Local Notes: All the latest news from Erris
Congratulations to Geesala National School on winning Iorras Aontaithe Challenge Trophy at the recent Club Comortas.
Baile Gaelach Bhéal an Mhuirthead will be launched by the Minister for Social Protection, Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, Dara Calleary, TD, in Áras Inis Gluaire, Belmullet, at 4pm on Monday, June 23.
A language planning advisor has been appointed, a logo has been created and a comprehensive survey has been prepared to engage the wider community. Join the organising committee as they celebrate the launch of the process to prepare an Irish Language Plan for Belmullet and to have Belmullet recognised as a Gaeltacht Service Town.
Email bailegaelach.banmh@gmail.com if you have any queries.
Do you have a medical condition or a difficulty? Are you looking for work? Do you have a disability? Would you like to improve your employment prospects?
Erris Workability is an innovative programme for people aged 16 an over and its purpose is to provide clients with the opportunity to gain and sustain employment. Find out more on www.mayonortheast.com - click on Programmes/Support and then choose Erris Workability - or call Siobhán at 087-4996605 with your queries. All confidential.
Kilcommon Community Development Lotto held its draw on June 8 and the numbers drawn were 8, 11, 18 and 24.
There was no winner of the jackpot of €11,200 and the house prize of €100 was won by Geraldine Mills, Inver while the two €30 offline winners were Philomena Healy, Bunalty and Mary McDonnell, Muingnabo. The two €30 online winners were Breda McAndrew, Goola and Michelle Doherty, Gorthmellia Mills.
The latest draw took place in the Lighthouse Tavern for a jackpot of €11,300.
A quiz night in support of Cairde Aras Deirbhle will be held on this Friday evening, June 20, in McCormack’s in Drum, starting at 9pm with a mega raffle. The entry fee is €10 per person on a table of four. Please support.
The Erris branch of the Irish Wheelchair Association will hold its annual general meeting on this Wednesday, June 18, at 7pm in its centre in Logmore in Belmullet.
The Spring Series Finals Night did not disappoint recently. The walk-ons, the music, the dance moves, and of course, the brilliant security provided some incredible memories for all present.
Both the Shield and Main event saw some tense battles with Harry Bancroft taking home the Shield and Tom Moran crowned are overall champion.
The results in the Shield quarter-finals was Evan Barrett 3-2 Mikey Monaghan; Kevin Rowland 3-2 George Maloney; Harry Bancroft 3-1 Danny Maloney; Noel Philibin 3-0 Josh Reilly.
In the Shield semi-finals, the results were: Kevin Rowland 3-2 Evan Barrett; Harry Bancroft 3-2 Noel Philibin.
Harry Bancroft defeated Kevin Rowland in the Shield Final by a score of 4-2.
The results of the quarter-finals in the Main Event were: Tom Moran 4-2 Alex Bielinski; Pat Deane 4-1 Jimmy Lavelle; Tony Maloney 4-2 Brendan Conway; Martin Keane 4-2 Aiden Maloney The results of the semi-finals were: Tom Moran 4-0 Pat Deane; Tony Maloney 4-1 Martin Keane.
In the Final, Tom Moran defeated Tony Maloney by a score of 5-1.
Congratulations to Tom and commiserations to Tony and the rest of the players in the Main Event. A massive €2,000 in prize money was handed out with the winner taking home €700 and the title.
Most 100+ Finishes Award went to Brendan Conway with three.
Most 180s were shared by Alex Bielinski and Tom Moran with five each.
The Highest Checkout was won by Jimmy Sheeran with 146.
Big thanks to all the chalkers on the night and to Sean Fahy for providing the music for the walk-ons and the party afterwards.
As always, a massive thank you to Mixie, Hannah, Mia and Shauna for the top-class set-up and hospitality. The lengths Mixie has gone to to provide a world-class set-up for darts is an absolute credit.
A massive shout out to the security on the night - Emma ‘The Enforcer’ Maloney and Mikey ‘Madman’ Conroy. Thanks to Mary T, Claire and the two Shannonss for selling the raffle tickets on the night. Thank you also to all who donated prizes and bought tickets. Thank you for your support.
A total of €700 was raised on the night with €350 going to each of the Ruddy/Mangan and Michael Ruddy Family Charities.
Following on from the Spring Series Finals and raffle, Erris Darts kicked on with its end-of-season presentations.
Firstly, medals were presented to each player and manager of the Erris C Team who won the inaugural Mayo Districts Bowl Event this year in Castlebar. Well done to you all.
The Most Improved Player of the Year Award went to Alex Bielinski with last year's winner Shauna Maloney on hand to present the prize. Alex is the current Mayo Youth player and Village League Shield Winner and Tom Doocey Memorial Champion 2025.
Well done Alex on a brilliant season and honourable mentions must go to young players Danny Maloney, Josh Reilly and Ryan Moran for having strong seasons on the board.
The Erris Player of the Year Award was presented to Tom Moran. Tom is the current Pete Lavelle Doubles Champion, Padraig Gallagher Champion, Tracey Moran Champion and newly-crowned Spring Series of Darts Champion.
Last year's winner Cathal Tighe was unfortunately away at a wedding on the weekend so the honour fell to Mixie McGuire to present Tom with his prize.
Thanks to all players, supporters, publicans, and sponsors of Erris Darts. It has been another brilliant year on and off the board with upwards of €20,000 raised again this season for local charities from Darts events in Erris since September last year. Thanks to Aiden, Brendan, Fred and Kevin, for all your help throughout the year.
Lastly, to Rachel, massive thanks for another brilliant season, all the work put in week in week out, and to capture it all on film and social media.
The Erris Youth Darts Academy will continue throughout the summer while everyone else takes a well-deserved break for a few weeks.
Some great events are being held by Gaeilge Iorrais and other partners this summer
Firstly, 'Park Run abú' in Irish is on this Saturday, June 21, organised by Erris Park Run, Gaeilge Iorrais and Oireachtas na Gaeilge, starting at Lúb na Cruise at 9.30am.
On Saturday, June 28, there will be a 'Clann Lir' guided walk, organised by Gaeilge Iorrais and Comhar Dún Chaocháin Teo, starting in the Old School at 12 noon.
On Tuesday, July 22, 'Seanchas na hEachléime: Tea & Plé' will be held in SOLAS, organised by CFID, Gaeilge Iorrais and SOLAS, and starting at 11am.
For more information, email eimear@gaeilgeiorrais.ie.
There was a great day’s Currach racing in Spiddal recently. Tara, Emma and Kathleen came second in senior women’s.
The Youths team of Luke Carty, Dinny Murphy and Tiernan Gaughan had a great race as did the club's teams in the Fear agus Bean. Martin and Emma Gaughan had a second place finish in the heats as did Donal Murphy and Kathleen Doocey.
Well done everyone.
Well done to Ballyglass lifeboat crew James Mangan, Frankie Geraghty and PJ Walker on completion of their CEP (Crew Emergency Procedures) course recently.
This is a tough course, mandatory every five years, which simulates some real-life challenges and conditions that lifeboat crews may encounter while out saving lives at sea. Scenarios like collision, fire, capsize and sinking are all covered in this intensive course. Life-like storm conditions and waves can be simulated to make the training as real as possible.
The volunteers practice procedures such as fire-fighting, personal survival techniques, capsize and re-righting, pyrotechnics, use of drogue/sea anchor, safely exiting and entering life raft/vessel with life jacket and full PPE.
The volunteer crew members are constantly training, upskilling and working hard to make sure they are always ready and skilled to take to the high seas night, noon or morning 365 days a year when help is needed. They can only do this with your continued support.
The dates for the Erris Market, taking place in Áras Inis Gluaire this summer are July 5 and 19, August 2, 16 and 30, September 13 and 27, from 10am to 2pm every second Saturday in Áras Inis Gluaire, Belmullet.
Erris Market is a vibrant indoor market showcasing the best home-grown and handmade goods that Erris has to offer! For more information, contact Amanda on 087-1460255.
What a day for Erris Athletic Club at the Connacht Championships in Daingan, Galway recently with a fantastic haul of medals for this relatively new club which has no facilities of its own. Well done to all who participated and all who won medals.
U9 Girls Turbo Javelin - Aoibhinn Deane (individual bronze); Aoibheann Deane and Molly May Carey (team silver); Emily Gaughan and Blàithin Carey (team bronze).
U9 Boys Turbo Javelin - Jack Cosgrove and Bobby Tyrell (team bronze); Bobby Tyrell (individual bronze).
U9 Girls 60m - Emily Gaughan (individual silver); Emily Gaughan and Blàithin Shannon (team bronze).
U9 Boys 60m - Louie O’Connor (individual gold); Louie O’Connor and Kyle Padden (team bronze).
U9 Boys Long Jump - Louie O’Connor (individual gold); Louie O’Connor and Kyle Padden (team gold).
U9 Boys Relay - Louie O’Connor, Kyle Padden, Ruben Conroy and Liam Barrett.
U10 Girls Turbo Javelin - Maisie Lavery (individual gold); Sophie Schult (individual silver); Maisie and Sophie (team gold).
U11 Boys Long Jump - Oliver Reilly and Ben O’Connor (team silver).
U11 Boys 60m - Ben O’Connor (individual gold); Michael Walsh (individual bronze); Ben and Michael (team gold).
U11 Boys 600m - Michael Walsh (individual silver); Michael Walsh and David Walsh (team bronze).
U11 Boys Turbo Javelin - Shane Naughton (individual gold).
U11 Girls 60m - Róisin Edwards and Farrah Healy.
U11 Boys Relay - Ben O’Connor, Shane Naughton, Oliver Reilly, David and Michael Walsh, second place.
U12 Girls High Jump and 60m - Lily Barrett.
U12 Shot Put and Turbo Javelin - Caitlin Lavery.
U12 Boys Turbo Javelin - Padraig Barrett.
U13 Girls 80m and Long Jump - Zoe Carey
U13 Girls - Emma Naughton (gold in Javelin and silver in Shot Put).
New Connacht records were set by Shane Naughton in the U11 Boys Turbo Javelin, by his sister Emma Naughton in the U13 Javelin and the U11 boys relay team held the record for a few minutes until the record was beaten again in the following heat!
Thanks as always to coaches, officials, volunteers and everyone who makes days like these possible.
Huge thanks to Linda Conway and all the team of volunteers in Belmullet recently who raised €4,560 for Mayo/Roscommon Hospice on Sunflower Days. Thanks again to everyone who helped out and supported the two days in Belmullet.
Thanks to everyone who attended this event in the Erris Coast Hotel recently for Caitlín and Micheál Ó Seighin, and to everyone who supported it in any way.
Thanks in particular to the Muintir Uí Mhongáin (Seamus and Síle, Seamus Óg and Ferdia for the preparatory work they did on the songs and music); the steering committee for the event (Éimear Ní Ghallachóir, Treasa Ní Ghearraigh, Bríd Ní Sheighin, Seamus Ó Mongáin, Ferdia Ó Mongáin and Vincent McGrath (Ros Dumhach).
Thanks to Áine Ní Chiaráin who was the excellent hostess for the night and to the young children who sang under the direction of Síle Uí Mhongáin and Micheál Ó Seighin, and played music under the direction of Seamus Óg Ó Mongáin. Thanks also to the group of adult singers in collaboration with teacher Síle (with support from Gaeilge Iorrais), to guest speaker Dr Seamus Mac Conghamhna, Máire Cáit Uí Mhurchú and Maedhbh Ní Mhuineacháin for reading excerpts from the book .
Thanks to all the musicians - Séamus Óg Ó Mongáin, Vincent McGrath, Darren Ó Riagáin, Fiachna, Ferdia and Oisín Ó Mongáin, Seán and Maedhbh Ó Muineacháin, Ríona Ní Dhochartaigh and Nell Ní Mhongáin for presenting the awards and flowers. Finally, thanks to Carmel Nic Aindriú and the set dancers; Máire Ní Falliún who took the photos and anyone else who is not mentioned but helped out on the night.
There will be another performance.
There was no winner of this week’s Kiltane GAA Club weekly lotto jackpot of €6,300. The two €50 winners were Raymond Carey, Cloontakilla and James McGrath, Ederglen, while David Healy and Lauren Barrett, Ballinaboy and Ann Cosgrove, Coolaba both won €25. The two online winners were Gerard Jones, London (€50) and Sean McIntyre, Doohoma (€25).
Bingo will take place in the GAA Complex in Bangor this evening, Tuesday, at 8pm. The jackpot will be €600 in 47 calls or less.
The Corpus Christi procession will start at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Glencastle on Sunday, June 22, after 12 noon Mass. All the children who received their First Holy Communion and Confirmation are invited to dress up on the day and join in the procession.
The procession will leave the Church and proceed to the new graveyard where prayers and hymns will be said. All parishes are welcome to join in the procession.
Cill Chomáin GAA Club is selling Mayo GAA Development Draw tickets. Tickets are €100 each or can be bought online on the club app or through club members who will be selling locally over the next few weeks.
This draw is very important with the running of the club. Please support the club and purchase a Club Development Draw ticket. There is €97,000 to be won across the six draws with top prizes of €10,000. There will also be a club-confined draw later in the year. The online facility is available on the club app (Club Spot).
Your support is greatly appreciated.
