Athenry News & Views Spring 2026

Athenry News & Views

Colemanstown United Plaque of gratitude unveiled at grounds

By: Martina Donnellan

Every club has an origin story. Ours just happened to involve lambs & sheep!! Founded in 1982, Colemanstown United FC began life not with perfectly manicured pitches & clubhouse facilities, but on an ordinary fenced-off grass field on the farm of Frank & Bernie Burke, Colemanstown. By weekday, it was a grazing field. By weekend, it was transformed, more or less, into a soccer pitch. Those early years in the 1980s & early ’90s were very different from now. The grass was long, the lines were hopeful rather than straight & on more than a few occasions, an unfortunate lamb found itself entangled in the goal net… because the unfortunate soul tasked with rolling up the nets sometimes became… distracted after the final whistle. Still, despite livestock interruptions & post-match “thirst,” the club soldiered on. What we certainly lacked in infrastructure, we always made up for in spirit. By the mid-1990s, as our underage structure began to take shape, it became clear that if Colemanstown United was to grow, it would need a long term plan. Grant funding & proper facilities required one essential ingredient: ownership of our own grounds. And that is where one of the most important moments in our history quietly unfolded. In 1999 / 2000 in Burkes Bar, then club secretary Gerry Moran & Frank Burke famously pushed a £1 coin back & forth across the bar counter. With that symbolic gesture - a £1 handshake deal; the future home of Colemanstown United was secured. There were no short term contracts, no long drawn-out negotiations…. Just trust, goodwill, community spirit & in due course, the signing of a 99-year lease that formally placed the club on permanent grounds for generations to come. It was a modest moment to say the least. But….. it changed everything. The ground donated by Frank & Bernie allowed the club to put down roots. It opened the door to grant funding. It enabled development. It laid the foundation for the facilities and the vibrant & growing club we see today. What was once grazing land has evolved into a place of sport, community, pride & belonging. It is now a hub for players, volunteers, families & supporters of all ages. Generations have since togged out on that land. Friendships have formed. Finals have been won & lost. Memories have been made. None of it would have been possible without the extraordinary generosity of Frank & Bernie & their family. The founding committees always believed Frank & Bernie knew how much their gesture meant. Yet as the club moved forward at pace over the past decade - expanding, building, planning; the

years slipped by faster than we realised. We had never formally paused to mark that generosity in a permanent way. That changed on Saturday, 10th January 2026. On a proud & memorable afternoon, an appreciation plaque was unveiled at the entrance to the clubhouse; a lasting tribute now etched into the very heart of Colemanstown United. We were delighted to welcome Frank & Bernie, along with their family - Catherine & Declan, Trisha & Ross, Thomas & Laura, and Róisín & Finbar, together with their grandchildren & the extended Burke family. It was an occasion filled with warmth, laughter & reflection, as stories from the early days flowed almost as freely as they once did after matches on that original field. Club Chairman Adrian Burke opened proceedings with a heartfelt address as he reflected on the journey from a grazing field to a modern facility & acknowledged that none of today’s success would have been possible without the kindness & foresight shown all those years ago. Following the unveiling at the clubhouse door, Frank & Bernie were invited to cut a beautifully crafted “Thank You” cake made at short notice by Orla Burke & every bit as impressive as the gesture it celebrated. Frank and Bernie Burke after the unveiling of a plaque in their honor at the Club’s grounds.

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