Memories rekindled as road bowling returns to Aughagower

MOMENT IN TIME Owen Hughes was pictured by Eric Luke Road Bowling in Lankhill in the 1970s.

Cory Kilbane

Aughagower will host the All-Ireland Novice Road Bowling Championships this coming weekend, September 9 and 10. Participants from Mayo, Armagh, Cork, Louth, London and North America will travel to the west Mayo village to take part in this unique spectacle.
Travelling to the event this year will be recently retired Irish Times Photographer, Eric Luke. Mr Luke is travelling west for a special reason, as explained to The Mayo News by Aughagower native and road bowling enthusiast, David Hughes.
“Around 30 years ago, Eric Luke travelled around the country taking photos and he put a book together of them called ‘Looking Back’, showing what life was like in Ireland in the 70s and 80s,” he said.
“The book included photos taken out in Lankhill, outside of Westport, of lads taking part in a bit of road bowling but Eric made a mistake when captioning the photos in the book and he said he took them in West Cork rather than Westport.”
After purchasing and reading the book, David decided to contact Eric via email to let him know about the mistake and Eric’s response was immediate.
“He emailed me back apologising for the mistake. He went on to tell me of how he would like to comedown to meet me and the lads who he took the photos of 30 years ago. He also asked if it would be ok for him to come along to the Road Bowling All-Ireland to take more photos too,” he added.
This years event is expected to draw at least 1,000 visitors to the county.
“We are hoping for a good weekend, it’s the largest tournament at novice level around. We have been hosting these championships since 1922. Road bowling has been present in Aughagower since 1912. Our club has won eight All-Ireland titles and we have between 20 and 30 members today,” he added.
The competitions will be held on the road from Aughagower village at Keane’s pub towards the Country Lodge Hotel. In the interest of safety, motorists are asked to use alternative routes to avoid traffic congestion and delays.