Portumna - Sport

Sport

There are several angling hotspots near Portumna - a number of which are official match stretches located on the River Shannon itself and the Northern Shores of Lough Derg. On the river there are two main stretches near Portumna. One is downstream of Portumna and is known locally as the 'lower town stretch' or 'Rogers Island'. The other is upstream of the town and is known as the upper ESB stretch or 'Fairyhill'. The most commonly caught species include Pike, Perch, Bream, Roach and hybrids. The River Shannon and Lough Derg also provide for pleasure boating and watersports. During the summer months, sports such as water-skiing and wakeboarding are popular in Portumna.

Portumna Golf Club (founded in 1913) and its 18-hole parkland golf course (par 72), set within the 1,500 acres (6.1 km2) Portumna Forest Park, is located on the western approach to the town, approx. two kilometres from the town centre on the Ennis/Gort road.

The town is home to the 2006, 2008 and 2009 All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship winners. The town's senior hurlers beat the Co. Cork champions Newtownshandrum in Croke Park on St. Patricks Day, 2006, (by a score of 2-8 to 1-6) to capture their first title; won again on St Patrick's Day 2008, against Co. Offaly champions Birr (by a score of 3-19 to 3-9) and retained their title a year later, beating Co. Waterford's De La Salle 2-24 to 1-8. In addition, the hurlers have won five Galway county titles during this period of success. These titles were won in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009. A number of Portumna players, including Joe Canning, are members of the Galway senior panel.

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