Saga of Breaffy GAA pitch boundary wall

By Tom Gillespie

FIFTY-three years ago this week (March 1969) I was assigned the duty of covering an intermediate GAA football match for The Connaught Telegraph which was played in Breaffy.

Now, as my journalistic colleagues know quite well, I know nothing about the game.

This resulted from a period in national school when I was ‘forced’ to stand in goal. My revenge was to dive the other way when opponents approached the goalmouth. I was soon relieved of goalkeeping duties.

But back to Breaffy pitch on that Sunday in March 1969.

Despite my lack of interest in sporting matters, I had a keen eye for a good news story. And so the following news story appeared on page one of the paper on March 27 of that year.

It carried the heading ‘A stonewall problem’ and read:

A Gaelic football club is up against a stone-wall problem - it can’t charge spectators at its home games.

For the county council pulled down the boundary wall around its sports grounds almost three years ago - and never put it back.

Since then the club at Breaffy, near Castlebar, has had to run a yearly raffle to keep out of the red.

Club officials had appealed to the council to replace the wall it demolished during road-widening operations in 1966.

Club secretary, Mr. John Golden said: “To keep the club during the past three years we have had to run a raffle each year.

“We make about €120 a time, but it is becoming more and more difficult to make ends meet. We have to pay expenses for referees and visiting teams as well as a €5 fee to the county board for each game played here.

“Anyone who wants to watch a football game here can ramble into the grounds and there is nothing we can do about it. Before this we would collect about €20 a time at the turnstiles at each game.

“But this continual drain on our funds may mean we will have to close the club altogether.”

Another club official, Mr. Vincent Walsh, said: “We have been pressing the county council to build a new boundary wall to replace the one they took down.

“But they want to build a four-foot-high wooden fence which would be absolutely useless as spectators could look over lt.”

A spokesman for Mayo County Council said: “The land in question was originally owned by the Land Commission, and, before we started road widening we agreed to replace the boundary wall with a wooden fence.

“The football club now want a stone wall, but if they agree to a wooden fence we would have it erected within a few months.”

According to the Breaffy GAA website, the late Captain Tommy Lyons compiled a history of the club.

Tommy was for over four decades the pulse of Breaffy GAA Club. He was instrumental in acquiring the present grounds from the Land Commission and led the club over four decades, serving over 30 years on the West Mayo Board, and as chairman for 14 years, and holding various other roles in the GAA.

Tommy gave a brief history of the Breaffy football grounds:

Josiah Browne, a Catholic landowner from Sussex, settled in The Neale in 1860 on land purchased from the McMylers. The Breaffy connection is with his son, John, who was granted 200 acres of land there during the period of land confiscations of the Cromwellian Settlements at the end of the 17th century. The land was in the townlands of Breaffy, Ballyheane and Barney, and confiscated from Myles, Ulick and William Bourke.

Breaffy GAA Club acquired the playing field from the Irish Land Commission in 1973 at a cost of £336. The sheds cost £85 at public auction.

Records show Breaffy was involved in the GAA as early as 1906. The Connaught Telegraph, in a report of April 14, 1906, of a meeting of the County Committee of the GAA, stated: “Breaffy was represented by Myles Fahey and Thomas Kenny”.

The paper, on May 12, 1906, states: “At a County Committee meeting held in Castlebar, Breaffy were represented by J.W. Caulfield. Fixtures made included Kilmeena v Breaffy at Westport.”

The Connaught Telegraph of May 28, 1906, reported as follows: “Kilmeena v Breaffy – Breaffy team: Cummings (Captain), Golden, Conroy, A. McHale, J. McHale, Kennedy, McGreevy, Browne, Ludden, McHugh, Fahey, Joyce, Barrett, Cannon, McEvilly, Fox.

“The Breaffy men showed a great lack of practice and appeared to be unaccustomed to one another on the field. They have good material but practice must on no account be overlooked. The final score was in favour of Kilmeena.”

There is also a report in the Connaught of April 9, 1910, of a match in the field of Mr. Jacob Beckett, now known as Spencer Park, played in ideal conditions between Castlebar Mitchels and a selection from Breaffy and Keelogues. It was refereed by Mr. John Ryan of the Mayo County Board.

Mitchels played with a stiff breeze in the first half and did most of the scoring in spite of a fine performance from Michael Mitchell in goal. The story was reversed in the second half before Mitchels ran out winners - Breaffy/Keelogues 3-2 (11), Castlebar Mitchels 1-12.

Eventually the boundary wall was erected and Breaffy GAA Club have since become one of the most progressive in the county with a fine pitch and clubhouse.

A footnote to the wall saga. The article later appeared in the national newspapers and was the first of many that I had penned to feature in ‘It Says in the Papers’ on RTÉ radio.