The 4th instalment of our On The Road Again series takes us to John O’Leary CSC in Tipperary so far away 🇮🇪🍀
The John O’Leary Celtic Supporters Club is based out of Quinlan’s Lounge, Davis Street, Tipperary Town. This is the second edition of the club. The original club was set up in the 1990’s by the late, great Lulu Hogan and ran for several years. The new club was launched in 2023 by veteran members of the old club and a host of new members. We kept the old name of the club in honour of John O’Leary, the Fenian and IRB leader from Tipperary Town.
The new club was expected to attract 20 to 30 members from the local area. Today it boasts more than 150 members from Tipperary Town and from all over county Tipperary and much further afield. We have members based in Limerick, Cork, Clare, Kildare, Galway, Dublin, Louth, Armagh, Belfast, Coatbridge, England, and New York. We all share a common love for the mighty Hoops.
The club has had many trips and functions in the three short years since its reestablishment. We had the famous trip to Glasgow for our first club match, only for the game to be abandoned due to storm damage to Paradise. The members who traveled still had a brilliant weekend. Last season we also organised our first “Club Trip to the Sun” where we headed to Benalmadena and watched Celtic take on Rangers, in Lewis’ Bar.
We have also had many functions in Quinlan’s Lounge featuring many great bands. We have hosted Spirit of Freedom, Clover, The Paddy Bhoys, Gary Lawlor and Blackthorn. The club hosted an Astro tournament for CSC in May 2025. We had 2 other CSC compete, North Kildare CSC and Port Lairge Emerald CSC, along with our own team and 3 local teams. The Local Bar won the inaugural John O’Leary Cup and the John O’Leary CSC won the Lulu Hogan Shield. We had a fantastic evening back in Quinlan’s afterwards and we will be running our second tournament in June 2026. We also organised a Rural Club Pub Crawl in August 2025 which was a great success. We hold a Christmas Party every year, which creates a great feeling of camaraderie amongst our members. We have many more functions to come: our Christmas Party 2026 on Saturday December 19th for Celtic v Aberdeen with music by the Paddy Bhoys, followed by a trip to visit Port Láirge Emerald CSC in February 2026. Our second annual “Trip to Sun” is due to take place in early May when we travel to Albufeira, Portugal. Our second annual John O’Leary Cup Astro tournament will take place in June, and we hope to see more CSC participate this season, music is being provided by Spirit of Freedom for this event. We are also planning a 5th Anniversary Dinner Dance in Ballykisteen Hotel for June 2028, with more details to follow.
One of the biggest parts of our identity and indeed that of Celtic FC is our charitable work. We take the charitable roots of the club to heart and do what we can for charitable organisations. We have raised money for Tipperary Meals on Wheels, C-Saw Tipperary, St. Vincent’s Senior Day Centre and many other local organisations and fundraisers. We will continue to select a “Charity of the Season” each season and this season we have selected St. John’s Famine Graveyard Committee.
Our members regularly travel to Glasgow and further afield to watch the Celtic play and it is important to us that we can provide tickets to our members as often as possible. This would not be possible without the help of the AICSC and its hardworking committee. We appreciate all you do and all the hard work and effort you put in. We were privileged to host an AICSC Delegates Meeting in Clanwilliam Rugby Club in November 2025, where we welcomed delegates from many different Celtic Supporters Clubs. We would be honoured to do so again in the future.
Our club has a very hardworking committee who put in fantastic effort to make supporting Celtic an enjoyable exercise for all our members. But we also do our best to create a friendly and active club. We have only been in existence for a short number of years, but we have grown so much and have so many great memories already. We cannot wait to see what the future holds, supporting the greatest club in world football. Celts are always welcome in Tipperary Town and in Quinlans Lounge. Just let us know you are coming and we will extend the “Ceád Míle Fáilte”.
Hail Hail from the Fenian Bhoys and Ghirls in the John O’Leary Celtic Supporters Club.
