Are they junior C, junior B or junior A say?
Oh sorry, I don’t know these days. When I lived there it was more hurling, but even back then, there was nothing to hold people there really.
I know what your saying I remember them winning a junior all Ireland in football a couple of years back
I remember that too. It’s looks to me to be one of the few towns that hasn’t much grown or developed, though I’ve not been through recently. Even Hayden’s closed if I heard correctly.
If they could get Galway traffic sorted it would be a big boost to a town like bsloe which is easily commutable (if that’s a word) until you hit the traffic backed up for miles.
You’d need to grow it as a commuter town. I liked living there.
I’m fairly sure there were 3 lads from Ballinasloe involved last year, but each of them were playing with different clubs. They seem to be starting again with the youngest groups at underage now and they are slowly coming through, both football and hurling.
Good to see that there has been a happy conclusion to that Paul Kimmage story on Athenry too…
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I had lunch in the mental hospital in Ballinasloe once upon a time.
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Isn’t Ballinasloe a big Rugby and Soccer town? Garbally College would be a rugby school?
Correct
Yep Garbally seems to be producing more Connacht players than Galway City these days.
Clare looked very decent from what I saw of them. And obviously have the games under the belt. Will be a right test for the Galway lads on their first day out.
Ballinasloe is a strange case. A big town where the local football club is down in junior. Surrounded by Galway senior hurling clubs to the north, east and south and senior Roscommon football clubs to the east. Can’t remember the town producing a player of any type for Galway in ages. Been the odd one on some underage squads but rare enough. You’d imagine there should be some potential there but it’s a bit of a GAA wasteland currently.
That was an unhappy enough anachronism latterly. There was all sorts of poor folk in there decades, some over nothing more than land.
Garbally, being a boarding school back in the day, had a huge advantage as a rugby school.
Aren’t most kids from east of the town now playing with Padraig Pearses on the Roscommon side of the border?
Terrible place. Grub was like slop too.
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Heard there are some alright. Sure with the local club in rag order it’s probably more enticing for some lads to throw in their lot with Pearses even if it’s in a different county.
A few different reasons I’d say, including the one you identified. Travel for games would be a lot handier in Roscommon than Galway too.
Ballinasloe would have to play Clifden down in junior. A fair old trek that one.
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Most of their neighbours in Galway are hurling clubs so nearly every game they would have in football has a bit of a drive involved. I’d say of the 8 football clubs closest to them 7 are probably in Roscommon.
Irish International Heather Payne is from the S’hlo. The town is a jack of all sports but a master of none alas. Unless you consider bareknuckle boxing a sport
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