Inaugural Shane Rooney League trophy won
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The late Shane Rooney’s dad Pat presents the eventual winner of this year’s league competition, Dermot Heaslip, with a specially commissioned trophy.Image 2 of 3
Local councillor Brendan Fay presenting the late Shane Rooney with the Cavan Petanque Club league trophy in 2023. He sadly passed away in March the following year.Image 3 of 3
Celebrations following the presentation of the trophy in 2023.The final of the Cavan Pétanque Club league played in memory of the late Shane Rooney took place in Belturbet last weekend.
More than a dozen players competed in the competition, which has been renamed in Shane’s honour.
The renaming took place after a memorial garden was opened at Belturbet Golf Course back in July in memory of Shane, a native of Bundoran in Donegal, who died March 21 last unexpectedly at Cavan General Hospital.
Shane had started the garden, and the local pétanque club members felt it a fitting tribute to finish the job, all the while incorporating various elements to signify a life well lived- his love of earth and horticulture, spirituality, and Liverpool FC.
Shane’s dad Pat presented eventual winner of this year’s league, Dermot Heaslip, with the specially commissioned trophy. It is a replica of the league winner’s trophy that Shane himself won this time last year. The original remains with the dad of one’s wife Grace.
The Cavan Pétanque Club hope to run an Over 55 league next year.
They are currently still in the running to host the Celtic Cup when it is played for in Ireland in two years time.
The 2026 event is up for grabs, and Belturbet and Cork City are the two venues currently under consideration.