Mayo GAA club to open magnificent new facilities on Saturday

It will be a special day for all involved with Parke Keelogues Crimlin GAA Club this Saturday, September 27, with the official opening of their new floodlit pitch and walkway.

Mayo senior football manager Andy Moran will officially open the new facilities, with local TDs and councillors set to attend on what will be a historic day for the progressive club.

With an increase in the development of activities of the club, especially around the area of Ladies Football, the club executive realised the need for the development of a second full-size sand-based all-weather playing pitch almost a decade ago.

“The key piece was the development of the ladies committee and the ladies teams from all levels from U-6 to senior,” said clubman Padraic Carolan, who has also held a number of key roles in Mayo GAA over the years.

Two major fundraising events were held to generate the funds required. The first was a Croke Park draw with prize of two tickets to every match in Croke Park for five years, which raised well in excess of €100,000 around five years ago.

After getting a grant to start the groundworks, another fundraising drive was held a year and a half ago to essentially pay off the remaining works that needed to be done. That was a draw for an Audi e-Tron. In that draw, the club sold more than €300,000 worth of tickets, making a net profit of €170,000.

“The second draw was a massive community effort,” said Carolan. “Not only did we have the full support of obviously the main club and the ladies section and parents, we also had the support of the community which was great both in terms of buying tickets and selling tickets.

“There was a huge community effort made to the point that we’ve all of the debt paid on the new facility.” 

The total cost, from purchasing the land, to developing it, to putting in a walkway around it, put in a training pitch along with the sand base pitch, putting in match level floodlights was in excess of €800,000 and Carolan said the club wished to thank the local TDs and councillors, main sponsors Corduff Travel, as well as the local community for all their assistance.

“It's very much a community-based event. We're inviting all of the people from the community to come along and view the facility, participate in the activities that are scheduled for the day.”