs championships they won were the Davidson Cup (62-63), Moylan Cup (62-63. 64-65). Among the team trophies they won with a variety of team mates were Holmes-Wilson Cup (60-61, 66-67, 67-68), Kelburne Cup(61-62), Geraldine Trophy (63-64, 64-65, 65-66, 66-67) Egan Trophy (64-65). Gordon Holmes represented Ireland in the European Bridge League Championships in Baden-Baden, Germany in 1963 and in Ostend in 1965. The following three players have represented Ireland at Junior level: Diarmuid Reddan, Gaye Cleary and Fionnuala Langford. The following Limerick players have been elected President of the Contract Bridge Association of Ireland. Joseph Honan 1958-59
Michael Lynch 1976-77
Maisie Cooper 1996-97
