ISLAND men and island women from rocky Irish outposts in the Atlantic Ocean will gather on Arranmore this Saturday for the All-Island Football Championships.
The annual tournament includes teams from Bere Island and Whiddy Island (Cork), Inishmore, Inishmaan and Inishsheer (the three Aran Islands) and Inishboffin (Galway), Clare Island and Inishturk (Mayo) and the hosts Arranmore – five kilometres off the coast of mainland Donegal.
Eight men’s teams have entered and 11 ladies’ sides, including two each from Arranmore and Inishmore, will take part and games are 11-a-side (men’s) and 7-a-side (women).
Clare Island hosted the tournament last year and won the men’s and ladies’ competitions. Arranmore, this year’s hosts, were champions when they last staged the tournament a decade ago.
“We’re hoping the same thing will happen again,” said Brian Kevin O’Donnell one of the tournament organisers.
The football will be fast and furious when the ball is thrown in, but equally important is the chance for the players to reconnect with their island roots. Arranmore had a population of 478 people in the 2022 census (up by nine on 2016) and many of their players now live elsewhere.
“Years ago the teams would have been made up of people who were living on the islands but, as the years go on, populations are declining and people are leaving,” Brian Kevin added.
“Things are getting quieter on the island now – you notice the pubs and shops quieter and it gets very quiet in the wintertime, but in the summer it’s busier than ever.
“It’s moreso a lot of people coming back now to play and it’s good to see them coming back for the tournament. We have people coming up from Dublin and Neil Gallagher and his two teenage sons are coming over from England. Neil had been playing for St Colmcille’s in St Alban’s but he broke his leg there so he’s out – but his sons will play.
“We have people coming from all over and it’s the same in other islands and it’s great, it keeps the thing alive. It’s great for the local businesses and it’s a great way to show off the island, we’re hoping to have upwards of 400 people coming and hopefully they will leave with a good impression.”
The Arranmore ladies have been training twice-a-week since January but the men haven’t been able to get onto the pitch at all.
“There’s a good core of ladies but there’s just not enough men about to be training,” Brian Kevin explained.
Despite that, there is massive demand for the All-Island team with 50 men putting their hand up for selection in the 15-man panel.
Arranmore won the first of their All-Island crowns in 2008 but haven’t been successful since 2014. Shane McGuckin, Blain Atchison, Michael McHugh, Chris Early, Manus Early, Gavin McGlanaghey, Conor Proctor, Daniel O’Donnell and Frankie Early will all be playing again this year. Sadly, manager Conal Kavanagh passed away in 2020.
The island doesn’t have a GAA team in the Donegal leagues. However, they do field a soccer team.
“We struggled to keep it going for a couple of years with people moving away,” Brian Kevin explained.
“We get the half-10 ferry to Burtonport on a Saturday morning and the furthest away trip we did was St Catherine’s in Killybegs. We played St Johnston as well but the rest of the games were grand – we played a good few around Letterkenny and we had a few local derbies too.
“It’s hard to keep it going but we finished fifth last season in the Saturday League so we did alright.”