Oranmore Maree GAA One Club has announced the naming rights sponsorship of Chubb Renville Gaelic Grounds. This landmark sponsorship deal for the development means Chubb will be the named sponsor for the next five years. The naming rights sponsorship will support the club in making the Chubb Renville Gaelic Grounds the home of Oranmore Maree GAA One Club and its’ 1800 plus members.
Chubb Renville Gaelic Grounds will serve the sporting needs of the area with a number of full size all-weather and grass pitches and other community facilities. The development will deliver in Renville leading sporting facilities which will benefit members of the Oranmore Maree GAA One Club (Oranmore Maree GAA Club, Oranmore Maree Camogie Club & Naomh Mhuire Ladies Football Club merged in 2019 into one integrated club ) and the wider community for generations to come.
Chubb Renville Gaelic Grounds will include one 4G full size pitch; three full size grass pitches; three training / warm up areas; club pavilion with multiple changing rooms; ball wall; a community facilities area; secure low level 2km lit community walking / running track; public children’s playground area; preservation of a ringfort as a local heritage, a sensory garden and educational site and a community parking area with accessible public toilets and baby changing facilities which will help further service Renville Park and Graveyard. Phase I, which will be a €4m project (bringing total investment in the project to €5m ), primarily entails the development of the pitches, with other facilities, such as the Club Pavilion, to be developed in subsequent phases. The overall budget for the project will be in the order of €8 - 9m.
These amenities are greatly needed in the Oranmore Maree area. There has been a huge population growth in recent years within the area, with the population approaching 10,000. This has led to the Oranmore Maree GAA One Club operating at beyond maximum capacity with nearly 100 GAA teams at present using the local community sporting facilities.
With over 2,500 pupils attending schools in Oranmore & Maree every day and with a combined membership of 1,800 people in the club (over 1,000 boys and girls ), the vision for Chubb Renville Gaelic Grounds arose out of an urgent need to develop new sporting facilities to cater for the rapidly expanding playing numbers from juvenile to adult level.
The club membership has doubled in the last seven years and is expected to continue to grow strongly with the ongoing and future development of many new housing developments in the area.
Oranmore Maree GAA One Club has invested over €1.1m in the project to date between land purchase, planning and fundraising costs. In 2019, the Renville Project submitted an application to the Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF ) for the development of Phase I of the project. Only national governing bodies could apply to the LSSIF and Chubb Renville Gaelic Grounds was one of only seven LSSIF applications submitted by Croke Park and the only one West of the Shannon. In 2020 the project was awarded a LSSIF grant of €2.1m, which was subsequently increased to €2.52m in a subsequent round of funding.
Jim Duncan, General Manager, Chubb Ireland said Chubb is delighted to support the development of the Chubb Renville Gaelic Grounds.
“This project represents a significant investment in the Oranmore Maree community, providing much-needed sporting facilities that will benefit the area for generations. We are proud to be part of this exciting journey and look forward to seeing the positive impact it will have on the Oranmore Maree GAA One Club and the wider community”
March of this year saw Oranmore Maree GAA One Club welcome President of the GAA Jarlath Burns and Patrick O’Donovan, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media as they officially turned the sod on the club’s Sports Centre of Excellence. Their support for and attendance at the event further highlighted its importance for sport on a national level in Ireland and in The West.
Chairperson of Oranmore Maree GAA One Club Sean Greene said “as a club we are extremely grateful to Chubb for their generosity in the naming right sponsorship deal for Chubb Renville Gaelic Grounds. Their outstanding support for the development will greatly help with its’ progression. Chubb Renville Gaelic Grounds will have an enormously positive impact on the club and GAA in the area for generations to come.”
The club set up Renville Management Committee in 2017 to develop this state of the art project, and Chairperson of this committee, Padraig O’Callaghan said, “we are immensely thankful to Chubb for their incredible support of the project.
OranmoreMaree GAA One Club Development Officer, Derek Cullinane, said that for over 50 years, Oranmore Maree GAA has been at the heart of our community, ensuring all people are given the opportunity to participate in GAA and in supporting the holistic health of our members and our wider community. It is imperative we continue to provide these opportunities for all community members as existing facilities do not cater for the current need. Full scale All-Weather playing and training facilities are badly needed immediately to alleviate the already vastly overstretched demand.
Chubb Renville Gaelic Grounds will greatly enhance quality of life within the Oranmore Maree Community, not only through the planned playing facilities but also through the Community Areas included in plans for the development. With groundworks for these facilities now well underway, the full size 4G astro pitch will be delivered towards the end of this year with the grass pitches ready to play on in 2026. These are really exciting times for the club.”
To supplement the LSSIF grant, sponsorships and funds already raised by Oranmore Maree GAA One Club and the Management Committee, the club will need to raise in the order of an additional €1m for Phase I of the project. Any business who wishes to get involved with the Renville Project or to donate, can contact Derek Cullinane on 086 234 7793 or by email at renvillesportsground@gmail.com.
