GAA World - Down - Castlewellan GAC

1995 May Steele

May Steele (nee Corrigan), late of Newcastle Road Castlewellan, married into a prominent Gaelic Football Family. Her late husband James, or ‘Jay’ as he was known, his brothers Paddy (Hall of Fame) and Tommy (Hall of Fame and former Club President) were all gifted Gaelic footballers with the town team in the 1930’s and 1940’s. May’s brothers, Brian, Michael, Paddy, Peter and John all played their Gaelic football for the town club too, as well as being a noted town soccer family. It was however May’s younger brother Brian who became a legendry Gaelic footballer with the town in the 1950’s winning a SFC medal in 1950 and in 1955 a Senior League Division 1 winners medal, as well as a host of Feis winners medals with the town in that same decade (Brian is the father of the well known Bryansford GAC Corrigan brothers). After the barren forties the fortunes of the town teams began to look up in the fifties, and the young May would never miss a game cheering on the town lads, which would include a ever increasing number of family members.

As soon as each of May’s sons were old enough to play for the town they all wore the jersey with distinction. Jim RIP, Thomas RIP, Brendan (Benjy) Frances and Gerald all played with the town teams at some stage in their football career. Benjy played on the famous 1965 SFC and League winning sides, culminating in a call up to the County Senior team, playing in the National League with distinction, as well as being a member of the first town senior hurling side of the early seventies. As the seventies approached May became more actively involved in the Club, although for a generation before she and a small group of dedicated town ladies had always been on hand to help out at the various guest teas and fund raising activities required for the then smaller sized club. All of this was to change in the seventies when the St Malachy’s Club opened the first GAA social club in Down in 1976, the new Park in 1978 and the additional teams that the town club was now fielding in the modern St. Malachy’s Club. May was there to the fore as a committee member, helping to tackle the problems created by our new social club venture, particularly in the much needed fund-raising role, organising sponsorship walks (which were a new fad then) raffles, selling tickets from door to door, and at the annual dinner dances. These were just some of the fund-raising activities that May became involved in, but her role did not end there either.

Scor Na Og and C.C.D.competitions were now been organised by the Association on a County, Provincial, and All-Ireland basis, during the winter months. May along with other notable town ladies such as her neighbour Roseleen McKibben, Peggy Toner from Burrengrove, Sheila Toner, Aggie and Rosie Hardy all helped to promote the competitions at Club level, and had some notable success’s at County and inter Provincial levels down through the years. About the same time May and a number of the ladies formed a Camogie team in the Club organised the training and ran the team for a number of years before it folded due to lack of commitment by the young players.

It was May along with her friends Aggie Hardy and Josie Jennings who became the first cleaning ladies in the new Social Club in 1976, and they continued to carry out these duties for the following twenty years. In 1980 the Club commenced an annual All-Ireland Invitation seven-a-side competition in the new Park with teams invited from all over Ireland for the one-day competition. Again it was May and Aggie who organised and prepared the meals for all the teams, and this at a time when the Club did not have the luxury of a modern kitchen. In fact the Club did not have any kitchen at all until 1995, fifteen years after the annual competition commenced. Yet the ladies and their willing band of helpers managed to feed over 200 hungry footballers and officials and never a word of complaint with the primitive conditions. Also in the mid-eighties the Club formed a senior citizens club, and hosted a supper and dance every month in the social club. Again May, and Rosaleen Mckibben provided the teas and supper for a good many years before handing over the task to, her daughter Catherina. While all of this was going on May still managed to find time to follow and support her young daughters (Catherina, Roisin and Bridgid) in the successful Scoil Rince Namh Martin Irish Dancing School which was very successful in the town and which competed all over Ireland winning Ulster and All-Ireland Titles

As the nineties approached and May reached pension age and in failing health, her support and involvement in the Club never waned. In fact her workload increased, as May was now washing and laundering all the Club’s 18 football strips on a weekly basis during the playing season. In addition she was also asked to do the same with the County Minor strip, and May just couldn’t refuse; such was her passion for the sport. All of May’s daughters not surprisingly developed the same passion for Gaelic Football as their mother. When Ladies football began to become a popular sport in the County at the beginning of the 1990's, the Steele family with May at the helm was to the forefront in forming a team in the town with May as the first Chairperson. Again May championed the early fund raising venture required by the fledging team.

Sadly May passed away in 1996 one year after being honoured with the Club’s most prestigious award, (The Hall of Fame) but her legacy lives on.

The Ladies football teams that May helped to found in the town is now fully integrated into the St. Malachy’s Club fielding 4 teams at various levels and winning numerous County titles as well as an All-Ireland title. In 1999 for example the U12 Girls became All-County Football Champions for the third consecutive year, the U14 Girls won the All-Ireland Feile title, and the U16 Girls won the All-County League and Championship for the third time. May’s grand daughter Lisa Morgan who was one of the first female Gaelic footballer in Castlewellan played a leading role in all the ladies teams and was a member of the Down Ladies All-Ireland winning side of 1999. Lisa playing career is featured in our National Honours Section (click here).

May’s family continue to be involved in Gaelic sport wherever they may be, and her grand daughters, grandsons, nephews and nieces have or are playing football not only for the town club but also for many neighbouring rival clubs, most notably Kilclief and Bryansford.

As we enter the new millennium May’s name continues to be remembered for her life long commitment to Gaelic sport and culture in Castlewellan. Each year ladies teams from all over the Province and further afield compete for the 'May Steele Memorial Cup' put up by her family for the All-Ireland Ladies seven a side competition and Juvenile girls football competitions hosted annually by May’s beloved town club.