Mayo's first citizen is counting his blessings after difficult two years

The notion of becoming Mayo’s first citizen and travelling around to represent the county at home and abroad over the course of twelve months was far from the mind of the new Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council two years ago. Back then, Kilkelly businessman, painter/decorator and Fianna Fáil councillor, John Caulfield, experienced an abrupt halt to activities of any description when, in the course of his work, he fell approximately ten feet from a ladder, resulting in some serious damage to his left leg.

“Basically, I fell off a building and shattered my leg, but thankfully, I am on the right side of my accident now," the recently installed Cathaoirleach cheerfully declares. 

Nonetheless, the East Mayo public representative has been through the mill and anyone attending the many meetings he still managed to turn up at throughout his recovery will have observed his graduation from wheelchair to crutch-user, limp to shuffle and finally, his return in recent times to nice and steady two-legged unassisted walking.

“Thanks to modern technology, I never missed a meeting and from the start was able to tune in online, and I want to take this opportunity to thank the council staff who could not have been more accommodating and who made it possible for me to carry out my work as a councillor through this time.

“But no doubt, it has been a long road, and considering the injuries I suffered, I have made a wonderful recovery. I was very fortunate, in that I shattered my leg, but I didn’t break it. My tibia (shin bone) and in turn my knee, had to be completely replaced.” 

After first spending a few days at Mayo University Hospital in Castlebar, John was transferred to University Hospital Galway where specialist treatment could be had for his complex injuries.

“That is where I met my wonderful surgeon, Gerard Sheridan (Consultant Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgeon), and while the recovery process was initially very frustrating, the job he did for me is just amazing, especially since there had originally been talk about amputation. But once they established that circulation in the leg was still good, they decided to give it every chance and left it a full year to see whether there was any healing. In the end, it would not heal and there was no option but to have the tibia and knee replaced, and Mr Sheridan did the whole lot in one go. The operation took place on July 17th, 2025, a year ago now, it was something like nine hours long and in an earlier operation I had my fibula replaced also."

“Altogether, I was six times in theatre, yet still very fortunate to suffer no infection. My surgeon was very strict on that, that I be very cautious not to take any risk. Today I am on no medication whatsoever and have been left pain-free, which is just an unbelievable job. No doubt I have to take things slowly, such as climbing stairs and things, but I am feeling good and going about my business as usual”.

As Cathaoirleach, John is still counting his blessings, not only at having enjoyed a full recovery, but also in terms of the many learnings he has gained throughout his ordeal.

“Up to this I had never spent any time in hospital, so a whole new world was opened up to me. Seeing the work the HSE staff do and their dedication and commitment, I can never thank them enough. Considering I was spending three months at a time in hospital, I made a lot of new friends, which only confirmed to me the importance of friendship in people’s lives. Throughout my recovery, I was blessed to have the support and care of my family and especially my wife Mary, who encouraged me and kept my spirits up with daily visits to the hospital. It was a lot to ask, and I don’t know how the family coped. I also had four or five good friends who rang me on a daily basis, keeping me up to date with what was going on. I have learned now to do the same for others who find themselves in a hospital bed because human contact makes such a difference.” 

Accident aside, John is now settling into his important new role as first citizen and enjoying every moment of it.

“To be elected Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council is a wonderful honour, not just for me, but for my town, my village and for East Mayo, as we haven’t had a Cathaoirleach from here for such a long time, since 1951. That’s not for the lack of good public representatives down the years, as we have certainly had many of those. In the Charlestown Fianna Fáil Comhairle Ceantair, I am actually the first Cathaoirleach to be elected since the establishment of Mayo County Council and am immensely proud of that and the history of the party and our record since 1926, especially as this year we celebrate our 100th anniversary. Of course, there are some things I would like to see change in Fianna Fáil, and it is always a work in progress.” 

As Cathaoirleach, John expects to attend many events representing the council and the people and is equally invested in building relationships with the Mayo diaspora.

“This is so important as these are the families and people who played such a pivotal role during Mayo’s darker days, putting money into the county and keeping it going. I also plan to use every opportunity I can to promote Mayo throughout my year of office, whether that be in relation to the tourism aspect, Ireland West Airport Knock, our industry; whatever I can do, I will.” 

Barely a week in the role, the new Cathaoirleach had to hit the ground running, with his attendance called for at a series of official meetings. 

“I was definitely thrown in at the deep end because within an hour of being elected Cathaoirleach, I was at a meeting with the Taoiseach Micheál Martin who was in Castlebar at the old military barracks where the Education and Training Board was announcing a project."

Forty-eight hours later, as part of Ireland’s six-month presidency of the European Union, Mayo was welcoming dignitaries who travelled from across Europe for events in Foxford and Ballina. 

"Attending those has already been a wonderful learning process and it is a real privilege to be meeting these people on behalf of the county," said the new Cathaoirleach. 

Having places to go to and people to see is a comfort zone John knows well from his own life experience over the years.

“While I am a private person, I would be sociable as well and enjoy chatting away. Many years ago, I served as a barman and that trains you in the aspect of meeting and greeting people.”

Along the way he became a staunch member of Fianna Fáil and also gained plenty of exposure to public life and service. 

“By trade, I have spent my life as a painter and decorator and worked for the late Monsignor (James Horan) at the airport for many years and then as a contractor, doing work on garda stations and public offices throughout the county. Being married to a public servant also provided insights, as my wife worked in the Department of Social Welfare (now Department of Social Protection) for over thirty years, before changing over to Revenue. 

"All of this gave me an appreciation of the work of the civil service, including the staff of Mayo County Council, who I cannot praise enough for their commitment and dedication. I am truly grateful to so many public servants for all their assistance.” 

The new Cathaoirleach is not afraid to broadcast the many natural attributes of the county to the world at large as he readily expresses his love for Mayo.

“All my ancestors are from Mayo, I am deeply committed to Mayo, and we can be so proud of our county, what our people have achieved and all we offer in terms of tourism, the many beauty spots from Croagh Patrick to Achill and Ireland West Airport Knock. Look how far we have come, with so many factories selling goods out of the county, Baxter, Coca Cola, AbbVie, Meissner and here in East Mayo, Cashel Engineering, Major Engineering and Agri Spread, as well as McHale Engineering in Ballinrobe. We run all of this industry nice and quietly here, yet we are exporting right throughout the world. 

"As a young person, I worked in England, America and France, but I have never seen the same pride of place that there is in Mayo anywhere else, and how could you not be proud.” 

For all the warm fluff, Mayo has its fair share of problems too, as the new Cathaoirleach highlighted in his acceptance speech, promising to do all he could to provide housing for locals and pledging to help realise the development of a Strategic Development Zone (SDZ) for Ireland West Airport.

“My vision is for Mayo to be a place for all to raise families, and to have a mix of young and old, because it is so important for old people to see young people around and for young people to be able to live near older parents.” 

Another dream project is to see Knock Shrine develop further as an international pilgrim destination, as the Cathaoirleach reveals. 

“Having worked as an employee of the late Monsignor Horan I have a passion to see the SDZ developed as part of IWAK and in tandem with this, it was always envisaged for Knock Shrine to become a global attraction. I would like to see it opened up worldwide more because while we are getting huge numbers, we are not getting anything like Lourdes is getting.” 

As to suggestions from councillor colleagues that his election as Cathaoirleach might move the political dial from West Mayo to East Mayo over the coming year, he asserts: “Most of the business as well as the county town is in the west and there will always be a focus on towns with large populations. I do think that is changing though, mainly due to housing, and with the relaxation of rules around rural planning, we can certainly work on this more. 

"Many of us remember from our younger days the many large families in villages and towns around the county, and while I don’t think we can change back to that, we can do more for places like Kilkelly and Kilmovee, Tooreen and Bekan, to make them centres of activity also. It won’t be a case of trying to bring them up to the standard of larger towns, but just to recognise that the villages do have a huge part to play in our county, particularly in terms of how communities work and integrate together. This community spirit cannot be beaten and as a county council, we should do everything we can to support them and ensure they remain the lifeblood of our county.”

John is very grateful to have a home in rural Mayo, describing Kilkelly as “a wonderful place that is central to everything" in his life. A busy family man on top of his growing political duties, he pays tribute to his wife Mary and five children, three sons and two daughters.

Mayo’s new Cathaoirleach is also a man of contemplation, who loves to throw out a fishing line or two at a secret hideaway along the Urlaur River. Offering a choice of pike and perch, he is by no means in it for the catch of the day, although the feline family member might not agree. 

“There is therapy in fishing and nowhere is more beautiful on a fine evening than being along the river with the sun going down. It is the most tranquil place beside the Dominican Abbey and even though there are no brown trout to be had, a spell here at least benefits the cat at home, because he gets the fish.”

• Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.