Gerry Farrelly hands over his family's cup, 'The Joe Farrelly Memorial Cup' to Joe Potter and Veronica Kiernan, Lough Lene Gaels, for the fun day on August 24.

Three clubs to contest the joe farrelly cup in collinstown fun day

All roads in North Westmeath lead to Collinstown next Sunday for the Joe Farrelly Memorial Cup competition.

This is a unique event capturing all that is good in sport and community activity and it is being held as part of a Family Fun Day at St Mary’s Park, the scene of many field battles over many years.

The day will also feature Limerick hurling star Seamus Hickey, man of the match in the recent All-Ireland Semi-Final against Kilkenny, coaching some of the up and coming hurlers and presenting medals to recent winning teams.

This is a competition with a difference, however. At 3pm, a team of Camogie players from Lough Lene Gaels will take on a team of Ballycomoyle women footballers in a game consisting of a half hour of Camogie and a half hour of Football. Immediately after this, a team of hurlers from Lough Lene Gaels will play a team of their football counterparts from Ballycomoyle.

The aggregate scores from the two games will determine whether Lough Lene Gaels or Ballycomoyle has bragging rights until the competition is held again next year.

This will also determine who takes home the Cup, which will be presented by a member of the Farrelly family immediately after the competition.

The fact that many players have played for both clubs in all codes will add extra spice to the contest.

Joe Farrelly and his family have long been associated with hurling and football in North Westmeath.

His family, on the suggestion of his son, Gerry, presented the cup to Lough Lene Gaels Camogie Club in 2007 in order to help the promotion of camogie in the area. While the local club won the cup on a few occasions since, it is now being made available by the club, and the Farrelly family, for this competition.

As well as being a distinguished hurler and footballer himself, Gerry has trained and managed many winning camogie, hurling and football teams in Collinstown and Ballycomoyle over the years. He continues to serve as an officer of Ballycomoyle GFC, and a delegate to the County Board.

“Anything our family can do to help the young people of the area we are proud to do, particularly if it involves Gaelic games,” Gerry said. It is also a proud day for the clubs involved.

According to Dickie Carroll of Lough Lene Gaels Camogie Club: “This will continue to foster good relations between the clubs involved and provide a platform for further co-operation both on and off the field.”

The Family Fun Day, which starts at 1pm on Sunday with a range of activities for adults and children, is an annual event organised by Lough Lene Gaels Hurling and Camogie Clubs to encourage the participation of people in the area in sport and other activities, and to raise funds to continue the improvement of facilities.