Supplement to mark Mayo rugby club's notable milestone
A 20-page supplement is published in this week's issue of The Connaught Telegraph to mark the 140th anniversary of Castlebar Rugby Club - making it one of the longest established sporting organisations in the county.
Much of the research for the publication was undertaken by local historian Noel Campbell, the secretary of the club.
In his introduction, he wrote: "Castlebar in the late 19th century was a different town to today in so many ways, but it is also true that is was similar in so many ways.
"For similarities you need only look at sport.
"Castlebar was a sporting centre where people from Connacht visited in their hundreds to watch the sailing regattas on Lough Lannagh, the Aughadrinagh steeplechase horseraces on the Ballinrobe Road and Castlebar Cricket Club’s games against the Garrison Club of the Connaught Rangers, the Castlebar Garrison, and Captain Bingham’s XI.
"And Gaelic games were being organised by the newly established Gaelic Athletic Association.
"Castlebar Rugby Football Club was formed in 1885 by locals and serving members of the British army in the town.
"The soldiers’ influence was immediate as the club’s first colours of black and amber were common colours often selected by military teams.
"The club welcomed all political persuasions, and Irish nationalists togged out alongside British soldiers.
"The club’s first captain, and the man who was instrumental in setting up the club, was Dr. William De Exeter Jordan.
"The pallbearers at Doctor Willie’s funeral were provided by the United Irish League, a nationalist political party.
"Early games were played on Pigeon Park (present day Scoil Raifteirí) with the permission of Lord Lucan’s agent, Alexander Larminie.
"The club initially competed with the GAA for members as a result of the latter’s ban on its members playing foreign sports.
"That ban was lifted in 1971, and local athletes were free to play the sports they loved. Like many sports, rugby was disrupted by war at home and abroad throughout the 1910s and 1920s.
"A.V.G. Thornton, T.M. Quinn, Thomas Gavin and several others resuscitated the game in the late 1920s, as did Michael Heverin, Charlie Garavan and others in the 1940s when the club was in decline.
"The club played at many venues throughout the 20th century, but none were home until land was purchased at Cloondeash in the early 1970s. Johnny McCormack, George O’Malley and David Flood were the club’s original trustees. A clubhouse was added in 1984.
"Committees and volunteers have worked on improving facilities and following the recent opening of a new spectators’ stand, the club is now focused on adding an extension to its changing rooms and clubhouse to cater for over 500 members. It has come a long way from its original membership of 48 men.
"Castlebar Rugby Club is one of the longest established sporting organisations in the county and, together with the many other excellent sports clubs in the town, it continues to make the county capital a sporting centre of renown."