Mayo’s Tommy Conroy turns to win possession against Offaly's Cathal Ryan during the senior match which was in aid of Mayo Cancer Support. Pic Conor McKeown
Search
22 Dec 2025
Search
22 Dec 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
Photo from April 2024: Jack and Tyler Fletcher whose grandmother Bridie is a native of Achill Island signing their professional contracts with Man Utd
He has just had his Premier League debut for Manchester United, the team that is father made 223 appearances for.
The 18-year-old Jack Fletcher came on as a substitute for Benjamin Sesko in the 73rd minute in United's 1-2 defeat at Aston Villa on Sunday evening (December 21).
His twin brother Tyler also signed a professional contract with the former English champions.
Jack and Tyler are the sons of Man Utd legend and former Scotland international Darren Fletcher whose mother is a native of Achill Island.
The twins' grandmother is Bridie Fletcher, née Gielty, a native of Dooagh on Achill Island.
Despite opting to play for Scotland at international level, Darren and his family continue to have close links to Achill and remain proud of his Mayo roots.
The twin brothers' dad: Darren Fletcher in August 4 2010, playing in a friendly match. Airtricity League XI v Manchester United, Aviva Stadium, Lansdowne Road, Dublin. Picture credit: Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE
In 2013, Fletcher opted to attend the All-Ireland final between Mayo and Dublin ahead of the Manchester derby when he was out with an injury.
“I tried to play a little bit (of Gaelic football) when I used to come over on holidays - not very successfully. I was better when the ball was on the ground. It's a really entertaining game and a really great sport to watch,” he said at the time.
Darren Fletcher, who grew up in Edinburgh, made 223 first team appearances for Man United before ending his career with West Brom and Stoke and also earned 80 caps for Scotland.
4 November 2022; Jack Fletcher of Scotland during the Victory Shield match between Republic of Ireland and Scotland at Tramore AFC in Tramore, Waterford. Photo by Matt Browne/Sportsfile
An interesting fact: It is the second time that both a father and son have represented United's senior side.
"The first history-makers are John Aston Snr and John Aston Jnr," the club write on their website: "The elder figure helped the side win the first trophy under Sir Matt Busby, the 1948 FA Cup, and was also part of a title-winning side four years later. The younger Aston was famously Man of the Match in the 1968 European Cup final win over Benfica. This came the season after he also won the league with Busby's men."
Jack Fletcher's Premier League debut didn't go unnoticed in Achill, as the 'What's on in Achill' acknowledged the historic moment on their social media:
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
