Ciarán Fitzgerald tells a story during his time as captain of the British & Irish Lions on their tour to New Zealand in 1983. Each of the squad members was assigned to a school which adopted them for the tour, as a result of which Fitzgerald spent a day at Christ’s College in Christchurch.
Fitzgerald was shown around the school’s classrooms and sports facilities, before being presented to the 200-plus pupils and teachers in the main auditorium.
“Nice words were spoken on both parts and then there was an open question-and-answer session with the pupils,” recalls Fitzgerald, who points out that this was long before the internet and social media.
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“They knew I went to Garbally [College], they knew what sports Garbally played, they knew when I went and others who had been there, like Ray McLoughlin, and asking me how Garbally could turn out players like that, and was it totally rugby?
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“No, I said, there was a very strong hurling and athletics culture there as well, but with a strong rugby orientation. This was before the internet and stuff, so I was a bit blown away.”
Next September, the all-girls’ school Ardscoil Mhuire and the all-boys’ school St Joseph’s College, Garbally Park are to be amalgamated into a mixed school under the name Clonfert College. The new name was agreed in March 2024 but past pupils of the boys’ school, including Fitzgerald, are urging the amalgamated Ballinasloe schools to retain the Garbally name.
Fitzgerald, the former Connacht, Ireland and Lions captain, along with former GAA players Conor Hayes, Michael Duignan, Oliver Kilkenny and Seán Silke, as well as former Irish rugby international Noel Mannion and current Connacht players Colm Reilly and Matt Devine, are all backing the “Spirit of Garbally” campaign, which was launched last month.
They are calling for the school to be named Clonfert College at Garbally Park and for the school’s sports teams to continue playing under the name Garbally and wear the traditional blue-and-white hooped jerseys.
The proposed name for the amalgamated school was inspired by the origins of both schools, with St Joseph’s College in Garbally founded by the Diocese of Clonfert and Ardscoil Mhuire founded by the Sisters of Mercy of the Diocese of Clonfert.
The past pupils have launched a campaign calling for the retention of Garbally’s name, especially in a sporting context, due to the school’s past sporting achievements.
Garbally have won the Connacht schools senior cup 47 times, most recently in 2020, and have won the junior cup 43 times, last doing so in 2019. In addition to Fitzgerald and Mannion, other ex-Garbally pupils to play international rugby include Ray McLoughlin, PJ Dwyer, Johnny O’Connor, Tiernan O’Halloran and John Muldoon, while current Connacht chief executive Willie Ruane is another ex-Garbally player.
As part of the campaign, a survey is being conducted to gather views and assess support for the petition, with the group saying such a change would “honour” the heritage of the former school while “embracing the future”.
“If there’s any possible way of incorporating the Garbally legacy into the new amalgamation I would appeal to the board of management and to the bishop and whoever else is involved to do so. I would suggest it’s well worth doing,” says Fitzgerald, who, along with his allies, fully supports the amalgamated mixed school.
“I’m 100 per cent in favour of the inclusivity and amalgamation with the boys and the girls and the new college,” he says. “I think it’s absolutely fantastic and very good for the college, for the region, and for all the people who will attend the school. Going forward, the sporting legacy, in my view, should not be abandoned, because it’s important, it’s relevant and I think it will benefit future boys and girls who will go on to represent that. They will have that badge with them and they carry on all that tradition.”
Others involved in the Spirit of Garbally campaign include Jack Murray, founder and chief executive of MediaHQ, and Des Ryan, now director of sport at the University of Galway, who formerly worked with Connacht and Arsenal.
They have brought on board other alumni to help raise funds with the express purpose of helping coaching and improving facilities for the various sports teams at the newly amalgamated schools.
“He’s trying very hard to be proactive,” says Fitzgerald of Murray, “by dipping into the legacy of the alumni plus the tradition of Garbally, which can be a positive benefit going forward, and also a financial support for the new school. He’s mentioned the people he has lined up and he is well organised.”
Fitzgerald tells another story of making his Connacht debut in the early 1970s against Ulster at the Sportsground. The then 19-year-old hooker packed down in the middle of a frontrow containing the McLoughlin brothers, Ray and Feidlim, with a secondrow of Mick Molloy and Leo Galvin. All five were products of Garbally College and all five went on to play for Ireland.
“As a 19-year-old there I was, sitting in an armchair of a frontrow between the two McLoughlins, and the two lads behind, and talk about being looked after. That was the legacy of Garbally as well.”
