Garrycastle’s new gym facility honours the late Enda Mulvihill

By David Flynn

A new gym for Garrycastle GAA club members was officially opened on Sunday last at the club's grounds. The state of the art gym, which is adjacent to the clubhouse, was built in honour of the late Garrycastle footballer, Enda Mulvihill, who died in 2022, and all other deceased club members and players.

The gym, which was built last year and has been open since January, is an extension of the facilities currently available at Garrycastle GAA – a club which was formed in 1981. The foundation happened as a result of the growing young population of Athlone in the late 1970s, leading to a vision by a group of GAA enthusiasts to establish a second GAA club in the town. The club grew in strength and its official premises and dressing rooms opened in 1996.

“We have won junior, intermediate, and many senior titles, the last one being in 2019 at men’s level,” Garrycastle GAA Chairperson Trish Dolan told the Westmeath Independent. ”We’ve had great successes in ladies football, a senior three in a row, and this year the U15 girls won the All-Ireland Féile Division 1 Shield.

"There are all ages here and it starts from nursery on Sunday morning from five years of age up. There’s a great cohort of volunteers in Garrycastle, and I’m blown away by the level of volunteerism here. People just do what you ask and nobody asks for anything in return.”

Garrycastle is currently running a ‘Winner Takes All’ fundraiser which gives a prize of two All-Ireland final tickets, €1000 and two nights in the Gibson Hotel, Dublin.

Acknowledging the support of main sponsors Ganly's, Trish said: “We are so proud of the facility. “We are going from strength to strength in Garrycastle and it’s onwards and upwards.”

The cutting of the tape opening the gym, dedicated to Enda Mulvihill and deceased members, was done on the day by the club’s Presidents, Jack Veale and Seamus Nugent.

Two local politicians, Cllr Frankie Keena (Mayor of the Athlone-Moate Municipal District) and Cllr Paul Hogan were there on the day to support the members.

“It’s lovely to be here an this fabulous memorial event, which has been organised very professionally by Trish Dolan, Chairperson and the officer board,” said Mayor Keena. “The new gym is a massive asset to the club and there’s a lovely wall of honour here as well to see. It was also great to see the founding fathers of the club here, Jack Veale, Seamie Nugent and Felim Finnegan.”

Cllr Keena said that those people he mentioned had a vision in the late 1970s to form a club in the area.

“Today brings back huge memories to me from when I was a child growing up in the Garrycastle area, and to see the club today become a strong club is wonderful. It’s a club for the community and a very welcoming club,” said Cllr Keena, who is Garrycastle GAA’s current Alcohol and Substance Abuse Officer.

“The sun shone this morning at the opening which was lovely, and I’d like to also compliment the many volunteers and mentors there, and club officials, and of course the parents who bring their children to matches,” he said.

Cllr Paul Hogan’s late grandfather, Dan Hogan was one of the founder members of Garrycastle GAA in 1981.

“The club has come a long way since the foundation and it’s fantastic to see all the young people enjoy the facilities today,” said Cllr Hogan. “We are really one club, one family and one community here and there has been great successes on and off the pitch. We wouldn’t have all of this without the people who came together who recognised the need for a GAA club in the area.”

Cllr Hogan is a former Vice Chairperson of the club and also a former Irish language officer. “We still have some of grandad’s notes from that time which he entered into a book for his own archives,” he said. “It’s important today to also mention Enda Mulvihill who the gym is named after. He was a fantastic club man, a huge success on the pitch and a gentleman.”

Three of the surviving men from the 1981 Garrycastle group are very proud of the existence of the club and how it has grown.

Jack Veale said it was a privilege for him to see the progress that Garrycastle GAA has made in its 43 years.

“I was the first chairman for the first three years, and it’s great to see five hundred something players in Garrycastle now,” said Jack. “I remember us meeting at the time and I was invited along to it, and didn’t know a lot about GAA as such, but I ended up as chairman. Roddy Hogan (son of Dan) proposed me, and joining is one thing I’ve never regretted, particularly when I see days like this.”

Jack said that hundreds of people have gone through the club through the years and all contributed in their own way. “We were lucky to have got it up and running and it’s a great achievement all round,” he said.

Felim Finnegan said: “It’s hard to credit from where it came from to where it is now and I’m looking around at all the new people here. It’s great to see and it’ll go on upwards and onwards.

“There has been a bit of a dip with senior football, but they’ll be back up and running next year. Our beginnings were humble, but every beginning is humble. We got bigger and better as the young people came in and improved it,” Felim added.

The third living founding member, Seamie Nugent said that when the club started they had nothing, and not even a yard of soil!

“I remember arriving at 7.30 in morning to see the putting down of the sod and Sonnie Kildea arriving with a load of concrete for the foundation of this clubhouse, and that was the start of it,” said Seamie. “It’s a lovely memory and we were lucky because there were men and women that helped out in so many different ways.”

Seamie ran a grocery business in Garrycastle for over 40 years, and he was Garrycastle GAA treasurer for its first three years and fondly remembers the gathering of the “old money,” to start the club.

“I still have a list of all the names who gave £2 here and £2 there, and I was in the shop at the time and had contacts with the factories, and we got sponsorship through them. If you got £10 or £20 then, that was a lot of money," he said.

He talked about the late politician, Senator Sean Fallon helping the club in its early days. “The club was only after forming and Sean told me to go to Keenan’s drapery shop to get a set of jerseys and it ended up costing £80 or £90 for the jerseys that time. That was a great start for us,” recalled Seamie.

*See this week's Westmeath Independent for more photos from last Sunday's event.