Club History
Club History
The present club was founded in the early 1970s but there was a very long tradition of football in this area dating back to the founding of the GAA. Teams from the area competed under various names including Bohola, Foxford, Toomore, Killasser, Ballyvarry and the Foxford Geraldines in 1898. From the late 1880s football was played generally in the meadowlands along the River Moy at (Sraith Garbh) Shrahgarrow, close to the present field. Some matches were played in Aughaward in a field owned by Ryans known locally as Sraith Buach. Local teams affiliated to the East Mayo Board under a variety of names, Foxford, Toomore, Ballyvary, Bohola and latterly, Moy Davitts, an amalgamation of Bohola, Foxford and Straide.
The necessity of acquiring a permanent playing pitch was recognised by Pat Conway, long-time Treasurer of Mayo County Board. The arrival of Fr Paddy Feeley to the parish and the involvement of a local committee, which included Tom Durkan and Dom Geoghegan, gave a new impetus to the efforts to find a suitable playing area. The original pitch was purchased in 1947 at a cost of £400. A meeting took place in Foxford where ten people guaranteed £40 each toward the purchase. By careful purchasing and the swapping of stripes of land, an area of some 6 acres (24,000 m2) was eventually bought in the 1950s, and some development work commenced.
In January 1974 a group of footballers and supporters from the Bohola, Straide and Foxford areas met at the old Bohola School then situated at the rear of the Parish Church. At that meeting it was decided to form a Bohola football club. The then Parish priest Fr Martin Mac Manus was installed as the first Chairman of the club with Joe McEvey as secretary and Willie Malee as treasurer.
In its first year in existence the club won the Divisional Junior title defeating a fancied Charlestown, later defeating Lacken in the County Semi final and narrowly losing to Islandeady in the County final. The club then known as Bohola was promoted to Intermediate status for the coming 1975 season.
Moy Davitts seems to have emerged organically from among the players of both clubs as much out of necessity as by any formal decision of either club’s officers. There was no Junior club in Foxford at this time and players from the Foxford area tended to play for Ballyvarry or in some cases Knockmore. Bohola club was formed in 1974 and the Foxford players played for the Junior team, winning the East Mayo title and getting to the county final. Fielding two separate teams from among two small populations was difficult. The under-16s, minors and under-21s of Bohola and Foxford played together from 1976 onwards. This became the practice and eventually it was decided that a formal amalgamation was in the best interests of all the players.
Following a meeting of the Foxford club Bohola GAA Club changed its name to Moy Davitts in 1977, a name which better represented the three parishes along the banks of the River Moy; Straide, native place of Michael Davitt; Bohola, birthplace of the Irish-American athlete Martin Sheridan, and Foxford, the birthplace of the great Argentinian Admiral William Brown.
Club History
The present club was founded in 1974 but there has been a very long tradition of football in this area dating back to the founding of the GAA.
From the late 1880s football was played generally in the meadowlands along the River Moy at (Sraith Garbh/Shrahgarrow), close to the present field. Some matches were played in Aughaward in a field owned by Ryans known locally as Sraith Buach. Teams from the area competed under various names including Bohola, Foxford, Toomore, Killasser, Ballyvarry.
History reveals that a football team known as the Foxford Geraldines represented the Foxford area in 1918 (the name was a acknowledgment of the great Irish Patriot, Lord Edward Fitzgerald). One game of note was against Balla, and the occasion was used as a meeting of the IRB (Irish Republican Brotherhood).
Records also show that, in 1928, a Bohola team played Meelick and a Toomore team also played Meelick. In more recent times players from these areas as well as Straide and Attymass played with adjacent established clubs such as Ballyvarry, Kiltimagh and Bonniconlon. Many players from Knockmore played with the Foxford team when they won the East Mayo Junior title in the late 1940s.
In January 1974, the present club was formed drawing on players from Foxford, Bohola and Straide. They competed in the County Junior Championship of that year, reaching the County Final. Promotion to the Intermediate grade for the following year ensued; the Club has retained Intermediate or Senior status ever since, while winning two Intermediate County titles in 1996 and 2017.
Over the intervening years, the club continued to develop the underage structure for the younger players and has since become one of the most prominent underage clubs in the county, regularly competing and being successful in the higher underage levels of divisional and county competitions, thereby ensuring a steady flow of players progressing to represent the club at the adult levels. This success has also resulted in many of our players playing minor, U20 and Senior football for Mayo.
The club was without a home ground in its early years but thankfully was given the use of what was the Foxford community field and great credit is due to the ground trustees for this gesture. The club has since purchased adjoining lands to create a second playing area and a training area together with dressing rooms, stand, gym and car park.
Over the past 50 years, the club has become a source of identity for the young and not so young. It has provided a healthy social and sporting environment for the young people of the area, thus contributing greatly to their personal and sporting development.
