Revealed... 2024 Mayo Sports Stars Award Winners
The achievements of Pearse Gallagher see him receive the Young Sportsperson of the Year.
The is this week proud to reveal the winners of the 2024 Mayo Sports Stars Awards.
The online nomination process drew a tremendous response from the general public and highlighted just how successful the past 12 months had been for individual athletes and teams alike.
This year’s winners represent the very best of Mayo Sport and will be honoured at a gala banquet which is to take place on Friday, February 21 (note the change of date) at Breaffy House Resort.
The Knockmore runner enjoyed a stellar year. On the back of being the highest placed Irishman at the World Cross Country Championships in Belgrade in March, where he finished in the top half of the field at 50th overall, Armstrong subsequently won the National Half Marathon Championship and became the first man ever to win all four races in the prestigious Irish Life Dublin Race Series, comprising half marathon, 10-mile, 10k and 5-mile races.
A first All-Ireland Cup title in 17 years for the senior basketball team is only one part of what remains a fascinating journey for St Muredach’s College. Becoming U19 ‘B’ champions of Ireland courtesy of a 25 points thumping of Presentation De La Salle Bagenalstown, the Muredach’s boys subsequently completed a league and cup double for the first time in their school’s history.
The league title was also won at Bagenalstown’s expense, this time by 21 points, as the Moysiders reaffirmed their credentials at the National Basketball Arena.
Adding great weight to their achievements was that 12 of their 14 players would still be in school for this season, which has seen the Barry Murphy-coached team march straight to this month’s All-Ireland U19 ‘A’ Cup final where they will aim to land a remarkable back-to-back All-Ireland double.
Shannon Sweeney joined an illustrious list when crowned European senior boxing champion in Belgrade last April. The St Anne's BC fighter outpointed Bulgaria's Zlatislava Gena Chukanov in the 50kg (light flyweight) final having beaten gold medal favourite Laura Fuertes Fernandez and Russia’s Galiusa Galieve along the way.
A bronze medallist at the 2022 European Championships too, Shannon now stands alongside Katie Taylor, Kellie Harrington, Paddy Barnes, Joe Ward, Jason Quigley, Aoife O’Rourke and her own clubmate Ray Moylette as past Irish winners of European senior titles.
In November, she added another 50kg National Elite title with a 5-0 destruction of Caitlin Fryers.
Rounders Quite simply, there is no more dominant rounders club in Ireland at present than Breaffy GAA and if anything, it’s stronger they are getting.
Not only did Breaffy win both the ladies and mixed All-Ireland senior titles last season but for the first time in 29 years, the men’s team also reached the All-Ireland senior final.
With no fewer than 18 players nominated for Rounders All-Stars, and seven of those winning, it’s little wonder the GAA crowned Breaffy as Rounders Club of the Year. They are also defending Winter League champions and 2024 Connacht Cup champions.
There has been an explosion in the popularity of darts and in 2024 that was put to admirable use when Erris Darts raised almost €20,000 for local charities. As well as that, Erris Darts is providing a valuable social outlet for the youth of the community with approximately 20 men aged under-25 involved in the two teams that represented the area at the Mayo Championships – with Erris ‘A’ crowned overall champions.
Running no fewer than 30 events and competitions throughout the year, Erris Darts has moved away from the traditional pub league format in favour of friendlier and smaller 4-a-side village leagues that has particularly encouraged newcomers to join the fun.
The RNLI, Cara Iorrais, Inis Aobhian, Pullathomas Graveyard, Kilmore Sports Field and Help Mags Deane are among the charities to have benefited from the fundraising efforts of Erris Darts.
There’s not much more to say about this Ballyhaunis teenager other than to say that he leads while others follow. In terms of golfers in Ireland, there’s none better of the same age as John William Burke – evidence for which is supplied by the Golf Ireland’s own U16 Order of Merit.
He finished the 2024 season on 833 points which was not only 282 points ahead of second place, but a whopping 296 points more than the previous year’s winning total. The Ballyhaunis Golf Club member is a star on the rise.
One of two Mayo footballers to be nominated for a GAA GPA All-Star Football Award in 2024, Ryan O’Donoghue rose to the occasion time and time again throughout the National League and Connacht and All-Ireland Championships. He ended the year as the country’s highest scoring player of the championship (3-48) despite the Green and Red’s exit at the preliminary quarter-final stage.
He was also the country’s joint third highest scoring footballer from play while the 1-16 he struck against New York is the highest individual tally ever recorded by a player in a single Connacht SFC match.
O’Donoghue’s worth to Mayo is demonstrated by the fact he scored 43% of everything his team scored in the 2024 championship, which is also the highest percentage of any player in the country.
He later returned from injury to score 1-14 across two games for his club and help Belmullet avoid relegation from the Mayo SFC.
Joe McCann, Cuileann Bourke, Shane Heraty and Lorcan Conlon shone a spotlight on Mayo Handball when each winning world titles in the centenary year of the GAA Handball Association.
of Ballaghaderreen Handball Club achieved a remarkable feat when coming out of retirement to become the men’s open senior doubles world champion, teaming up with Robbie McCarthy of Westmeath to overcome opponents from Ireland, USA and Mexico and claim the title in Croke Park in November. It was a year in which Joe also helped raise hundreds of thousands of euros for childrens’ charities in honour of his little boy CJ, whom he and wife Niamh had experienced the heartbreaking loss of due to illness.
of Belcarra Handball Club claimed the ladies 'A' doubles title and won silver in the ladies singles at the World Wallball Championships in Limerick. She capped off the year by winning the ladies open plate at the World 40x20 Championships in Croke Park in November.
of Bofield Handball Club and of Aughagower Handball Club were crowned men's 'B' 40x20 doubles world champions in an exceptional year that also saw Lorcan claim the Connacht junior championship and Shane win the All-Ireland Over-35 Championship having played in no fewer than six national or international finals in 2024.
2024 was a very solid year for Mayo hurling, winning six from six games to be crowned Allianz League Division 3A champions and staying unbeaten in the Nicky Rackard Cup until having a six points lead overturned by Donegal in the final.
Liam Lavin played all 12 of Mayo’s league and championship games and scored an impressive 1-38, all of which came from play. A man for the big occasion, his haul included three points in Mayo’s league final victory over Sligo and three in that championship decider against Donegal at Croke Park.
His goal and three points was also crucial to Tooreen’s extra-time win over Ballyhaunis in the Mayo SFC final and he would add another seven points from play against Four Roads and St Gabriel’s respectively in the Connacht championship.
For someone who only sat their Leaving Certificate last summer, the sporting accomplishments of Carlagh Peake are already quite staggering. A six-time Irish boxing champion and a former European bronze medallist, 2024 was undoubtedly the pinnacle when the Ballyhaunis teenager won silver at the IBA World Youths Championships in Montenegro, beating opponents from Russia, Tunisia and Romania before meeting Yelyanaur Turganova of Kazakhstan in the light flyweight final.
But it’s as much out of the ring as in it that Carlagh excels and caring for her two younger autistic siblings combined with coaching and volunteering locally, saw her presented with a 2024 Garda Youth Award.
Never was the phrase ‘If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again’ more apt than in describing the achievement of the Mayo team that won the All-Ireland U23 Pool Championship in 2024. Having lost the previous two finals both times on the final frame, they came from 3-0 behind on a memorable day last May to beat Tyrone 5-4 in the final in Killarney.
Unbeaten in the group stages, the team of Padraic Coyle (Doohoma), Adam McAndrew (Pullatomas), Danny Feehan (Westport) and Dermot Kelly (Killawalla) beat Limerick in the quarter-final and a much-fancied Dublin team in the semi-final. They were managed by David Doocey.
To represent your country is the pinnacle for any rugby player so for three players from the one club to play alongside each other for Ireland is a remarkable achievement – but not as remarkable as doing so for two years in-a-row.
In 2024, the Ballina RFC trio of Ailish Quinn, Grainne Moran, Emily Foley all featured in the U18 Six Nations for the second year running, with Ailish captaining the national team and named Connacht U18 Women’s Player of the Year.
Capping a memorable year for the trio was that they helped Ballina win the Connacht U18 Cup with a victory over the defending champions Tuam/Oughterard.
Mayo laid claim to the very best under-15 girls soccer team in Ireland in 2024.
In an SFAI Inter-League group that contained Donegal, Galway and Clare, Mayo secured an excellent 3-2 away to Donegal in Letterkenny thanks to goals by Doireann Lynch and a brace by Riona Moynihan. And it appeared as though away trips brought the best out of this skilled group of players as they recorded an excellent 2-1 win in Eamon Deacy Park against their local rivals Galway, with Katie Hughes and Grace Carroll finding the net. Mayo secured top spot in the group, with Aoibhinn McNamara’s penalty the difference at home to Clare.
Any doubts about the quality of this group were erased with a stunning 4-1 win over Kerry in the semi-finals, with goals from Hughes (two), Carroll and McNamara and they would go on to secure a coveted national title in Kilkenny in May. Galway were the opposition once again and it was another close encounter, but strikes by Lynch (two) and Hughes helped Mayo win a classic final 3-2. The team was captained by Amy Doherty and managed by Sinead Mulhern, both of Kilmurry FC.
In the 50 years of organised competitive snooker in Connacht, never before was achieved what Darren Flaherty managed to do in 2024. The Ballina man has gone down as the first player in history to go a full year unbeaten on the circuit, winning 24 consecutive matches to win all four of the ranking titles on offer – the Connacht Close, Connacht Classic, Connacht Western Close and the Connacht Grandslam – in a feat that provincial officials have already predicted will never be replicated.
Ranked as Connacht’s No.1 player for the past five seasons, Darren has now been victorious in over 40 ranking tournaments throughout his illustrious potting career.
As if simply swimming the 21 kilometres between the Co Cork village of Baltimore and the Fastnet Rock isn’t achievement enough, to do it quicker than any woman before places you in a different stratosphere altogether. Carol Commons, who is from Killala and a member of Kilcummin Swimming Club, completed the swim last June in 6h55m50s, when water temperatures were still a very low 10 to 12 degrees.
Averaging 62 to 64 strokes per minute, feeds every 40 minutes were thrown out on a string and a bucket attached to a stick and taken without touching the boat.
Carol also completed the Galway Bay 10.5k from Clare to Salthill in another personal best time and in 2025, she intends to complete the triple crown of Irish Long Distance Swimming by returning to conquer the 35 kilometre North Channel route between Donaghadee, south of Belfast, and Portpatrick in Scotland, having previously fallen just four kilometres short.
To do a clean sweep of every trophy available in a calendar year is a remarkable achievement, but to do it in perhaps the biggest year in your club’s history makes it very special.
Celebrating their centenary year in 2024, Castlebar Celtic FC had high expectations on and off the pitch and the senior men’s team had one of their greatest season’s in their history by winning the quadruple.
Fresh off winning the Super League unbeaten in 2023, Celtic were heavy favourites going into the new season and they blew the opposition away yet again, losing only once, to retain the league title, the first time they have done so in the Super League era.
The cup competitions also saw the same dominance, winning both the Westaro Cup and Calor Gas Super Cup, defeating rivals Ballina Town on both occasions in the decider.
But their most memorable success was in the Connacht Cup. Having lost the final the previous season, they reached the final once again, defeating Maree/Oranmore for a tenth triumph – a Connacht record.
)
One word immediately springs to mind when reading through the list of achievements of Philip Griffith in 2024 – versatility. Be it indoors or outdoors, on track or on grass, sprints or long distance or long jump, the eleven national medals Philip picked up last year demonstrates how multi-talented the youngster from Mayo Abbey is.
It can also be said that never has anyone of Philip’s age in Ireland been recorded as running 600m faster than when he set a new national record for the distance to win gold at the National Indoor Championships last April. It surprised very few then, when he also won gold in the U13 600m at the National Outdoor Championships in June. But add in his silver medals for the 60m indoors and 2000m cross country, and his indoors silver and outdoors bronze in the long jump, and you get a real sense as to where Philip stands on the national stage.
His medal haul for the year was completed by two team golds at the National U13 Cross Country Championships where he helped Mayo and Connacht win the county and provincial categories, and at the National U12 Cross Country Championships where he led Mayo and Connacht to two silvers.
There’s a great tradition of volleyball at St Louis’, one that has seen the senior boys claim national honours on six occasions over the years. But until December 9 last, a full 10 years had passed since the Kiltimagh school last tasted All-Ireland glory. The famine was ended when they lifted the Senior ‘B’ Cup following victory over Coláiste Muire Máthair of Galway at the National Indoor Arena in Dublin.
Coached by Mr Sean Costello, the team had worked their way past opposition from all over the country in order to get to the final, Westmeath, Cavan, Kildare and Cork schools included, and they played some scintillating volleyball along the way. But it’s the final itself that will longest in the memory as St Louis’ got the better of their Connacht rivals on a 25-16, 25-20 scoreline, with Hugh Langan winning the MVP award.
Many of the players are also members of West Bolts, a volleyball club formed in 2023 in Kiltimagh but which draws players from all over the county.
The meteoric rise of Ballinrobe’s Oisin Joyce shows no sign of abating. Not only is there no finer javelin thrower in Ireland, there are few of his age anywhere in the world who can throw further. The Lake District athlete proved that when winning a bronze medal at the World U20 Athletics Championships in Lima, Peru last August. His was only Ireland’s fourth ever medal at the championships and a first in a throws event.
Oisin’s throw of 73.89m was a 47cm improvement on his own Irish U20 record.
And if there is no greater honour than to be recognised by your peers, how sweet then last November when Athletics Ireland named Joyce as U20 Athlete of the Year.
There are few sports that will test reserves of stamina quite like triathlon but in Pearse Gallagher, Mayo can boast the very best triathlete there is in the country for his age. As such, he was selected to represent Ireland at a host of international competitions in 2024 – and did so with aplomb – with notable results at the Europe Triathlon Youth Championships Festival in Spain, the Europe Triathlon Youth Championships in Turkey and the Europe Triathlon Junior Cup in Cork.
The current Irish junior champion over the sprint distance (750m swim, 20k bike, 5k run), by season’s end Pearse had also topped the rankings in the Youth National Series 16-17 male category having begun the year strongly by winning the senior sprint race at the Lough Cutra Castle Triathlon which he followed up with wins in the national series in Laois and Clonmel.
Repeatedly proving himself more than a match for athletes many years his senior, the teenager was beaten only by Olympian Russell White in the men’s senior race at the renowned Crooked Lake Triathlon in Armagh. Just another accomplishment that underscores Pearse Gallagher's dedication and rising prominence in the triathlon community.
It’s no exaggeration to say that Deora Marsh is one of the best known Mayo sportspeople of all time, certainly outside of Gaelic football circles at least, which is some achievement for a man who was born and raised in Ashtabula County, Ohio, USA and who had never set foot in Ireland, let alone Mayo, until 1982.
But more than 40 years later, Mayo remains home to Deora Marsh who holds a special place in the hearts of many, particularly those who had the privilege of watching him play during Irish basketball’s – and Ballina’s – golden era.
Marsh, who played D1 NCAA ball with the Southern Mississippi Eagles, helped Ballina become the first Connacht team to ever win top-flight national honours, winning win two National Cups (1991 and 1996) and the league (1992). Such was the extent of his ability, Marsh not only top-scored in all three finals, netting 30, 31 and 32 points respectively, but he was named MVP on each occasion.
A spectacular sight on court given his proficiency to dunk at one end and check (or block) at the other, it was a combination of not just that stunning athleticism, but his affable, personable manner, his astonishing longevity (his first and last games for Ballina were 26 years apart), and his willingness to give back to his adopted community, that made him such an enduring and endearing figure in Ballina, Mayo and beyond. Indeed Deora continues to coach and inspire new generations of basketball players locally while several Gaelic football teams, including the Mayo senior footballers, have benefited over the years from his teaching of the crossover principles between both games.
Deora Marsh deservedly becomes the first basketball player ever to receive the Mayo Sports Stars Hall of Fame award.
