Pitch pioneers have strong ties with Meath GAA
November 30, 2005
Prunty Contracts Ltd. boasts a longstanding association with the Meath County Board that stretches back some 20 years. In the mid-80s, the pioneers of the nationally-renowned 'Prunty Pitch' were commissioned to lay the surface at Meath's county grounds in Pairc Tailteann and Prunty Contracts Ltd. are currently working on Meath's new Centre of Excellence development at Dunganny. They also sponsor the Meath junior 'B' football championship.
Sportsground specialists Prunty Contracts Ltd. pioneered and developed the eponymous 'prunty pitch' that has revolutionised playing conditions for Irish sport. Gaelic games have been one of the main beneficiaries, as pitches have been laid nationwide, many at notable venues, including county grounds in Meath, Cavan, Kerry, Longford and Derry.
Prunty Contracts Ltd. developed the pitch at Pairc Tailteann in Navan during the mid-eighties, and has again been enlisted by Meath County Board to work on the new pitches currently under development at Dunganny. The sod was turned on this development in July 2004 and the pitches were being fine-tuned during the calendar year just expiring.
Bearing in mind the kind of work they do, it is hardly a major surprise to learn that Joe Pat Prunty, the brains behind the operation, is a former footballer of some repute with his native Roslea Shamrocks as well as with Fermanagh. Pat Joe Prunty collected numerous league and championship honours with the border club in the late '50s and early '60s and also had the distinction of winning a rare All-Ireland medal with the Erne County in 1959, when the mighty Kerry were overcome in the All-Ireland junior football championship final.
Though he's 73 years old now, Joe Pat is still very much involved in the running of the company, which he oversees in conjunction with his son Joe.
Joe Pat did his first trial pitch at the Portora School in Enniskillen as far back as 1967. Coming from a background in agricultural contracting and land drainage, he had a natural flair for the job and quickly developed a pitch that was the talk of the locality and further afield. The drainage and durability capabilities of this first pitch were previously unheard of in local sporting circles and, not surprisingly, word quickly spread.
John Mulqueen was also involved in those early formative years. Between Pat Joe and John, they devised the concept of a sand-carpet pitch. It was a novel idea and an ingenious one at that.
Around the same time as the first trial pitch had been completed in Enniskillen, Queens University has also laid out a number of new pitches, but these were generally unsuccessful as they were constantly waterlogged. Thus, Queens got in touch with Joe Pat Prunty and he has since laid as many as eleven pitches at the famous Belfast third-level institute.
The 'prunty pitch' was patented for 20 years in 1968. Though many have tried to imitate the original concept since that patent expired in 1988, nobody has had anywhere near the same success rate as the originators. Joe notes: "As we pioneered and developed them and have been working on them the longest, naturally we also know the most about them."
You know how it goes - the original and the best.
Prunty Contracts Ltd. carries out all kinds of sportsground work, from upgrading and maintaining existing pitches to laying a brand new surface on a greenfield site. They do everything themselves, from earthmoving right through to sowing the seeds, drainage etc. and don't subcontract any of the work. They use all their own machinery and own a wealth of specialist machines for surface maintenance and renovation work.
"We have experience of working in all kinds of extremes," Joe continues. "That includes everything from a rocky surface to a bog. We have even worked on landfill sites in the past."
There's no danger of complacency seeping into the operation. The Prunty crew are pioneering experts in their chosen field, and they intend to remain at least one step ahead of the opposition. As Joe explains: "We are constantly researching ways to further improve our pitches. Even if you take a pitch we did ten years ago, we'd make a number of changes to that same job today. The art of laying pitches is always evolving and we have to evolve in tandem with that.
"Pitch laying isn't an exact science. You can draw up the best plans and bring in all the engineers in the world but at the end of the day it comes down to how much experience you have of working with various soil types and under different conditions. You have to have a feel for it and you must be able to adapt to each job.
"A pitch is a living thing and it has to be treated accordingly. You can't just lay it down and then forget about it. It needs to breathe. A lot of maintenance and fine-tuning is required. The pitch needs to be cared for. It has to receive the right approach in terms of contracting and maintenance, which is another area we've become very experienced in."
Based in Newtownbutler, County Fermanagh, Prunty Contracts Ltd. has close connections with Meath County Board amongst others. They still carry out occasional review work on Pairc Tailteann and are also active on three new sand-carpet pitches which comprise Phase I of the development at Dunganny just outside Navan.
The company has been contracted on over 400 pitches in Ireland, including prestigious projects at Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney, Breffni Park in Cavan, Celtic Park in Derry and a major redevelopment job at Pearse Park in Longford, a massive undertaking which was completed entirely in a remarkably short turnover period of just three months.
Joe points out: "We take a lot of personal pride in our pitches. Our name is attached to them, so we have to! We still put the same time and effort into each pitch as we did when we were starting out. Our work advertises what we do, so we have to make sure we do it perfectly every time.
"The main advantage of a 'prunty pitch' is that you have year-round usage, even in extremely wet weather, whereas the ordinary pitch has a very short season in comparison. This is vital in today's world, where seasons are running into one another, with little or no break in between."
As well as the GAA, Prunty Contracts Ltd. also develop pitches for a host of other sports, including rugby and soccer. They have done preparatory work for synthetic pitches, including the recent revamp of Oriel Park in Dundalk.
Joe Pat Prunty is an honorary president of his native Roslea Shamrocks GFC, in recognition of his contribution to the club as a playing member. Many other clubs in the country would gladly bestow a similar honour upon the Fermanagh man in return for services rendered on their treasured playing surfaces!
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