Offaly GAA has confirmed a lucrative five-year deal with Glenisk, ending one of the longest shirt sponsorships in Irish sport.
It sees the more than three-decade association with Carroll Cuisine come to a close. The Carroll’s branding first appeared on the Offaly jersey back in 1991, when shirt sponsorship was first permitted in the GAA, placing it alongside the likes of the Kerry Group and Supermac’s in terms of longevity.
But the package with Glenisk, believed to be worth around €750,000 over five years, has proved too good for Offaly to turn down and would apparently more than double what they had been receiving from Carroll’s per annum in recent years.
Like Carroll’s, Glenisk is a prominent local company that specialises in dairy products. Disaster struck last September when its organic dairy plant in Newtown, Killeigh, outside Tullamore, was destroyed by fire though the Cleary family, founders of the company back in 1987, have been stoic in their determination to rebuild and quickly got their production lines rolling again.
Glenisk has strong GAA links and is the current sponsor of Killeigh parish club Clodiagh Gaels, who won the Offaly senior B hurling title last year.
Commenting after news of the deal first emerged on irishmirror.ie today, the company’s managing director Vincent Cleary said they took “enormous pride” in the link-up with Offaly GAA and that it was “an honour to have the opportunity to play a part as this comeback story unfolds”.
Offaly county board chairman Michael Duignan paid tribute to Carroll’s, saying they “were very much part of our success since 1991” but added that the Glenisk acquisition “represents a major opportunity to progress Gaelic games in Offaly and offers financial stability and the resources to implement our ambitious plans for the future”.
The new deal is another timely shot in the arm for Offaly after a progressive showing in 2021 as the county footballers won promotion to Division Two, the under-20 footballers claimed Leinster and All-Ireland titles while the senior hurlers escaped the Christy Ring Cup and earned a spot in the top flight of the Allianz League.
The footballers open their League campaign away to Clare on Sunday as they compete in the top two divisions of the competition for the first time since 2006, though it is most unlikely that the Glenisk branding will be on the jersey in time for the trip to Ennis.
Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts
