This report courtesy of Newport SAC on their National Junior / Daniel Peacock Memorial Competition:
*Congratulations to Patrick Sammon – the Daniel Peacock Memorial/National Junior Competition champion for 2023*
This annual Junior competition, now in its 31st year – renamed the Daniel Peacock Memorial as a tribute for the last 18 years – was held over the first weekend in July 2023. The club’s very first competition dedicated to the Junior members began back in 1992 and has been held every year since.
As this was the 31st year anniversary of the competition it is worth expressing our gratitude to the pioneers of the club committee back in 1992 and their foresight in laying the foundations of this hugely successful event. It is also an opportunity to thank the various committee members, anglers, parents and sponsors who over the years have helped to make this event so special for so many young anglers.
This year’s competition was fished over two days in the beautiful surrounds of Clew Bay. It was an opportunity for the parents, club members and junior anglers to meet up on the quayside on both mornings to find out who they would be fishing alongside for the day and discuss their tactics. Both the parents and young eager anglers were treated to a freshly cooked sausage roll and a hot cup of tea for all. All anglers assembled for a group photo before boarding the boats and heading out to sea.
The weather conditions on both days were fresh with occasional strong westerly gusts. The poor weather conditions restricted the skippers to the more sheltered fishing grounds and limited the options available to them. All in all, there was very little between the boats on their return to the quay. The Junior anglers were welcomed back onto the pier by their parents and everyone didn’t take long to make their way home for a few hours in order to watch the much anticipated Mayo vs Dublin game.
The charts were gathered by the committee members as the long and arduous task of working out the various category winners began behind the scenes. A large crowd gathered for the prize presentation which took place in Nevins Bar, Newport. A big thank you to Declan Nevin and family who provided hot food & drinks for all in attendance and also for providing the venue for the presentation. The room was decorated to the usual high standard and a slide show of the days photos were on display in the background for the large crowd that had gathered.
As always, a fantastic display of prizes were on offer, thanks to a combination of the Peacock & Steer families generosity, the clubs hard working trophy officers and all of our generous sponsors.
The full list of prize categories included a Novice category (7th place to 1st place), 8yrs to 13yrs category (7th place to 1st place), 14yrs to 18yrs category (7th place to 1st place), teams of 6 winners & runners up, individual boat winners, largest ray, largest huss, boatman’s prize, overall winner, rod and reel winner selected at random from each category as well as participants prizes for every single junior angler.
Once the various prizes were presented, we edged closer to the main prize of the evening. Local angler Patrick Sammon was announced as the National Junior Champion with a total of 9 fish and 100 points. Patrick was presented with the Daniel Peacock Memorial Trophy in front of the large attendance of anglers, parents and club members to rapturous applause. Patrick was one of 36 junior anglers, all aged between 8 and 18 years of age, who took part in this year’s event. Our congrats to Patrick on his brilliant achievement from all at the club!
Local sponsor Charles Reilly from Chambers Agri Newport sponsored all participants with a plaque and tackle box to honour their participation in the competition. Every one of the juniors started and finished the day with a smile. Every single junior angler caught fish on the day and no one went home empty handed. There was even a large number of raffle prizes for every junior angler followed by a parents raffle.
The club wishes to thank each and every one of our sponsors, the skippers, stewards, committee, parents and anyone who generally helped to make the day special for the juniors in whatever way they could. Our thanks also to all skippers and their crew, to the parents who helped out on the boats and those who helped on the quayside each day. The prizes were presented by Sean Nevin (representing main sponsor Nevins Bar), Darragh Magee (on behalf of the late Peter Magee RIP), Shane Gilvarry & Jason Moran (committee), David Nevin (from the Westport branch of the Credit Union), Sue Steer & Ann Taylor (representing the Peacock family). Unavailable on the day was Cllr. Brendan Mulroy (who gives great support to the club and is a main club sponsor over the last number of years) & Rory Smyth from Mid West Furniture (Main Sponsor).
The club would like to thank all sponsors for their generosity, as without their support, the competition would not have taken place. In particular we would like to thank our main sponsors as follows:
Sue Steer & Matthew Peacock (Main Trophy Sponsors), Clr Brendan Mulroy (Main Club Sponsor), Chambers Agri (Main Competition Sponsor), Nevins Bar (Main Competition Sponsor), Inland Fisheries Ireland, Bord Iascaigh Mhara, Midwest Furniture, Westport Credit Union, Westport Hotel Group, Marine Institute, Frank Chambers Auctioneers & Estate Agents, Castlebar Self Storage, Oliver Kelleher Trophies, Keanes Butchers, O’Malley Transport, Ann Taylor, Burrishoole GAA, Eamonn Kennedy, Mayo Movie World, Tracks & Treasures, Padraic McCormack, Personalise it.
Please contact any member of the club if you wish to get involved in helping out at any of our events throughout the year!
We plan to carry out a fundraising car wash on Main St Newport on 22/7/23 commencing at 10am. Please contact any member of the committee if you can help out for an hour on the day.
We are now taking entries for our next competition scheduled for 5th and 6th of August (57th Annual Sea Angling Festival). Contact any member of the committee for more details.
The full results of the 2023 Daniel Peacock Memorial / National Junior Competition are as follows:
The overall winner was Patrick Sammon with a total of 9 fish and 100 points. Congrats to Patrick from all at the club!
8 years to 13 years category:
- Winner: Seán Nevin (14 fish – 70 pts)
- Runner up: Leah Moran (4 fish – 60 pts)
- 3rd place: Julie O’Grady & Thomas O’Brien (5 fish – 45 pts)
- 4th place: Muirrin Mulchrone (3 fish – 35 pts)
- 5th place: Alan Heanue (2 fish – 30 pts)
- 6th place: Brendan Smyth (5 fish – 25 pts)
- 7th place: Laoise Fynnes (2 fish – 10 pts)
14 years to 18 years category:
- Winner: Holly McGee (12 fish – 80 pts)
- Runner up: Cian Moran & Daithí Nevin (6 fish – 50 pts)
- 3rd place: Shauna Moran (4 fish – 50 pts)
- 4th place: Dara McDonnell (3 fish – 45 pts)
- 5th place: Ruby McDonnell (5 fish – 25 pts)
- 6th place: Felix Zeray (4 fish – 20 pts)
- 7th place: Shane Durcan (3 fish – 15 pts)
Novice Category:
- 1st place – Jacob Jones (7 fish – 55 pts)
- 2nd place – James McNulty (9 fish – 45 pts)
- 3rd place – Paddy Kitterick (4 fish – 40 pts)
- 4th place– Aodhán Ó Ruain (3 fish – 35 pts)
- 5th place – John O’Sullivan (6 fish – 30 pts)
- 6th place – Marcus Moran (2 fish – 30 pts)
- 7th place – Ruairí Ginnelly (2 fish – 30 pts)
Teams Event winners were Holly McGee, Patrick Sammon, Leah Moran, James Heanue, John O’Sullivan & Ruari Ginnelly with a total of 295 points and 34 fish
Teams Event runners up were Shane Durkan, Dara McDonnell, Sean Nevin, Brendan Smyth, James McNulty & Finn Grealis with a total of 220 points and 38 fish
Individual Boat Winners:
- The Finnaun (Sat) – Leah Moran (4 fish 60 points)
- The Finnaun (Sat) – Holly McGee (12 fish 70 points)
- White Water II (Sun) – Patrick Sammon (9 fish 100 points)
- Lady Helen – Daithí Nevin (6 fish 50 points)
Largest Ray: Ruari Ginnelly (19 inches)
Largest Bulhuss: Leah Moran (42 inches)
Boatmans Prize: For best angler average score over the two days was Joe Gibbons who skippered the The Finnaun.
Congrats to all winners and thanks to everyone who took part on the day!
