From 1958 to 2025: family football story continues with double win
The Ballinrobe team that won the 1958 Mayo Junior Football Championship with the Jennings brothers Willie (front row, second from left) and Tony (middle row, third from left). Their grandchildren recorded a remarkable double last Friday.
Sixty-seven years ago, Ballinrobe brothers Willie and Tony Jennings lined out side-by-side in a famous county final win. On Friday last, their grandchildren were the winning captains in separate Mayo schools finals at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park.
Will Gavin, grandson of Willie, captained St Joseph’s Primary School, Ballinrobe, to their first-ever Cumann na mBunscol Division 1A boys football title in a thrilling win over The Quay NS, Ballina. Earlier, in the girls final, Aoife Connor, granddaughter of Tony, led Breaffy NS, Castlebar, to a narrow victory over Ballinrobe, securing their school’s fourth consecutive title.
Back in 1958, goalkeeper Willie and defender Tony played pivotal roles in Ballinrobe’s Mayo Junior Football Championship triumph. The family link between the two young captains captured the imagination of many in the crowd at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park.
Will and Aoife are second cousins – their mothers, Edel (Gavin) and Anne (Connor), are first cousins – making the day a proud one for both branches of the Jennings family. A further link was that Will’s younger brother, Shane, played a starring defensive role in the St Joseph’s win.
The boys’ victory was a landmark for Ballinrobe NS, while the girls fell just short against a Breaffy side expertly led by Connor.
The 1958 black-and-white team photo, still proudly displayed in many homes around Ballinrobe, now has new resonance, as a new generation carries the flame, in colour.
