MAYO STAR HEADING TO OZ????

[Rossfan]

Cahill and Durkin will never be the same as Mayo men because they are ROSCOMMON men.
I bet they wouldnt be long running to their ROSCOMMON Co Councillor when something needs attention or hop in to their RN car and drive to ROSCOMMON to get it sorted out.
I wonder did John O'Mahony vote for the 2 ROSCOMMON/Sth Leitrim FG candidates in the recent election.
Also it's lovely to see the Primrose/Blue flag on the RROSCOMMON co Co library in Ballaghadereen CO ROSCOMMON.

[Fishead_Sam]

Just wondering Rossfan why among all Mayo fans is it always the Ballagh Mayo fans that go out of their way to wear their Club jersey and then still shout for Mayo at Mayo V Roscommon matches, are they trying to make a point to show their loyalty to Mayo or to point out they are not Roscommon men? 

[SuperSub]

Is he from Castlebar this Mayo player? Wouldn't blame him for going so

[mayoman dan]

I hope hanley stays put in mayo as he has the potential to be a fantastic footballer but then again how could you blame the lad for taking a once in a lifetime chance.Best of luck whatever the choice.

[FL/MAYO]

If Hanley is a Ross man he more than likely will go to Australia as there are loads of sheep out there and you know Ross men and there love of sheep!!! If he stays he definitly considers himself a Mayo man.

[ross matt]

All boundary slagging aside young Hanley is some footballer. Saw him first hand in the u-21 Connacht Final this year and he was (as Spectator pointed out) devastating. Big, strong, fast and skillful with great maturity and awareness. If I'm not mistaken I think he was only minor last year. Big loss to GAA but in fairness to him a professional contract in Oz is a chance of a lifetime.

[jaykay]

Mayo or Brisbane Lions, Hmmmmmmmm, though choice that 

[EugeneGeraghty]

Historically speaking, I have always wondered why Ballaghaderreen is associated with Mayo. When you cross the county boundary into Roscommon you are travelling for a good bit before you get to Ballaghaderreen. Does anyone know the historical reason for this association to Mayo?

Its alright I found the answer myself:

The town of Ballaghaderreen was located in County Mayo until 1899, when it was transferred to Roscommon by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898. Gaelic games supporters are split between those who support Mayo and the local Gaelic Athletic Association team which competes in the Mayo county championship and those who support the Roscommon county team.[1]

[Tubberman]

This is taken from a post by Spectator in another thread. Explains why Ballagh still plays in Mayo and why a lot of people still consider themselves as Mayo people (although prob not as much as in the past):

Funnily enough, it was one of the parliamentary Dillons who sanctioned the movement of Ballaghaderreen into Roscommon under the Local Government Act 1898. This move was likely related to the costs associated with complying with The Poor Law Act, according to what an elderly neighbour used to tell me when i was a young lad. Ballagh was moved from the Swinford Workhouse Area - which was overrun with destitute people - to the less populated Castlerea Workhouse Area.

The Ballagh people of the time were outraged at this treachery & resented their town landlord putting his business before their sense of place. My old neighbour used to bristle with rage when telling this, it cut people deeply back then.

The refusal to acknowledge this disenfranchisement from their historic home county has lingered on since through the local GAA club, established around 1885, where the Mayo supporting Ballagh members at any rate still actively endorse maintaining the status-quo.

[Hardy]

By this map, Ballaghaderreen is at least two miles inside Roscommon (as that famous crow does it - I don't know what it is by road).

I was amazed as well to find out that Roosky is in Mayo, if you believe Google.

[Edit] - I had a map (screenshot from Google Earth) here in the post, but it's disappeared. It was fine the first time I looked here and the [img] tag and url are still there, but no map!??

[Edit again] OK - my hosting site has exceeded its transfer limit, with all you folks trying to see the map. Sorry about that. What's the best picture hosting site that won't do that to me?

[thebandit]

I thought Rooskey was in Roscommon

[Shrewdness]

There is a Roosky near Charlestown, which is in Mayo. But the real Rooskey is very much in Roscommon.

The best of luck to Pearse Hanley in Oz. All Rossies will be wishing him a long and successful stay over there.......10 years should do it.

[Hardy]

There is a Roosky near Charlestown, which is in Mayo. But the real Rooskey is very much in Roscommon.

OK - I see that now. The real Rooskey is on the N4 betwen Longford and Carrick.

[Tubberman]

O'Mahony has urged Hanley to take his time and weigh up all his options before making a decision.
From hoganstand.com:

O'Mahony issues warning to Oz-bound Hanley
01 August 2007


Mayo's Pierce Hanley is set to become the latest rising GAA star to join an AFL club after the Brisbane Lions offered him a two-year contract.

The 18-year-old, who only made his senior championship debut against Cavan last month, has yet to make a final decision, but Mayo manager John O'Mahony has been quick to warn him that life in the AFL may not be all it's cracked up to be.

"It's a professional career in the AFL but it's not on a par with Premiership soccer which it's sometimes built up as," O'Mahony said.

"People that are offered these deals have big decisions to make. I look at guys like Sean Cavanagh and Shane O'Rourke who didn't travel and it's obvious that they felt they had more to gain staying here.

"Nowadays inter-county players have great opportunities in front of them. When we won one of our All-Irelands with Galway, six or seven players got new jobs a week or so after the final. Okay, Gaelic football or hurling isn't a career but there's lot of doors open to players."

If Hanley decides to accept Brisbane Lions' offer, he will join former Laois minor Colm Begley at the club.

[Homer]

[Edit again] OK - my hosting site has exceeded its transfer limit, with all you folks trying to see the map. Sorry about that. What's the best picture hosting site that won't do that to me?

Try http://www.gigafiles.co.uk/ Hardy, 5GB of monthly bandwidth should be enough.