Despite Sligo's untimely exit from the All Ireland championship last weekend one group of Sligo men will be travelling to Croke Park on the All Ireland final weekend. St. Mary's GAA Club in Sligo town have come up with an innovative and challenging fundraising venture where 20 club members will run in relay teams of two the entire 135 miles from Kent Park in Sligo town to Croke Park in Dublin. They plan to start on Friday 17th September at 7pm, running through the night arriving in Dublin on the eve of the All Ireland Final.

Leading the charge will be the former Sligo senior team manager and selector; Tommy Breheny and John Kent. Kent Park is named after John's late father Dick Kent who was a founding member of St. Mary's GAA club. According to St. Mary's Bord Na Nog Secretary TJ Kilgallon "like every other GAA club we have had to be more creative in our fundraising efforts. We field 18 teams and the costs associated with this is ever increasing so we decided to do something that was unique in the hope that it would capture the imagination of the club and community and so far the response has been fantastic".

Participants in the run include senior and junior players, underage managers, parents, supporters and club officers. One of the participants St. Mary's Under 16 manager and former Sligo manager Tommy Breheny is looking forward to the challenge and feels it has been a great incentive for him and other retired players to get back training as well as raise some badly needed funds for the club.


Founded in 1976, St. Mary's GAA Club providing Gaelic Games for over 400 children and 50 adults in Sligo town. Sligo Stars Mark Breheny, Johnny Davey and Stephen Coen are all products of our underage teams while former Mayo All Star TJ Kilgallon is Bord Na Nog secretary and under 14 team manager. St. Mary's have won 10 Senior Championships since their foundation and are the only Sligo club team to have won a Connacht Club Championship. Tweet

Most Read Stories