Galway is football mad this week but one village is celebrating sporting achievements on a variety of fronts and could become the first to produce the captain of the men’s and ladies All-Ireland champions in the same year.
But while Moycullen will be hoping that Seán Kelly skippers the Tribesmen to victory over Armagh on Sunday and Ailbhe Davoren follows up by leading Galway to victory in the TG4 All-Ireland final against Kerry at Croke Park a week later, the village already has plenty to cheer about.
Fiona Murtagh and her rowing partner Aifric Keogh from nearby Furbo were bronze medal winners at the Tokyo Olympics and are currently in Paris bidding for more glory at the Olympic Games.
And the sports mad community have also been celebrating the success of Galway United striker Julie-Ann Russell, another Moycullen native, who marked her return to action with the Republic of Ireland soccer team by scoring in each of the recent internationals against England and France — with her 13-month old daughter Rosie capturing the hearts of the nation when she joined in the post-match celebrations at Pairc Ui Chaoimh.
Rowers Murtagh and Keogh will race their first heat at the Olympics in the pairs at the Vaires-sur-Marne outside Paris on Sunday, the same day that Kelly will hope to lead Galway to their tenth All-Ireland senior football championship title.
He’s joined in the Galway squad by brothers Paul and Eoghan — their late father Pádraig ‘Dandy’ Kelly also played for Galway for many years — as the Tribesmen bid to lift the Sam Maguire Cup for the first time since 2001.
A week later Ailbhe Davoren, who now plays her club football with Kilmacud Crokes in Dublin where she teaches but continues to play camogie for Moycullen, will hope to lead Galway to only their second TG4 All-Ireland senior football title when they take on Kerry in Croke Park.
She was Player of the Match and scored a decisive goal last weekend as Galway defeated Cork in the All-Ireland semi-final in Tullamore.
The ladies and men’s All-Ireland titles have been won by the same county in the same year on eight occasions — Dublin with five wins and Kerry with three — but the same club has never produced the captain of both teams.
Moycullen — or Maigh Cuilinn as it is known as a Gaeltacht village — is now on the cusp of doing that, a remarkable achievement for a parish with a population of less than 2,500.
The village, located 10 kilometres west of Galway city in the gateway to Connemara, has grown enormously in recent years as a satellite hub for the city.
But while they are hoping to welcome home two All-Ireland winning captains in the coming weeks, they already have one in their midst as Galway’s 1998 All-Ireland winning captain Ray Silke and his wife Sonya have lived there with their family for the past 25 years.
“There is a very strong community spirit. Parents put a huge effort into all sports and events and that’s where all this success comes from. Everyone supports everyone else. It’s a great place to live and this is a particularly special time for the community,” said the former All-Ireland winning captain.
He pointed out how Ailbhe Davoren’s dad Padraic has been heavily involved in ladies Gaelic football, her uncle Caoimh is manager of the club’s hurling team and another uncle Aodh looks after camogie. Seán Kelly’s family are also renowned basketball players.
The community has come out in force in support of their athletes with billboards erected along the main road in the village and on surrounding roads as Moycullen bids for glory on several fronts.
“All of these athletes have put in huge time and effort to get to where they are,” added Ray Silke. “It’s great to see. They are such great role models for everyone in the community.”
