Mayo Sport Diaspora: Chasing the GAA dream from Swinford to Vancouver

The sun is high in the Canadian sky and all around Burnaby Lakes young voices are imploring the mighty men of Vancouver Eire Óg and St Finnian's to kick the scores and win the gleaming David Gavin Cup which sits waiting to be claimed by the 2023 senior championship winners.

Along the sideline near the sheltering trees, the huge Éire Óg contingent can be found. Hundreds of young people dancing with anticipation as the team captained by Mikey Higgins from Claremorris chases the dream of winning their first Vancouver senior title.

An agonising loss to Finian's in the 2022 final was the closest they had come and as time ticks away it seems another heartbreaker is on the way.

Two points down, playing up the hill with the wind in their faces, the dream is fading fast, but all along the sideline the Éire Óg army continue to believe. The seconds tick by, the final whistle draws closer, but the cheers grow louder. The supporters refuse to give up and out on the pitch their team refuse to bend the knee. Johnny Kavanagh from Portlaoise kicks a free for Éire Óg and then another one. They're level. Can they win it?

On the sideline, JP McLoughlin, can hardly breathe but he tries not to betray his emotions. The Swinford man loves Éire Óg and spends every free moment driving and developing the club. He grew up kicking ball in the black and red of Swinford, worked in the Cúl Camps with his neighbour, Mayo GAA's Billy McNicholas and helped coach some of the finest prospects in the county.

However, like many young Mayo people before and since, he went west in search of a better life and found it on the Canadian east coast where Vancouver sits between the Pacific Ocean and the snow-capped mountains.

McLoughlin played football with the ISCC club and there was no proper competition in the city, but gradually things began to change. In 2017, there were three Gaelic football clubs, ISCC, St Finnians and Fraser Valley Gaels and an opening for another one. That's when Vancouver Éire Óg took its maiden voyage and immediately thrived.

Good football, good people and good fun were to the forefront of everyhing about the teams in white and black and in the summer of 2023 they were standing on the cusp of their greatest moment.

McLoughlin steadied himself on the line. He thought about his parents John and Maragaret back in Swinford and all his loved ones. They were waiting for news and he knew history would be created in the next few minutes. He so badly wanted Higgins to get his hands on the David Gavin Cup.

Mayo men and women play a huge role in the fun and football of Éire Óg. When they won the 2022 Intermediate title, Ed Ball (Louisburgh), Pierce O'Malley (Louisburgh), Ben Cox (Louisburgh), Ciaran Brogan (Hollymount Carramore), Cian Ferriter (Hollymount Carramore), Calum Kyne (Castlebar Mitchels) and McLoughlin himself had won precious medals.

In the early stages of the 2023 season a huge Éire Óg flotilla traveled to the Highland Games in Victoria where they club fielded eight teams in the competitions. At the end of a huge number of matches it was Éire Óg senior men who danced with delight as the cup was presented amid scenes of great excitement.

Mikey Higgins was central, James Byrne from Castlebar Mitchels had been brilliant up front, McLoughlin had been in the midst of it all, Darragh McIntyre from Swinford had caught the eye too, as had Paraic O''Haire from Westport while Ferriter and Brogan had been joined by another Hollymount Carramore man, Brian Maloney. The celebrations on the boat back to Vancouver were soon the stuff of legend.

However, the senior title was Éire Óg's big dream and as injury-time arrived on championship Saturday they were level and still dreaming. Then a man in white and black was hauled down, Cork's Sean O'Sullivan kicked them in front and the roar could be heard in Main Street Swinford. Seconds later they were in dreamland. A flowing move cut through the Finnian's back line and when Martin Scally put the ball in the net all hell broke loose among the Éire Óg army under the trees.

There were still two minutes to be played and Finnian's threw everything forward but when the final whistle blew, McLoughlin and his club were in dreamland.

“It was special. Our name is on the David Gavin Cup now and for myself, Mikey and the Mayo lads that was particularly poignant. David came to Vancouver and played football here and we'll never forget him.”

This week, in Vancouver thoughts are turning to the 2024 season and the fun awaiting the young men and women who play football for the famed club in white and black. McLoughlin is at the heart of it all and wants to assure those coming to the city they'll find a home from home in the Éire Óg family.

“Look, when all of us arrived we didn't know too many people here but I guarantee anyone who comes to Éire Óg they'll meet a great group of people socially and in a sporting sense. We're very proud of our club and would love as many new people to come and join us as possible. If you're coming to Vancouver, you could do worse than give us a shout.”