Community dig in for Multy Field Day
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Sheetal Patel, Nuala Dolan, Vivian Whelan, Megan O’Neill, AnnMarie Casserly, and Inga Birsanu work hard to ensure the success of the Multyfarnham GAA Field Day.Image 2 of 15
Teresa Bourke, Marian Mooney, and Tina Masterson at the BMB Active display at the Multyfarnham Field Day.Image 3 of 15
Henry Reilly, Brian McLoughlin, Richard O’Neill, Cathal Brady, James Farrell, Stephen Burge, Gerard Boyhan, and Martin Gill prepare for the tug-o-war between Crookedwood and Multyfarnham at the GAA Field.Image 4 of 15
Louise and Kevin Elliot are presented with Turf Stacking trophy by Dara Kieran.Image 5 of 15
Ella, Fiona, and Rosie Graham at the Multyfarnham GAA Field Day.Image 6 of 15
Marian Mulvaney and lifelong friend Tony Dolan at the Multyfarnham GAA Field Day on Sunday week last.Image 7 of 15
Mark Fallon get his hair cropped by Zak Bates.Image 8 of 15
Gerry and Olga Whyte, Michael Barcoe, Suzanne Murtagh, and Ann and Andy Feerick.Image 9 of 15
Kevin Wiseman and Darragh Anthony enjoying their ice creams.Image 10 of 15
Marian and Jim Gillespie and Orla and Ruby Murphy.Image 11 of 15
Paul Bardon and David ‘Snake’ Nolan get the mice ready to race for the Field Day in Multyfarnham on Sunday week last.Image 12 of 15
Jack Ward is delighted to win a bottle of 7up in the lucky dip.Image 13 of 15
Rebecca, Sean Og and David ‘Mousey’ Kelly enjoy their ice creams the Multyfarnham Field Day on Sunday week lastImage 14 of 15
Thomas Maxwell and Brian Crum get down to business in Multyfarnham at the Field Day.Image 15 of 15
Zak Bates cuts his way to raising funds for Multyfarnham GAA Field Day as he crops his hair for Multy football stalwart Patrick Wallace.Even the weather got into the community spirit for the Multyfarnham Field Day on Sunday week last, and while there were wind and rain elsewhere, the village and Gaine Park in particular were in a "parallel universe".
That’s how Mark Fallon, chairperson the Multyfarnham Film Awards saw it when he was speaking about the event a couple of days afterwards. Community was key to the success of the day, which was a fundraiser for The Snapper, one of the seven films being produced locally for an event in November.
The Multy GAA chairperson, David ‘Mousey’ Kelly, led the organising of the event in the days leading up to it and guided the running of it on the Sunday, and though the day was nominally for The Snapper, it was much more than that, including a revival of the traditional field day in the village.
"There was a huge community effort," said Mark. "There was great involvement from all facets within the parish. We had nearly 20 activities, the wet sponge throwing game, the two or three golfing activities, a long kick competition, a long puck competition, the crews from a couple of other movies did a bake sale as well, and that was very successful. There was a big dog show, and a fancy dress competition for the kids also.
"The weather actually played ball as well, all the showers missed us. It was a wet Sunday morning, but all the showers went north and south of Multy, thankfully, and the winds were non-existent. I don’t know what happened to us. We felt like we were in a parallel universe. It was a great day, and overall, it was a huge community effort and a huge success, to be honest."
It was nostalgic, too, Mark said, and lot of people who were involved in the field day and the GAA club years ago returned. There were lots of visitors from neighbouring villages and towns as well, which was great to see, he said.
"And to finish it off, we had a tug-o-war between Multyfarnham and Crookedwood, and Crookedwood came out on the winning side.
"There were people of all ages, young, old, Gaine Park was accessible for people with disabilities and older people, and it just really worked out for every part of the community, every part of the group as well. It was brilliant to see so many young people being involved in the organisation of it, a lot of the teenagers on the Multy GAA U14 and U16 teams helped out, both boys and girls. Lots of local people dug deep and got the place set up, a huge effort went into it. People spent all day Saturday getting the stalls and the events ready."
Awards
Rehearsals for the Multy Film Awards are ongoing, using the facilities at St Cremin’s NS (for which the organisers expressed gratitude to principal Karl Dermody). Filming is on the first two weekends in October and the big night itself is November 21 in Johnstown Estate in Enfield. Tickets (€50) are available via the Multyfarnham GAA Facebook page and committee members.