Mayo GAA Junior Football Championship

Club football at junior level in Mayo is as passionate and contested as anything you’ll find on a county ground. The Mayo GAA Junior Football Championship - played for the McDonnell Cup and sponsored by the TF Royal Hotel - brings together the county’s lower-tier clubs and the second strings of bigger outfits, all competing for the right to represent Mayo in the Connacht Junior Club Football Championship. If you want to see Gaelic football stripped back to its grassroots, with tight pitches, home crowds who know every player by first name, and genuine local pride on the line, an afternoon at a junior club match is the place to be.

What to expect

Matches run across club grounds the length and breadth of Mayo from July through August, working through group stages before the knockout rounds take shape. The championship has been running since 1926 and has produced some fine stories - Kilmeena became the first Mayo club to win the All-Ireland Junior title in 2022, and clubs like Crossmolina Deel Rovers, Achill and Islandeady have built long records of success in the competition. The football is direct and physical, played by men who train a few evenings a week after work. Crowds are small enough that you’re never far from the action. Entry is modest - from EUR 3 at the gate - and there is no booking required for most grounds. Check the Mayo GAA website or the home club’s social media for confirmed fixture times before you travel, as kick-off times and venues can shift.

Getting there

Mayo club grounds are spread across the county, from Ballina in the north to Ballinrobe in the south. Most are accessible by car, with free parking at the ground or in the surrounding village. Castlebar itself sits at the centre of the county’s road network - the N5 connects it to Westport and Longford, while the N84 runs south towards Galway. Bus Eireann runs regular services between Castlebar and Ballina, Westport, and Galway city. If you are based in Castlebar and attending a match elsewhere in the county, allow 20 to 40 minutes in most directions.

While you’re in Castlebar

A junior football Sunday pairs well with a walk along the Castlebar Greenway or a stop in the town for food before the throw-in. There is more to see in Castlebar and across Co. Mayo.

Good to know

• Date: Sunday 5 July 2026, throw-in 2:30pm (individual fixtures vary - check before you go)
• Price: From EUR 3 at the gate
• Fixtures and venues: mayogaa.ie or home club social media pages
• Organiser: Mayo GAA
• Runs through: July and August 2026 (group stages to knockout final)