Past and present to collide through evocative Achill GAA event in Mayo

Few places in Ireland have suffered from emigration like Achill and no matter where in the world Achill folk go, the grá for home never leaves them.

Hence the overwhelming response to a new football event, Féile Chorn Acla, which takes place on the August Bank Holiday weekend.

Spearheaded by Achill LGFA and GAA, the event invites sons and daughters of Achill natives dotted around the world to participate in matches with current Achill players in Under 14 and Under 16 age groups (girls and boys).

There has been a huge take-up so far with over 100 ‘expat’ players coming to feature in the inaugural Féile Chorn Acla. They will mix with local footballers for the day’s festivities.

Some are travelling from England, while more are coming from every corner of Ireland.

All of these players are connected to the island through their mother or father being from Achill, and many of them would be former Achill GAA Club members.

There is a considerable Achill cohort involved with Balla GAA Club, and they have been central in helping to organise the expats for this unique gathering.

Emigration has hurt Achill for generations and there are grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc, who live in Achill and who have never seen their grandchildren, nieces or nephews play a Gaelic football match.

This event will allow these children who are intrinsically linked with Achill to play in Achill once a year during their underage football years and, more importantly, play with cousins and friends, which would never otherwise happen.

It is an initiative which has received the full backing of Mayo LGFA and Mayo GAA boards.

It is a timely competition during the celebration of 50 years of ladies Gaelic football in Ireland and the 140th anniversary of the GAA.

It will run on Friday, August 2, and will be a family fun day, with lots of novelty games taking place too, including penalty shootouts and cic fadas for mothers and fathers. It will run in conjunction with the annual Kevin Kilbane Memorial Cup competition, where the Achill men’s team and Achill expats play a game every August in memory of Kevin Kilbane, the former Achill star who passed away in 2011 after illness.

“The response so far has been out of this world,” said Packie McGinty, chairperson of Achill LGFA. “The competition will link past and present and will bring hundreds of people to Achill. We hope to make it an annual event and are really looking forward to welcoming so many Achill people home,” he added.

The Corn Acla itself is a famous Achill competition which was established in 1948 and played for among the national schools in the parish of Achill. It was one of the first juvenile competitions of its kind in Ireland, and was a springboard for many excellent footballers. The famous Scanlon Cup mushroomed from it.

For more information on the Féile Chorn Acla, keep an eye on the Achill LGFA and Achill GAA Facebook pages.