KILLESTER BASKETBALL CLUB
Killester Basketball Club is without doubt
the biggest and best basketball club in the country with
over thirty teams from development squads at under eight
right through to men’s and ladies superleague.
The club has been to the forefront of all
that is good in the game since its inception in 1967 and
there is no doubting that with the success’s of the
club in 2003-4 “The future of Irish Basketball is
ORANGE
A Club is born.
The name KILLESTER Basketball Club is synonymous
with a list of honours and major achievements, a club that
has survived through thick and thin to emerge at the top
at every level of Irish basketball from National League
Ladies and Men to the youngest of the young.
Indeed the men's ESB League superleague
team DART KILLESTER is idolised and 
adored
by thousands of young basketballers not only in Killester
but throughout the country. The is packed with commitment,
dedication, the fostering of personal development, a community
spirit and active youth involvement. To fully appreciate
what this club has achieved we go back to the swinging
sixties. Killester Parish in the late sixties had little
or no facilities for the youth of the area. There were
few places to go and little to do for the young population
of the area. (You heard it all before).
The establishment of KILLESTER Basketball
Club in 1967 in the famous Church Car Park marked an entirely
new departure for the boys and girls of the parish. As
with most noteworthy achievements, the establishment of
KILLESTER Basketball Club was due to the right man being
in the right place at the right time. That man was a young
Fr. Mick Casey who hailed from Knocknagree on the Cork/Kerry
border. Following his ordination in 1965 Big Mick was appointed
to Killester Parish. He immediately noticed the shortage
of facilities for the youth in the area and with the help
and encouragement of a number of locals including the Stenson's,
the Molloy's, the Grennell's, the Kelly's, the Evistons,
the Greenes, the Flanagans, the Rices, the McGranes, the
Dennehy's, the Goods, the Faughnans and many more. KILLESTER
Basketball Club was about to be born.
The Beginning
The club officially started in July 1967
and during that summer basketball
fever spread throughout the area and the car park was jammed
with new KILLESTER members. Then started the usual round
of fund-raising i.e. bingo sessions, dances etc. with the
likes of The Four Key's and Tony Kenny and the Vampires.
The money started to come in and thanks to Bill Heather
at Killester Technical School the club was able to get
three sets of basketball stands. Mick Casey organised lots
of basketballs (not as readily available as they are now),
and then the crucial question "the clubs colours".
First Club Secretary.
When Fr. Mick first arrived in Killester
Parish he stayed in the Stenson home in Brookville Park
and Maura soon became the first secretary of beloved Killester
Basketball Club. A special word of thanks is due to Maura
for her wonderful work in setting up the club
structure. The club actually grew to 779 members and 53
teams by its sixth year. Quite a lot of
administration you will agree.
Club Colours
After much discussion and quite a lot of
controversy it was decided that orange and black was to
be the colour scheme and the first set of gear was bought
from O'Neills at 7/6. Ironically thirty seven years later
O'Neills are still supplying our club uniforms albeit a
lot fancier in orange and black. The first team to represent
KILLESTER was put together by Mick Casey and included a
number of PE teachers whose first love was Gaelic football
but who were anxious to master the "foreign game".
Most were inter-county footballers including Longford's
Mick Hopkins and Brendan Barden, two Tipperarymen, Tom
White and Austin Burke as well as two Dubs, Sean O'Dwyer
and Gerry O'Donoghue, Roscommons Pat Trimble and John Dalton
from Limerick. They were a fit and physical bunch who won
promotion in their first season and also reached the Dublin
Championship Final in that first year. This team also included
two excellent youngsters who went on to contribute so much
to the club, namely Vinny Greene and Brian Flanagan. A
minor team was also formed which included Vinny, Brian
and of course Tom Flanagan, Paul Keogh (now an accomplished
national league referee), Aidan Hughes, Dave McNally, Brian
Broderick and Colm McCashin and senior altar boys Eamon
Molloy, Martin Grennell and Pat Faughnan.
Underage.
Vinny Greene started under 13 and under
14 boys and girls teams and in the following year KILLESTER
Basketball Club ran an All Ireland Under 14 Championship
in Cathal Brugha Barracks. The Tournament which included
the top two teams from each province was won by Iona from
Cork but KILLESTER players were quick to point out that
the Killester team which included Brian Keogh, the Taylor's
Ken and Dave, The Smiths Anthony and Bernard, Nipper Dunne,
Neil Molloy, Jack Kelly and Liam Hackett was the first
underage team in Irish basketball to score over 100 points
in a game. Another first for Killester!.
The Birth of the Kittens .
At the same time Sean Sheehan and Mick Casey
were busy getting the girls section going and it was from
those youngsters that the famous KILLESTER Kittens was
born The team included the Grennell's, Claire, Philly,
Breda and Imelda, the Phillips sisters Helen and Joan,
Susan and Siobhan Stapleton, Pat Plunkett, Breda Robbins
Jean Flanagan, Ronnie Guerin R.I.P. Pat Rice, Teresa O'Reilly,
Bernie Kelly and Claire Fahy. This team represented KILLESTER
and St Mary's Killester and went on to dominate the FISEC
Games as well as club basketball here in Ireland. Both
teams were coached by Martin Grennell.
Wisdom
From the outset, Mick saw the club as a
vehicle for personal and social development. Basketball,
as he saw it was the glue which held the young members
together, aided their socialising and the formation of
friendships, many of which are also thirty years old this
year. It didn't matter to him if the club never became
the top club at all levels, but what really mattered was
that the young people would enjoy their involvement with
KILLESTER Basketball Club To this day this is the
same motto for the club in fact the club letterhead say's
proudly "True teamwork is beautiful to watch and even
better to experience" and how true it is.
Impact.
KILLESTER Basketball Club has through the
years been the source of much enjoyment to its members,
in particular those who joined the club right from the
start and whose lives were an extension of their time in
the club. If ever a club was to have an impact on a community,
or a group of youngsters, KILLESTER Basketball Club was
and its influence has lasted right through to this day,
thirty years on.
Club Growth.
The men's team breezed through the divisions
to make Division One in 1970, not bad for a fledgling club.
They also won the prestigious Kilkenny Outdoor Tournament
with the Late Shay Hempenstall taking the MVP Award in
true Michael Jordan style. Other notables in that team
were Paul Harrington who went on to Eurovision fame with "Rockin
Roll Kids", Brian O'Connor and many more who went
on to represent the club at national League level.
The Scintillating Seventies
Little did KILLESTER Basketball Club know
at its inception, that it had a winning team such as the "Kittens" in
its ranks. The Kittens had it's origins in a group of young
kids put through their paces by Mick Casey. These kids
through their dedication and commitment to the sport, went
on to represent their school and club at various tournaments
around the country and abroad. Later they were to win three
National Championships in a row in 1977, 78 and 79.
This achievement complemented the three
in a row won by the men's team in 1975, 76 and 77. One
name was synonymous with both teams, that of Martin Grennell.
Martin was a member of the men's team coached by Fr. Eamon
McCarthy and was coach to the Kittens. Martin is still
a valued member of the club and as well as playing on the "vets" team
he is also the successful coach of our supremely talented
under 16 and 17 boy's teams.
The Beginning of the Kittens
In the beginning there were thirty six,
nine and ten year olds coached by Mick Casey and so interested
were they in playing at the time that he had to run them
home at night when darkness fell. 
As time went by, some
of the girls showed more potential than others and Martin
Grennell who was just five years the girls senior began
coaching the team which included all the aforementioned
girls along with Mary Good and Ita Dennehy amongst others.
But it was the younger Kittens who went on to excel ably
assisted by some of the older and more experienced players.
A nucleus of about eight girls went on to play as the Kittens
for ten years, Clare, Breda and Philly Grennell, The Late
Veronica “Ronnie” Guerin R.I.P., Susan and
Siobhan Stapleton, Bernie Kelly, Pat Rice and Joan and
Helen Phillips.
Dominance.
Not only did the girls dominate the domestic
scene but playing as St Mary's School they were also to
show that same winning form on the International scene
starting with victory in 1973 in the FISEC games in Lisbon.
They also won the European Cadet title in 1974 in Zaragosa.
Influence. On the club scene the Kittens were exposed
to many influences but undoubtedly they were influenced
mostly by the 3-in-a-row secured by the KILLESTER men's
team in the early seventies. Not slow to follow in their
footsteps, the Kittens had their own breathtaking 3-in-a-row
National League triumphs in 1976-77-78. The Kittens were
not the only "K" team in the KILLESTER club.
There was also the Kaleidoscopes, Krispies, Komets, Krocodiles,
Kalamity, Kangaroos, Krome, Kites and Kubs. It was through
this "K" connection that the ladies teams were
to come to be linked together in the great tradition
of KILLESTER Basketball.
Through those great years in the seventies
the various "K" ladies teams have had many great
players and it would be impossible to mention them all
but suffice it to say they were all great players who helped
to make KILLESTER the club of the seventies.
The McCarthy Era.
The 1970's was a time of much success in
the men's section and has affectionately become known as
the "McCarthy Era". Fr Casey was transferred
to the new Parish of Bayside so a new coach was needed
for the Killester men's senior team. In steps another cleric
Fr. Eamon McCarthy from Cork who was chaplain to Ringsend
Tech.. The formal handing over took place at the Club AGM
on the 9th September 1971. Fr. Mac presented Fr. Mick with
a plaque and spoke of his hard work and dedication to the
club. Fr. Mac spoke of the high standard of the girls basketball
and how he hoped to bring the boy's up to the same level
soon. With Fr. Mc Carthy's arrival on the scene, basketball
in KILLESTER took a new direction.Meticulous and hard working,
he wanted the club to reach its full potential. Thus began
a rigorous re- organisation of the club and the cultivation
of a competitive spirit and sportsmanship which was destined
to lead to victory and a trademark of Killester teams for
the future. During these years Killester started to run
tournaments at underage level. These tournaments which
were the brainchild of Mick
Casey and Vinny Greene, were to become it's identity stamp
under Fr. Mc Carthy as was foreign travel.
Globetrotters
Fr. McCarthy's era was characterised by
numerous trips abroad. Two in particular were
to have a lasting impact on the face of basketball in Ireland,
the Scottish trip of August 1973 and the American trip
to North Eastern University in July of the following year.
In order to build a men's team capable of competing at
the very top level of Irish Basketball, Fr. Mac felt that
the lads should play against opposition from outside the
country so the trip to Scotland was organised. Players
such as Martin Grennell, Eamon Molloy, Pete Ferrari, Liam
Hackett, Jim O Kelly, Brian Keogh, Pat Faughnan, Brian
Molloy and Eamon Mc Carthy were on the team which won its
games against Perth, Stirling and Dundee.. The following
July McCarthy's travelling troubadours were off to Boston
for a month of extensive coaching and games. The fund-raising
was massive as most of the team were just out of school.
But fund-raise they did and Alpha Capa Signe, Jamaica Plain
was to be their home for the next four weeks. For the historical
amongst you this was the former home of Mayor Curley, the
first ever Mayor elected from prison.
Independence Day 1974
On Independence Day the Irish Consul in
Boston arranged a reception/barbecue for the lads on Wollaston
Beach. The KILLESTER squad sweltered in the 98 degree temperatures,
while their temperatures soared even higher on viewing
the scantily clad young ladies on the beach. Then it was
down to the real work, learning to play real basketball.
When the lads saw the gymnasium in North Eastern University
they were gobsmacked and when their hosts saw how they
played basketball they felt they were more in need of guidance
than competition and hence a month of intensive coaching
began. Apart from the coaching the lads played quite a
few friendly games. Unfortunately unlike the Scottish trip
the scoresheets seem to have been mislaid. We wonder why.
Despite running out of pocket money quite early, the guy's
had a fabulous trip, met lots of
new friends and we believe lots of female acquaintances.
After this trip Fr. McCarthy decided that he had a squad
capable of winning a National League title within two to
three years and he set about doing this with a squad that
included Martin Grennell, Eamon and Brian Molloy, Liam
and Frank Hackett, Bob Hartigan, John O'Connor John Kennedy,
Sean Quinn, Tony Burke (who went
on to greater things as one of this countries greatest
ever referee's) Tom Wilkinson (former player and coach
at Neptune), Dave and Ken Taylor, Brian and Paul Keogh,
Peter Dunne, Pat Dent, Noel Keating (who went on to become
Chief Executive of the IBA), Pete Ferrari, Kevin Costelloe,
Jim O'Kelly (chief photographer in the Independent) and
Tony Cronnelly who also moved south to Neptune. KILLESTER
started the 1974-5 season as underdogs as Cork was the
hotbed
of basketball, but some incredible performances including
a six point win over Blue Demons when both were level with
three games to play gave KILLESTER the impetus to win the
title. They beat Marian and Neptune in their final two
games to lift the National League title for the first time
and the start of a new era had just begun. They retained
the title the following year with a thrilling 63-60 win
over arch rivals St Vincent's in a thrill a minute decider.
The following season McCarthy's boy's retained the title
for three in a row, a feat that was to be equalled by the
ladies in 1977, 78 and 79. Two three's in a row, will it
ever be equalled let alone surpassed.
In Perspective.
For Fr. McCarthy the achievement of three
in a row must be seen in the light of the entire club scene.
It is not something which must be pointed to and held up
as the showpiece of a great club. It was rather the achievement
of the individuals who were involved. He speaks of the
hunger to succeed and how failure whets the appetite, frequent
success has dreadful drawbacks and it is easier to achieve
continued success if you have a certain degree of failure..
You learn more from defeat than you do from victory. Basketball
a sport for life. Part of Fr McCarthy's philosophy is that
a club, as part of its formula, must commit itself to a
solid under-age programme. It must be pointed out however
that a successful underage programme does not have to be
winning continually. A 60%-80% success rate will leave
a hunger in the youth for victory at a later stage
in their basketball careers, which will contribute to a
better club Coaches Blues. Fr. McCarthy's
fondest memories of the club are, to some extent tempered
by stress and frustration involved with coaching. Much
of which was directed at referee's. He recollects suggesting
to one referee that he should take up coaching just to
see the game from the inside. The referee did so and is
now one of the best in the business.
The American Franchise. The
concept of franchising in Irish Sport was the brainchild
of Dan Doyle, Executive Director of the Irish Sports Foundation.
It was first introduced to Irish
basketball through the Irish Basketball Association in
1982. Killester strike it lucky. The development of the
National League programme in Killester received a considerable
boost in the early eighties following the clubs alliance
with a group of 18 Irish American businessmen interested
in fostering the game of basketball in Ireland. This group
was lead by Nick Gaffney from Oakland New Jersey and they
committed themselves to a considerable financial support
for our National League team for about five years without
which the team could not have competed in those lean pre-sponsorship
days. Nick still keeps in touch with the club and was instrumental
in Killester getting 6-9 Chris Logan as an American in
the early eighties and then it was Chris who put us in
touch with Mario Elie in 1986.
The Magnificent Eighties
The eighties will best be remembered in
basketball as the start of the American invasion, The
ICS Cup in the brand new Neptune Stadium and the growth
of Sponsorship. The game hit dizzy heights in the mid eighties
with the likes of Mario Elie, Kelvin Troy, Kenny Perkins,
Terry Strickland, Jasper McElroy, Jerome Westbrooks, Lennie
McMillian, Alan Cunningham and Mike Smith amongst others
thrilling capacity crowds the length and breath of the
country. A name that will always be remembered by KILLESTER
fans was Bosie Pesic a 6-9 Yugoslav International who played
unpaid for the Club for a number of years. Bosie formerly
played with Red Star Belgrade before coming to live in
Ireland.
Premier Milk Toppers KILLESTER .
KILLESTER Basketball Club embarked on its
first sponsorship deal in 1985 with Premier Dairies and
were known as Premier Milk Toppers. This deal which was
to see the club revitalised was initiated by Mick Mc Cormack
who managed to convince Frank Nolan who was Marketing Director
of Premier Dairies that the club was about to take off
at National League level and how right he was. In the first
year of the sponsorship the men's team finished in the
top four, runners up in the National Championship in Cork
and won the St Declan's Tournament with Kelvin Troy and
Mike Davert as the Americans. Familiar names such as Martin
Grennell and Eamon Molloy were still playing and coming
into their prime. In that same first year our ladies were
beaten in the final of the ICS Cup by Tralee in Cork while
the under 19's lost in the cup final also to Tralee making
it a disappointing weekend for the girls who had beaten
Corinthians and Corrib in their respective semi finals..
In 1986 a new National League management team of Liam Brewer,
Vinny Greene, Paul Carroll and Declan King was elected
with the job of making KILLESTER Basketball Club great
again. The committee worked from morning till night to
get things going and with the wonderful support of Frank
Nolan and Martin Kernan from Premier Dairies there was
a buzz that hadn't been seen in the club for years and
the confidence grew. In November 1986 Liam, Vinny and Paul
made the trip to New York at their own expense and with
the help of former star player
Chris Logan they went to see Mario Elie playing in a scrimmage
game. After much deliberation Mario decided to come to
Ireland and the rest is history.
I CS Cup in Cork
The following year Kelvin Troy was retained,
Jerome Westbrooks played in the early games and then was
appointed Coach and Mario Elie arrived in November 1986
to play in The Roy Curtis Tournament and for the rest of
the season. Mario and Kelvin gelled into one of the best
American duo's ever to play in this country and come January
1987 Premier MilkToppers had made it to the ICS Cup semi
final in Cork. The Neptune was packed to overflow for the
battle between Dawn Milk and those upstarts from Dublin
Premier MilkToppers. What a game it was. It went to overtime,
Mario was fouled out but Kelvin inspired his team to a
wonderful performance and the boy's in blue were through
to the final of the ICS Cup against another Cork team Burgerland
who were according to Cashman's Bookmakers the odds on
favourites.
This time Premier wore green and Burgerland
were green with envy as the Dubs beat another Cork team
to take the Cup back to the capital on a four point margin.
Then it was off to Cashman's to pick up the winnings. The
team on that famous Sunday afternoon in Cork was Eamon
Molloy, Martin Grennell, Ken Sullivan, Brian Collins, John
Kennedy, Paul Carroll, Gary Connelly, Mark Molloy, Kelvin
Troy and Mario Elie. The team was coached by Jerome Westbrooks
and Bob Hartigan. Hugh Fanning was the team manager and
Ailis O'Sullivan completed a wonderful team.
That man Eamon Molloy wearing
his customary number 13 lifted the Cup and Mario got the
MVP award. What celebrations there were that night on the
train home. The lads also finished in the top four and
runners up in the National Championship in Sligo. In that
same year the ladies finished in the top four in Division
two and were beaten in a thrilling final against Marathon
by a point. To crown a wonderful year Premier Milk Toppers
won the IBA Club of the Year Award.
Drama in Cork
The next season
Mario went on to Portugal to further what was to be an
illustrious career and was replaced by Kenny Perkins who
dominated along with Kelvin and the lads concentrated on
the league which was now virtually domiciled in Cork..
It was down to the last game of the season with Burgerland
and Premier level going into the last game of the season
The Stadium was once again packed to capacity as another
thriller ensued. Bus loads travelled to Cork. It was thrill
a minute stuff and with a second to go Kenny Perkins was
fouled with the sides tied. Cool Kenny hit the first free
throw to silence the partisan home crowd, he hit the second
to give Premier a two point lead with a second on the clock.
Burgerland inbounded to Ger Kennedy who turned
and launched a shot from all of 74 feet to hit a three
and Premier's celebrations were over and the
league title stayed in Cork. Was it within a second, we'll
never know. Perhaps Kenny should have
deliberately missed the second free throw. We'll know better
next time. There was some consolation for the lads as they
won the Dublin Super League and were Presidents Trophy
winners at the Roy Curtis Tournament.
Martin Grennell's girls who had gone so
close in 1987 went one step better in the following
season winning the league and promotion to the top flight.
Eamon Molloy's under nineteen girls also won the National
Cup in the Neptune Stadium beating Burgerland in the final.
Current national league players Aoife Sheridan and Anne
Hanly were members of that team which was to set the stage
for a record three cup wins. In the 1988-89 season Premier
Milk Toppers men won the Gateaux Clash of the Champions
beating Burgerland in a thrilling game in Inchicore.
The Nineties and the Future looks
secure.
Some new blood was also brought in at committee
level and this was the signal for
things to take off yet again. Prominent businessmen who
just happened to be parents of KILLESTER players answered
the call and came on board. David Hanly became Chairman
assisted by Paddy Sheridan and at a slightly later stage
Gerry Kelly was to join the committee which also included
such stalwarts as Michael McCormack, Martin Grennell, Eamon
Molloy, Jimmy Penrose, Liam Hackett, Aoife Sheridan, Declan
King and Helen King. It was felt that whereas the girls
underage section under Eamon Molloy and Michael Mc Cormack
was thriving the boys section was not in such a healthy
state and a re-building programme was set up under Martin
Grennell, Gerry Kelly, Bob Hartigan and Jimmy Behan. Within
a short time the club teams were challenging for honours
at all levels with some of the best talent since the seventies
coming through. The fruits of that first meeting in St
Annes Golf Club really showed through.
National League in the Nineties.
Lucozade Sport KILLESTER
In 1990 the club was lucky enough to become
involved with Lucozade Sport. The marketing people in Smithkline
Beecham saw KILLESTER Basketball Club as an ideal outlet
to promote its new isotonic sports drink A two year deal
was signed and we were on the road again playing as Lucozade
Sport KILLESTER
On court in the first season Lucozade Sport
KILLESTER with Jerome Westbrooks as player coach reached
the ICS Cup semi final in Cork only to be beaten by the
eventual winners Ballina. Ironically in our next league
game played in Aughrim Street saw the lads beat Ballina
in a thriller which had the house full signs up long before
tip off. They also reached the Budweiser League Championship
semi final that year. In the following season Bill Coffey
arrived from the United States and Jerome Westbrooks became
coach. Bill was to prove to be a great acquisition as he
was a great player and clubman but his coaching in the
schools was to lead to an influx of new talent coming into
the club.
Oscar Taylor's KILLESTER
At the end of the two year deal with Lucozade
Sport one of KILLESTER 's long time supporters Kieran Flood
stepped in to sponsor the club as Oscar Taylor's KILLESTER
. During this sponsorship the men's team made the television
stages in the cup twice losing out to the eventual winners
North Mon in the Semi Final in 1994 under new coach Todd
James. The following season was to prove to be one of the
best in the clubs history with Americans Randall Mounts
and the exciting Hilliary Scott teaming up with Todd James
as coach but as was the case back in 1988 Neptune deprived
us of the league in the final game, this time in Clontarf.
Oscar Taylors led the league by two points
going into the game against the Corkmen but as Neptune
had won the game in Cork we had to win. House Full The
house full signs
went up thirty five minutes before tip-off. The RTE cameras
were there with Jimmy Magee there to
commentate and Robbie Irwin as producer. There wasn't a
spare seat in the homely Irish Wheelchair Association and
it was a thriller going down to the wire but unfortunately
for us it was the Corkmen who went through with Gordon
Fitzgerald hitting an astonishing 32 points, His best total
ever, he would reserve that for us wouldn't he. Thoughts
of Ger Kennedy and Cork in March 1988 came rushing back.
What have we to do to win the league ?. The team on that
famous night for "The Battle of Clontarf " was
Randall Mounts, Hilliary Scott, Tony and John McDonagh,
Pat Grennell, Damien Sealy, Ryan James, Phil Rodgers, Donal
Cummins, Tommy Costello and Kevin Conroy.
Consolation.
There was some consolation as the under
19 girls won the Sprite National Cup beating Naomh Mhuire
in the final on television at the National Basketball Arena.
This was a great feat
for the girls who had also won the cup the previous year
beating Blarney in the final.
TNT KILLESTER
In July 1995 Jimmy Penrose, Declan King
and Martin Grennell put a sponsorship package together
which included a five minute video, brochure, and various
ideas on promotion. And the package was sent to Geoff Carr
MD of TNT Express Worldwide. Geoff who is a keen sportsman
having played soccer with Darlington and Sunderland was
immediately impressed and in quickfire time a deal was
struck which not only covered the National League teams
but also included various awards for the thriving underage
section.
Geoff had nothing but praise for his sponsorship
of TNT KILLESTER and the way things are done in the club.
The National League team which included Hilliary Scott
once again and the big man from Chigago Nate Frank finished
third in the Budweiser Superleague.
A Real Club Atmosphere thanks to
TNT.
This sponsorship was to prove to be one
of the best in our history as it totally revitalised the
club and everyone from the youngest eight year olds to
the veterans of thirty years in KILLESTER felt part of
the club. TNT Managing Director Geoff Carr and Marketing
Manager Veronica O'Connell became regular visitors to games
and club functions. This was never more evident than Sunday
April 21st 1996 when a crowd of over two hundred packed
the Shieling Hotel for the clubs celebration night. Martin
King of 98FM (now with TV3) conducted the proceedings as
Hilliary Scott, Geoff Carr, Veronica O'Connell and Mick
Casey presented the many awards won by KILLESTER teams
during the year.
USS John Fitzgerald Kennedy 
On July 5th 1996 TNT KILLESTER played host
to the crew of the USS John F. Kennedy in
both a ladies and men's game at the Irish Wheelchair Association.
This was one of the many events held in Dublin during the
ships historic visit to our city and according to the crew
members and supporters who attended it was one of the most
enjoyable with the customary full house and aftermatch
reception in Clontarf.
A new Millennium
Just when we thought that we had seen it
all at Killester Basketball Club we moved into the 2000’s
and even more success.
THORN KILLESTER
Geoff Carr moved to THORN Lighting as MD
and with him went Killester Basketball Club and we were
to become THORN Killester.
Michael Fenton a Tipperaryman of renown
and a great supporter of the club as well as father of
Ciara came on board with all his managerial skills and
with Mick McCormack and Declan King they set about getting
more success for the club.
Mark Ingle a Killester man through and through
came in as coach of the men’s superleague team. Ingle
brought in John Leahy, Eric Jackson and Adrian Fulton and
come season’s end despite the interference of the
infamous “ foot and mouth” epidemic THORN Killester
won the cup and league double and was also named club of
the year.
THORN Lighting stayed on as an associate
sponsor but the new main sponsor was DART Suburban Rail.
Straight away the club added to its trophy cabinet with
the ladies ESB Cup. DART Killester beat University of Limerick
with a tremendous performance of shooting in a brilliant
performance.
DART KILLESTER
DART Killester men’s team continued
where they left off winning the Northern Conference of
the ESB Superleague in 2003-4. Ingle’s team lost
in the championship final to Horan’s Tralee but showed
what strength there is in the club by taking the Ranking
Tournament in its first year.
Added to that as we have said in our intro
to the club’s history, we won thirty trophies in
the 2003-4 season and ten runners up certainly proving
that “The future of Irish Basketball is ORANGE”
