Vintage Mayo sporting images released by family of the late Henry Downes

The family of the late Henry Downes, Blackfort and Spencer Street, Castlebar, has released footage of sporting events which he recorded back in the 1960s.

A popular and widely known motor mechanic who gave sterling service to the development of soccer in the county and has a stand named after him at Solar 21 Milebush Park, he built up an impressive collection of photographs and videos over many years.

The Downes family has digitalised much of his archive - and generously shared some of it with us to enable followers of The Connaught Telegraph's social media platforms to view it for the first time.

It includes vintage footage of a number of soccer matches involving Henry's beloved Castlebar Celtic while there is some wonderful images of water skiing on the River Moy in Ballina.

Said Gabriel Downes, a son of Henry: "My late father loved gadgets and particularly so when it came to cameras and film recorders.

"He rarely went to an event without one or the other, so his collection just grew and grew.

"We have now preserved it for posterity by having much of it digitalised."

One of his videos of a match involving Westport United was shared on the club's Facebook page last month and it attracted a great deal of interest.