Ballina Stephenites Hurling Club announced today that they are delighted to host Twice-Grammy Nominated Irish Folk and Ballad star, Myles Gaffney, as the headline act at this year Club Recognition Night. The bill will also feature up and coming Irish Music Stars, In-Tune, who are returning from a recent North American stint, and The Sam Maguires – a long established Folk duo from North Mayo.
“We are very excited to bring members of our club, and the wider music loving community together for a special night of great entertainment and an opportunity to reconnect,” Gary Barrett, Senior Hurling Team Manager Ballina Stephenites Hurling.
What to expect on the night?
“Tickets are available from Ballina Arts Centre, online or through a club official, the doors will open from 7:15 pm,” noted Jamie Rooney, Club Coach and Officer. ‘We hope that club members, past and present, will join us to catch up with friends both old and new. The show will start at 8pm, where the three musical acts will perform a breath-taking catalog of Classic and Original songs and stories. We will present three awards including the new ‘Garda Anthony Golden’ Community Hurling Award, and we will also honor our on-field achievements from the year gone by. Club members and Arts Centre regulars will be very familiar with The Sam Maguires, featuring our own club PRO and selector Brendan Farrell and his father Eugene.
In-Tune are probably the best young band on the circuit, at this moment, with an array of instrumental talent, and fantastic harmonies to boot. They always deliver a terrific show. All we can say about Myles Gaffney is that we fully understand how and why he has already been nominated for Grammy awards - and is also a past winner of Irish Folk Album of the Year – he is just an incredible talent that stands up there with the Christy Moore’s and Paul Brady’s of this world. His new album launch also coincides with this date of April 15th and we are delighted to be able to host such a great performer and writer. Myles comes originally from the Hurling stronghold of Cork City, and he will be warmly welcomed to Ballina by all of us!’
The ‘Garda Anthony Golden’ Community Hurling Award
We are delighted to announce that our club will present the inaugural ‘Garda Anthony Golden’ Community Hurling Award to Mr. John Cummins. John was a foundational member of the volunteer group that helped to re-introduce competitive hurling to the Ballina / North Mayo Area in the 1980’s. John was the long-time School Principal of Culleens National School, and the Killala Road area became synonymous with producing great players in both hurling and football, for example dual star Ger Cafferkey. A club Coach, Manager and Mentor – The career of John Cummins truly encapsulates all of the great traits that our late player, Garda Anthony Golden, is fondly remembered for. Loyal, Honest, Humble, Hard-working, Sporting in Nature, and with a true wish to help others – John Cummins is a most worthy recipient of ‘The Garda Anthony Golden Community Hurling Award’ for 2022. It is also fitting that John taught Anthony as a child, and was a formative part of Anthony’s development, both as a hurler, and a person.
About the Club
Having won the Mayo Senior Hurling title back in 2007, Hurling in Ballina disappeared at adult level – due mainly to the loss of players to the now famous ‘crash’ in Ireland’s economy. Many players and club-members moved abroad and afar for various reasons, and the senior team ceased to exist. During this time however, a small number of local volunteers continued to coach teams at underage level, where several players went on to win Provincial and All-Ireland titles with Mayo. In 2020, a massive effort was put back in to assembling a Senior panel from the North Mayo Area – which culminated last season in a full program of fixtures fulfilled, and an riveting appearance in the year-ending County Junior Final. Our Club continues to grow, and we extend a warm welcome and invitation to all hurlers in the area to come join us.
