Mayo GAA club launches book to celebrate its 50th anniversary
To bring its 50th anniversary celebrations to an end in style, Davitts GAA Club launched the impressive book that marks its half-century last Saturday night week.
A large crowd assembled in the Ballindine clubhouse as the publication was officially launched by Mayo ladies football legend Cora Staunton.
The 260-page book was compiled by Davitts GAA Club PRO, Joe Reapy, in collaboration with the publisher, Pádraig Corcoran.
It covers the club’s history, including brief accounts of pre-1974 events and reports on approximately 380 games over the past five decades, which should bring back memories for many ‘older' readers. It will give some younger readers, and the next generations, a better idea of Davitts’ proud history.
The book also features contributions from 28 people from the club, sharing personal anecdotes and reflections.
Those contributors are: Alan Roche, Pete Warren, Val Glynn, Pat Ronayne, Aidan McTigue, Bertie Penny, Colm Boyle, David McDonagh, Eilis Ronayne, Ferghal McGrath, Frank Fahey, Frank Hyland, Josh Ronayne, Kevin Griffin, Dr. Ken Egan, Michael Conroy, Martin Connolly, Larry Daly, Mark Diskin, Liam Kearns, Jim Treacy, Michael Waldron, Paul Carey, Sean Higgins, Ronan McNamara, Breda Waldron, Thomas Trench and Ronan Kirrane.
Other articles included focus on Ballindine handball, Scór na nÓg winners, Mayo representatives and All-Ireland winners, alongside a wealth of photographs of teams, players, volunteers and supporters.
The MC for the night was Angelina Nugent, who kept things running smoothly throughout, and there was a most enjoyable and nostalgic Q&A session featuring Dr. Ken Egan, Frank Hyland, Martin Connolly, Liam Nyland, Alan Roche, Rebecca Waldron, Eilis Ronayne and Colm Boyle, which went down very well with the audience.
Others to speak were Vincent Neary and John Prenty, president and secretary of the Connacht GAA Council respectively, as well as Mayo GAA County Board secretary Ronan Kirrane, plus Joe Reapy and Cora Staunton.
Several copies of the book were purchased at the launch. It is priced at €30 and as a big demand for it is anticipated and there are a limited number of copies printed, people would be advised not to delay in getting one.
There will be a link on the club’s website, davittsgaa.com, and social media to enable online purchases. The book will also be on sale in the SPAR and Centra shops and the Healthcare West Pharmacy in Ballindine, and in Daly’s Newsagents, Hillside Service Station and SuperValu in Claremorris.
The club would like to sincerely thank those businesses for their help in the publication.