December 2024

It is with deep sadness that we learned over the weekend of the sudden passing of a prominent and much-loved member of Ballinrobe GAA & LGFA Club, Éilis Maloney. Éilis represented the club with distinction as a player, first at underage level for many years and, over the last three years, as a leading adult player. Éilis started her football career with Ballinrobe and moved on to play for The Neale when ladies football in Ballinrobe went into abeyance for a number of years. In our neighbouring club, too, she was a valued and valuable member, as she was in Coláiste Muire in Tourmakeady, where she played her schools football. When the rallying cry went out from Tom Carney in late 2021/early 2022 for adult players and ex-players from Ballinrobe to re-form a junior team in the town, Éilis responded with typical enthusiasm and determination. With underage numbers and interest still only growing, some questioned if it was too soon to start an adult team again, worried that it might wither on the vine within a few months. Not so, Éilis. Her faith was firm and she set about drumming up support among past colleagues, friends and acquaintances. When training commenced and the team’s first game drew near, the players were polled to pick their captain. Entirely appropriately, Éilis was overwhelmingly endorsed as captain of the first adult ladies football team in Ballinrobe in over a quarter of a century. Her faith proved to be well-founded and the team registered an excellent first season in both league and championship, bringing home two cups to the club. In the course of that first season, Ballinrobe came up against neighbours Kilmaine, with whom her sister Claire plays her football, and the two sisters had the rare distinction of captaining their respective teams in that encounter. Versatile and hard-working, Éilis led from the front, pushing her teammates on and always uttering words of encouragement and positivity when they were needed, either in the dressing room or on the field. In the two years that followed, she continued to lead and her last game for Ballinrobe was against Shrule-Glencorrib in the championship in September, when again she gave her all. Earlier in the season, she and Claire again faced each other in a big game, this time in the league shield final in Bekan, which Kilmaine won after a tough battle in which both sisters played key roles. Éilis’s commitment to the club extended beyond her prowess as a player and a motivator. In 2023, she took up refereeing, becoming the club’s first accredited female referee of adult games, and she looked set to have a bright career in that area of the game also. Indeed, only in recent weeks she responded to the call of her former manager, Tom Carney, once more by refereeing a number of competitive training matches with his Mayo ladies Under-14 charges. Everything Éilis did, she did wholeheartedly and with positive intent. Her teammates in Ballinrobe LGFA all fondly recall her as a talented footballer, a loyal colleague and – above all – someone who always had a kind and generous word to say. All in Ballinrobe GAA & LGFA will miss her dearly and remember her contribution to our club with fondness and gratitude. To her parents, Vincent and Carmel, brother Seán – who also represented the Ballinrobe club with distinction over many years – and sister Claire, and her wider circle of family and friends, we extend our deepest condolences. In tribute to Éilis and in solidarity with the Maloney family, the club will form a guard of honour at her funeral. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam dílis. Nicola Macken Chairperson, Ballinrobe LGFA Club