Jeppe Quondam Bowls honoured long-time member Barry Ireland on December 5 when the north green was unveiled and renamed the Barry Ireland Green.
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Don Joyce led the ceremony, introducing Barry to those who attended.
He said Barry was born on June 16, 1943, and attended Primrose Primary School before moving to Jeppe Preparatory.
During his time at Jeppe High School, he played cricket, hockey and tennis.
At the age of 13, he joined the Jeppe Quondam Club and played premier cricket, hockey and football.
He matriculated from Jeppe High in 1960 and went on to study accounting at Wits University.
“He qualified in 1963 and in 1967 he married Viv and together they had two sons,” Don said.
In 1972, Barry joined IBM and shortly afterwards the family moved to Paris, where he lived until 1982 when they moved back to South Africa.
During his time with Jeppe Quondam, Barry had served as president and trustee.
“Barry has been involved in committees throughout the club.”
Don said Barry had been bowling for Southern Transvaal, CGBA and JBA since 1988. In 1984, Barry was selected for PCBA and in 1993 he was part of the team that raked up the win for Southern Transvaal.
1996 saw Barry’s team reach the semi-finals in the South African National Fours Tournament.
The team achieved the same result in 1998 and in 1999 the team reached the semi-finals in the Central Gauteng Fours.
Barry was selected for the Central Gauteng Masters in 2000.
In 2001 he was named the runner-up in the Central Gauteng Champion of Champions tournament.
In the same year, he won the Central Gauteng President’s Cup and his team were crowned the runners-up in the South African National Fours Tournament.
He reached the semi-finals of the Central Gauteng Masters in 2002.
Barry’s team won the All Transvaal Fours and were named runners-up in the Central Gauteng Fours in 2003.
In the same year, he was awarded Central Gauteng Bowling Personality of the Year.
2009 saw Barry achieve a bronze medal in the Bowls SA Senior Masters and be selected for Proteas to play against Namibia.
He was the JBA Senior Singles winner in 2013, and in 2014 he was part of the team that won the JBA Senior Trips.
The only title that eluded Barry throughout his bowls career was a national title.
Then, in 2019 his team won the South African National Fours Tournament and Barry received his Springbok colours.
After the ceremony, Barry bowled the inaugural bowl on the Barry Ireland Green.
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