2007 European Championships, Estonia

Congratulations from all the members of the Galway School to the Irish Squad who won Silver and Bronze medals at the European Championships in Tallinn, Estonia at the weekend. Mr David Freeman repeated his Silver medal in the -57kg Sparring while the Male Team of Mr Adam Fox, Mr Leon McSherry, Mr Mark Jordan, Mr Joe Gill, Mr Martin Mahoney (Galway) and Mr David Freeman won Bronze in the Team Patterns. For photos from the event, check out the RITA website or go to the Czech Sonkal Taekwon-Do site.

Best Wishes to Mr O’Connell

Mr Rory O’Connell II Degree has recently left Galway for Wales to take up a new job. We would like to thank Mr O’Connell for his dedication & hard work on behalf of the Galway TKD School over the years & wish him all the very best in his new career.

Welsh Open Championships 2007

Congratulations to all the members from Galway TKD who took part at the Welsh Open on June 2nd, the tournament was a great success for the school bringing back a total of sixteen medals, thats 4 Gold 5 Silver and 7 Bronze:

See below for results

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Welsh Open Championships Results 2007

• Mr Martin Mahoney -
     Silver (Sparring) Bronze (Patterns)
• Mr Alan Conway -
     Silver (Patterns) Bronze (Sparring)
• Barry Haddock -
     Bronze (patterns) Silver (Sparring)
• Therese McGrath - Gold (Sparring)
• Joe Conway - Bronze (sparring)
• Sarah Kirk -Bronze (Sparring)
• Nathan Donnellan -
     Gold (Patterns) Gold (Sparring)
• Emma Kirk - Bronze (Patterns)
• Michael Philbin - Silver (Sparring)
• Paul Curran -
     Gold (Patterns) Bronze (Sparring)
• Padraig Carter - Silver (Patterns)
• Pete Gibbons - Bronze (Patterns)

Promotion to ITF Master of our Chief Instructor

We are delighted to announce the promotion to VII Degree of the RITA’s newest master, the co-founder of, and Chief Instructor to our school, Master Robert Howard. Master Howard travelled to England to attend an International Instructors Course and Black Belt Grading conducted by Grand Master Rhee Ki Ha IX Degree. On Sunday 2nd September, having performed the final Taekwon-Do pattern, Tong-Il, and an impressive series of breaking techniques, Grand Master Rhee promoted Master Howard to VII Degree.

Master Howard has put in trojan work for the RITA over the years, opening schools in Galway, Athlone, and Stillorgan, as well as working on many committees and projects. He was instrumental in opening & developing the Galway Taekwon-Do School since 1993. Master Howard also won a gold medal at the 1994 World Championships in Malaysia, as well as many other international awards. He was awarded the title of Best Umpire at both the World Championships in 2005 & European Championships in 2006.

Congratulations to Master Howard on this great achievement from the Instructors and Students of the Galway Taekwon-Do School.

Masters on RTE Radio 1

To celebrate the promotion to VII Degree of the RITA’s newest master, Master Robert Howard, RTE Radio 1 award winning show "Drivetime" broadcast an Interview on Tuesday 24/10/07. Not only is Master Howard Europe's youngest Master but along with his father Senior Master Howard VIII Degree became the first father and son Masters.

Click here to listen to the interview (mp3) provided by the RITA Website.

Many thanks to the RITA Website for providing this news.

Fundraising Bag Pack

Members of the Galway Taekwon-Do School held a fundraising bag-pack in Tesco supermarket, Galway Shopping Centre, on Friday 9th & Saturday 10th November. The purpose was to raise funds to support our members in travelling to competitions abroad, and to develop our school through the purchase of new training equipment.

A total of €1950.05 was collected over the two days and we would like to sincerely thank everyone who supported us. Thanks in particular to Tesco Ireland for facilitating the event, and well done to all our members who worked so hard over the two days. €200 of the monies collected will be donated to Temple St. National Children's Hospital. The Galway Taekwon-Do School is delighted to be involved in supporting such a worthwhile cause.

Grading Results

Congratulations to the following members who were promoted following the recent grading:

• 2nd Kup:  Sarah Kirk
• 3rd Kup:  Emma Kirk
• 6th Kup:  Paul Curran, Padraic Carter
• 8th Kup:  Rafal Aksamit

Friendly Tournament in Athlone

Many thanks to Master Howard and all at the Athlone School for setting up the Athlone Taekwon-Do Fun Challenge on Saturday 26th May in the Athlone Regional Sports Centre. It was a great warm-up event for those travelling to compete in Cardiff the following weekend. Thanks also to the Galway & Athlone Black Belts for umpiring at the event.

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Sponsored Break

This fundraising event was a great success, and raised a total of €975 towards the trip to the ITF World Championships in Slovenia, as well as assisting with the trip to the Welsh Open in Cardiff. Congratulations to everyone who took part and sincere thanks to everyone who supported the fundraising efforts.

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ITF Open Tournament

Well done to all members who took part in the 2007 Old Bawn ITF Open and congratulations to the medal winners.

ITF World Championships 2007

A very well done to Mr. Martin Mahoney who competed at the ITF World Championships in Slovenia in April, he competed in Patterns & Sparring and narrowly missed out in the second round of sparring with a Ukrainian. Mr. Mahoney was also promoted to 2nd Degree Black Belt at the recent Black Belt grading. Congratulations from all the members of Galway Taekwon-do.

Through The Years

Past images of Galway Taekwon-Do School have been added to the gallery.

Click here to view the albums