Neighbourly clash brings excitement in Mayo Hurling Championship final

What do Faythe Harriers, Tooreen, and Ballyhaunis all have in common?

Throwing the two Mayo clubs in with the renowned team from Wexford town may leave some GAA quiz-brains scratching their heads, but the answer is simple – Frank Browne.

The man who currently manages the Westmeath Ladies football team started his GAA journey in downtown Wexford with his beloved Faythe Harriers, the club of legendary inter-county star Lee Chin, before winning Mayo senior titles with Tooreen and laterally with Ballyhaunis.

Browne also played with and later managed the Mayo hurlers, managed the Mayo Ladies team to an All-Ireland final against Cork, guided Longford hurlers to a Lory Meagher title in Croke Park in 2014, managed the Leitrim Ladies and the Dublin camogie teams, and is now guiding the fortunes of Westmeath Ladies.

However, all he can think about this week is Sunday’s clash between Tooreen and Ballyhaunis and the battle for the TJ Tyrrell Cup.

The two best hurling teams in Mayo will go head to head for the right to be crowned kings of the county, and there will be nothing spared when they face off in Ballyhaunis at 3 pm.

Browne knows everyone on both sides. He knows their families, their friends, and the love they have for the game. He knows the desire both sides possess and is well aware of the battle about to be waged on Sunday afternoon.

“It’s always special. Tooreen and Ballyhaunis - Ballyhaunis and Tooreen - no matter who is playing better, no matter who has the strongest team, the biggest panel, or come into the game as favourites, there’s never anything in it. These guys just go out and tear into each other from the first whistle.”

The Wexford man is well-placed to speak about the kings of Mayo hurling.

He arrived in the county to work in Air Traffic Control at Knock Airport in the early nineties, and the Tooreen boys came looking for him. They heard a hurling man from Wexford was in the area, and they had him signed up in a flash.

County titles came his way, and when the Ballyhaunis lads pulled away to set up their own club in 1997, Browne was with them. He had married Ballyhaunis woman Deirdre Murphy and set down roots in the area, so wearing the red and black was a logical move.

“It wasn’t a split as such. There were enough Ballyhaunis lads to form a club, and Tooreen knew if the game was going to develop in the county, more teams were needed.

"The attitude was, and always has been, brilliant. Lads might tear into each other on the pitch, but there’s a huge respect off it. What’s best for hurling is all that matters at the end of the day,” the sports-mad Wexford man tells The Mayo News.

Browne has always been chasing the sporting dream. On a rainy afternoon in 1977, the Browne clan arrived in Croke Park to watch the Purple and Gold take on Cork in the All-Ireland senior final. 

“My abiding memory is the rain pouring down on us in The Canal End and my brother dropping the big flask of tea we had brought with us. I can still see the disappointment on my father’s face as the broken flask rolled down the steps - no tea and Wexford beaten!”

On Sunday next, Browne will be urging on the Ballyhaunis men and hoping they get over the line. He has great memories of his days with Tooreen, but the best of times were in the Ballyhaunis kit.

“I have ferocious respect for Tooreen. There’s a great tradition there, and it’s probably the only school in Mayo where every child arrives in with a hurl. Ultimately, we’re all hurling people, and apart from the hour between the white lines, we stand beside each other.

"That was never clearer than the way the two clubs responded when our great friend, Pierce Higgins, passed away.

“All the lads walked beside the hearse, Ballyhaunis on the left-hand side, Tooreen on the right. Pierce was a man who left it all on the pitch. He touched all our lives and did more in life than you’d fit into two books.

"On Sunday, Pierce will be in many people’s minds. He will never be forgotten - ‘heroes are always remembered, legends never die.’

On Sunday next new memories will be created and stories written. The clubs have shared the last 17 county senior titles between them - Ballyhaunis with nine and eight for Tooreen. It remains to be seen if Tooreen can level that figure up and continue their recent domination of the local scene.

“Tooreen are a top-quality team. They’ll hurl all day and have some fantastic lads. They’ve won Connacht titles and gone all the way to Croke Park. Of course, they’re favourites, but Ballyhaunis will love that.

"They’ll let them know they’re in a game and won’t take a step back all day. There’s never anything between them, it’s like Mayo and Galway in the football, and I firmly believe it will be the same when these lads clash at the weekend. 

“There’s always a great atmosphere; there’s always great excitement, and I can hardly wait for the day to come. Two fine clubs going hell for leather and everything at stake. There’s nothing like it.”