Ballyvary sports clubs celebrate milestone year

This Saturday night will see big celebrations for two Ballyvary sports clubs as they celebrate big anniversaries.

Breaffy House Hotel will be the location for festivities to mark the 40th anniversary of Ballyvary Blue Bombers FC and the 20th anniversary of Ballyvary Hurling Club.

The year 2025 marks the 40th Anniversary of the Ballyvary Blue Bombers being part of the Mayo League. But the ‘Blue Bombers’, as they were first known, began in the village of Coolfox situated between Balla and Ballyvary, where a group of youngsters came together to play soccer up to four evenings a week in Jimmy Carolan’s field (known as Carolan Park). They invested in a set of t-shirts and called themselves the ‘Blue Bombers’. The month was June and the year was 1976. They entered various festivals and 7-a-side matches against local Mayo League sides in games they won regularly.

In 1985 the group applied for membership to the Mayo League. They were entered into the old Division 3. They were called Ballyvary Blue Bombers. Vincent Kenny talks of entering the team into the Mayo League. He was told, “You can’t call the team Ballyvary Blue Bombers!” This served to further entrench the naming of the team.

They played their home games in the late Pake McKeown’s field (McKeown’s Stadium). The first committee of Ballyvary Blue Bombers in 1985 was: Chairman, Tom Foy, Secretary Vincent Kenny, Treasurer, Kathleen Foy and President, Pake McKeown. Michael Foy, Vincent Freney, Martin McKeown and Jimmy McNicholas all sat on the first Ballyvary Blue Bombers committee.

The junior team management team consisted of the late Jim Leonard and Kevin Costello. Promotion escaped the club in the first two years, finishing third on both occasions. Ballyvary Blue Bombers’ under-18 team won the prestigious Quigley cup in the late eighties.

With the construction of the new pitch grounds in Laughtavarry in 2001, the Bombers moved to the community grounds where it now shares these facilities with the Ballyvary Hurling Club. The impressive grounds are owned and run by the Ballyvary/Keelogues Development Company, a local group set up to provide sporting and social facilities for the local community.

Moving into a new home sparked an eventful time in the Bombers’ history, reaching the 2001 Mayo FA Cup Final where Ballina Town beat them while back-to-back promotions in 2002 and 2003 saw them compete in the top division, the Super League, in 2004.

The ‘Bombers’ brand is still strong. More and more people can identify with the club. The club continues to grow with the formal introduction of its Academy in 2023 and the formation of the club’s first female Masters team in 2024.

The club is delighted to share the celebration of their 40th milestone with their neighbours, Ballyvary Hurling Club, who celebrate 20 years in existence. The two clubs are based in the Ballyvary Community Sports Facility.

Des Gilsenan, Ballyvary Blue Bombers chairman, extended his congratulations to the Hurling Club on behalf of the Ballyvary Blue Bombers community.

“We are very grateful for the development of the pitch facility by the Ballyvary Keelogues Development Company (BKDC). We look forward to planning with and supporting the further development of the facility partnering with the Development Company and Ballyvary Hurling Club. We wish the Ballyvary Hurling Club continued success in this, its 20th year.” 

Ballyvary Hurling Club 

In 2005, a meeting was held to explore the feasibility of developing underage hurling. There was renewed interest in hurling in Mayo at the time, and with the support of BKDC, Mayo GAA, and the appointment of Adrian Hession as Hurling Games Development Officer for the county, Ballyvary fielded its first-ever underage hurling team later that year.

It was fitting that one of the key drivers of the club’s success was the late Andy Walsh, a member of the great Ballyvary GAA side of the 1960s and a driving force in the pitch development with BKDC. Andy chaired the first meeting of Ballyvary Hurling Club with Rosaleen Basquille as secretary, Joe Barrett as treasurer, Carmel Heaney as school representative and Tom Larkin, committee member.

The challenge of establishing a hurling club from scratch in a county with such a strong football tradition presented a steep learning curve. Initially, the club focused on the under-12 team, made up of boys and girls from the locality. Adrian Hession, who hails from the famous Tooreen club, led the coaching for the first year, and soon a small cohort of coaches drawn from parents watching from the sideline had cut their teeth. Local clubs like Castlebar Mitchels and Tooreen were very supportive in those early days, and in time, other clubs began to emerge in Claremorris, Moytura and Caiseal Gaels.

The club continues to receive support both locally and nationally from the GAA, with former hurling greats Paudie Butler and Martin Fogarty having visited the club to deliver coaching workshops in their roles as national directors of hurling.

Over the following years, as more volunteers came on board, more underage teams developed, allowing the initial cohort of players to continue playing into their teens. The club were very successful during this period, winning a number of underage titles at U14, U16 and U18 levels. Boys and girls played together until they were 12 years old.

In 2010, a camogie club was founded, and the club became known as Ballyvary Hurling and Camogie Club. The under-12 team went on to win a county final in 2012.

Unfortunately, in 2015, with a drop in player numbers and volunteers, the camogie club folded. Some of the girls went on to achieve success at club and county level. Reviving camogie in the club is an action included in the club’s development plan.

Retaining players after they leave primary school has been a challenge for various reasons. In 2019, the management of three teams, Ballyvary, Ballina, and Caiseal Gaels, got together and, with the support of the County Board, formed an amalgamation of the three clubs at under-15, under-17, and under-19 levels with success under the name St Ciarán’s, named after the saint traditionally associated with Keelogues and Ballyvary.

The St Ciarán’s model has also been adapted at a senior level to include players from junior clubs Ballina, Ballyvary, Caiseal Gaels, Gaeltacht Iorrais, Moytura, Westport and Claremorris, enabling them to participate in the Mayo senior hurling championship. Ballyvary drew players initially from Straide, Foxford, Manulla, Balla and the Parke-Keelogues-Crimlin GAA area. In 2023, the Mayo County Board approved the formal extension of the club boundary to include the adjoining GAA club areas of Balla, Swinford and Moy Davitts.

The club continues to develop hurling at nursery and underage levels. The availability of the astroturf and hurling wall has enabled a longer training season, and with the recent opening of Ballyvary School Hall, players have been able to practice their skills and keep fit over the winter.

In 2023 the club entered a senior team for the first time, and in the 20th year, won their first adult title, the 2025 Mayo GAA Genfitt Division 2 Senior Hurling League. Many members of the senior squad have come through the underage structure. The club now has the player pathway from underage to senior for all their players. At county level, Ballyvary Hurling Club are represented at all grades, U14, U15, U17, U20 and senior.

Fran Power, chairman of the Ballyvary Hurling Club, reflected on the importance of the development of facilities in the community.

“Ballyvary Hurling Club has come a long way since its inception in 2005. Our success is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our members, coaches, volunteers and indeed the community. We’re proud of our achievements, but we’re not resting on our laurels. We’re committed to continuing to develop our club and providing opportunities for players of all ages to get involved in the sport we love. As we look to the future, we’re excited to see what the next chapter holds for our club, the soccer club and the BKDC community facilities. We wish our neighbours the Ballyvary Blue Bombers every success in the future and congratulations on their 40 year anniversary,” he said.

Anyone looking for tickets for next Saturday night’s (November 1) celebrations can contact Trish Joyce on 087-7981533.