DCSIMG

Ballinaglera man to the rescue for young Mayo fan on All-Ireland Final Sunday

Mayo supporter TJ Ruane pictured with his All-Ireland final ticket which was generously given to him by Ray Gilmartin from Ballinaglera shortly before the game began.

Mayo supporter TJ Ruane pictured with his All-Ireland final ticket which was generously given to him by Ray Gilmartin from Ballinaglera shortly before the game began.


Published on 03/10/2012 13:00

Although the day ended in disappointment for the Mayo supporters who travelled to Croke Park to see their team take on Donegal, for one nine year old from Castlebar there was reason to celebrate as he was given a ticket shortly before thrown-in by Ballinaglera’s Ray Gilmartin.

TJ wrote to the Leitrim Observer last week to thank Ray for coming to his rescue as he travelled to Dublin on the day of the match with just one ticket for the Davin Stand and they were desperately hoping to swap the ticket for Hill 16 and then buy a second ticket for the Hill so they could be together.

At 2.30pm, just an hour before throw-in TJ’s dad decided that their efforts to secure the tickets had been in vain and they walked towards the North Circular Road hoping to sell their ticket.

After meeting with his aunt and uncle, who had a ticket for the Cusack Stand and the Hogan Stand, TJ recalled they stood in the middle of the road trying to sell the ticket.

The ticket was almost sold to a woman but when she saw how distraught TJ was she said she didn’t feel right buying the ticket.

As it got ever closer to throw-in time all hope seemed to be lost when, as TJ explained, “A stranger saw I was upset and asked me if I was ok. My Auntie explained that there were four of us and we had three tickets for three different areas of the stadium.

The man said “I am from Leitrim and I can’t see this young fellow miss seeing his team on All-Ireland Sunday. I will watch the match on the TV and give you my Cusack ticket”

Expressing his gratitude to Ray Gilmartin for his generous act TJ said, “When I am older I hope I can make some young boy as happy as he made me. I think his community should know what a nice thing he did for me.

“We didn’t win the match but I will never forget my day in Croke Park.”


 
Find It

"Business owner? - Claim your business and Advertise with us"

In association with qype logo

Looking for...

Featured advertisers

Jobs

Search for a job

Weather for Carrick-on-Shannon, Ireland

Saturday 25 May 2013

5 day forecast

Today

Light rain

Light rain

Temperature: 8 C to 13 C

Wind Speed: 13 mph

Wind direction: South

Tomorrow

Cloudy

Cloudy

Temperature: 8 C to 15 C

Wind Speed: 16 mph

Wind direction: South west

Press Complaints Commission

 This website and its associated newspaper are full participating members of the Press Council of Ireland and supports the Office of the Press Ombudsman.  This scheme in addition to defending the freedom of the press, offers readers a quick, fair and free method of dealing with complaints that they may have in relation to articles that appear on our pages.  To contact the Office of the Press Ombudsman go to
www.pressombudsman.ie or www.presscouncil.ie

Leitrim Observer provides news, events and sport features from the Carrick-on-Shannon, Ireland area. For the best up to date information relating to Carrick-on-Shannon, Ireland and the surrounding areas visit us at Leitrim Observer regularly or bookmark this page.