Ballymoney Table Tennis Club, which dominated the Wexford Table Tennis scene for more than ten years was started by Mr and Mrs Clince in 1945.
In the beginning there were only seven or eight members with one table and lighting was by tilly lamp. The first members were Jim Clince, Bert Foster, Jimmy and Michael Redmond, Tony McDonald, Jack and Mike Reid.
In 1947 the youth of the area were rounded up by Mr Clince and under his coaching andguidance two teams were entered into the Wexford league in 1948. Their first success was in April 1949, when Raymond Spencer, then twelve, won the 2 nd division Men’s singles, defeating Larry Codd of Enniscorthy, who was also an international billiards player at the time.
By 1950 the tilly lamps were replaced by electricity and new tables were made by Jim Clince, Tony McDonald and Kevin Spencer and membership grew to more than thirty, including seven or eight ladies. In the early fifties the club enjoyed great success winning the Wexford Senior League title on three occasions and many County Singles and Doubles Championships. The first breakthrough at Inter Pro level was when Raymond Spencer won the Leinster Junior Singles in 1953. He was soon followed by the ladies when in 1954 Phyllis Doyle (Clince) won the Leinster Junior Ladies Singles and partnered Joan Whelan and Padraig Clince successfully to take the ladies and mixed doubles titles. In the final game of the evening Padraig Clince won the Men’s Singles to create a record in Leinster titles for one club (which possibly still stands today).
During its ten years in competitive games the club won more than 500 trophies under Jim Clince’s guidance and travelled all over Ireland taking Munster, Connaught and Leinster Inter-County titles in their stride, The club was finally closed in 1957, the youth had grown up and gone their different ways, but many are still remembered when table tennis is mentioned. The Clinces – Padraig, Seamus and Tommy, the Spencers – Raymond, Pat, Rob and Kevin, the Murphys – Padraig, Kathleen, Anne and Lily, the Kinsellas – Tommy, Bobby and Peadar, the McDonalds – Dick and Tony, the Clancys – Malachy and Desmond, Paddy Doyle, Kitty Dempsey, Kevin Molloy and many more who contributed to a glorious ten years in a great club.
