HiConnacht.ie

From Roscommon to Ireland Fashion Week: Four Years of LCG 💎

Lydia Clayton is back with an exciting article on her experience at Ireland fashion week 🙌 💙

We would like to wish Lydia a Happy Birthday 🎂 from all the team at Hi Connacht.

Lydia has been a fantastic addition to Hi Connacht and her articles are read far and wide and have proven some of the most popular content across Hi Connacht. 🙏 ✨️

Link in comments 🔗 👇

Lydia Clayton Lydia Clayton Goldsmith Ireland Fashion Week

🏐💚 Mental Health Support Boards Coming to Leitrim GAA Clubs

New mental health and wellbeing boards are being introduced at GAA clubs across County Leitrim, helping players, supporters and local communities find the support they need.

The initiative will officially launch on Sunday, 18th October, at Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada.

A positive step towards stronger, healthier communities. 💚

🔗 Full story in the comments.

10 of the Best Places to Go Jogging in Connacht – From Breathtaking Coastal Routes to Hidden Woodland Gems 🏃‍♀️ 🎽 👟

Looking for the best places to run in Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, Sligo or Leitrim? Whether you’re taking your first steps towards a healthier lifestyle, training for a 5K or simply looking for somewhere beautiful to clear your head, Connacht has some remarkable jogging and running routes to explore.

Link in the comments 🔗 👀 👇

🍻 Keeping Battlebridge in the Family 💚

The historic Battlebridge pub and campsite had been put up for sale, and a deposit had even been paid. Then sisters Enya and Dearbhla Beirne decided they couldn't let it go.

Almost overnight, they chose to take it on themselves. On 29th July, they opened the doors under their own stewardship for the first time. "We are doing this." 🙌
Dearbhla, a teacher, and Enya, a nurse, have swapped careers to run the 200-year-old pub beside the river near Leitrim Village. They're also working on a project of trying to get their dad to retire 😄

In our latest feature, the sisters talk about:
🏕️ The year-round campsite, glamping and sauna on the Shannon Blueway
🍺 Why they kept the pub's character and snug untouched
🎶 Friday nights with Wallop the Spot, who have played there for around 25 years
💛 The family, friends and neighbouring publicans who helped them get started

A lovely story about family, community and one of Leitrim's most special spots. ❤️ 💜

🔗 Read the full feature, link in the comments 👇

Beirnes Of Battlebridge

🕯️ Global Wave of Light | Mohill GAA Clubhouse 💙🩷
📅 Thursday, 15th October
⏰ 7.00pm
📍 Mohill GAA Clubhouse, Co. Leitrim

Mohill GAA Healthy Clubs is inviting the community to come together on Thursday evening to light a candle in memory of all babies who have died during pregnancy, at birth or in early life. The clubhouse will be lit by candles in their remembrance.

October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, and 15th October is International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day.

What is the Wave of Light? 🌍

At 7pm local time on 15th October, candles are lit and buildings and landmarks glow pink and blue around the world. As 7pm moves from one time zone to the next, it creates a continuous "wave of light" across the globe. In Ireland, the Wave of Light is led by Féileacáin, the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Association of Ireland, and buildings in every county light up for the occasion.

Can't make it to Mohill? 🕯️

You can still take part by lighting a candle at home at 7pm on Thursday and keeping it lit for an hour. You can also share a photo using .
All babies are remembered. All families are in our thoughts. 💙🩷

If you've been affected by the loss of a baby, Féileacáin offers support. Visit feileacain.ie or
📞 📲 Call 085 249 6464.

🥊 Castlebar's Grace Bailey heads to the World Championships! 🌍🇮🇪

History is being made in Castlebar. Grace Bailey flies out to Budva, Montenegro, on Wednesday to represent Ireland at the World Under-19 Boxing Championships, which run from 14th to 28th October.
She's the first ever Castlebar Boxing Club member to compete at a World Championships 👏

Grace will box at 65kg and has been named co-captain of the 12-strong Irish team, alongside Jason Whelan of Dublin Docklands BC. That's a huge honour for the Mayo teenager.

Her road to the Worlds 🛣️

🥉 European U19 bronze in Serbia this summer: In Loznica, Grace beat England's Rihanna Holden, the reigning European champion, in the quarter-final. That avenged a defeat to Holden earlier in the year. Her semi-final was against Russia's Bella Zueva, a former European Junior champion.

🥇 Porto Box Cup gold: In 2025, she won the youth 70kg title in Portugal without dropping a round in the final, and the judges named her best youth boxer of the whole tournament.

🏆 Two-time All-Ireland U19 champion: She won her second national title in May at just 17, beating her opponent 5-0 across all three rounds.
A true dual star 💚❤️

Grace isn't just a boxer. She also won an All-Ireland with the Mayo U14 ladies footballers in 2023, the same year she claimed her first national boxing title. That was a remarkable achievement in her very first season in the ring.

The work behind it 💪

Alongside training in Castlebar during the week, Grace has spent most weekends travelling to Dublin for extra sessions at the High Performance Unit in Abbotstown.
Everyone in Mayo will be behind you, Grace. Best of luck in Budva! 🥊💚❤️

📸 Boxing Ireland 🇮🇪

Emergency services are in attendance at a road traffic accident on the N15 in the townland of Mount Temple.

A Stop-Go traffic management system is in place.

Motorists are advised to drive with care and expect delays in the area.

Sligo County Council

🏆 St Mary's are Sligo Senior Champions! 💙🤍

St Mary's 1-12 Shamrock Gaels 1-10

The Super Saints have ended an 11-year wait to lift the Owen B Hunt Cup, and they've done it in the club's 50th anniversary year, making for a very special day for the Sligo town club 🎉

St Mary's took control early when Robert O'Kelly-Lynch finished a slick move for a goal after just seven minutes. By half-time they led 1-6 to 0-3.
Nathan Rooney was outstanding at full-forward, finishing with 0-7, including a superb two-pointer, and was named Player of the Match 🌟

A huge moment came in the 47th minute when St Mary's keeper James Cronin saved David Quinn's penalty and then the rebound. Shamrock Gaels kept coming, and Shane Deignan's goal set up a nervy finish with the gap down to a single point. Rooney held his nerve, though, and kicked a stoppage-time free to seal the title.

It's sweet revenge for St Mary's, who lost to Shamrock Gaels by seven points in the group stages back in August. Hard luck to the Gaels, who were chasing back-to-back county titles for the first time in their history.

This is St Mary's 12th Sligo senior title, and their first since 2015. Six of those titles came during their dominant run in the 1980s.

Congratulations to the players, management, and everyone at St Mary's. Enjoy the celebrations! 🍾👏

🚨 TRAFFIC ALERT – MAYO

The N17 at Ballindine is currently closed southbound, according to Mayo County Council.

🚗 Diversions are in place through Irishtown and Dunmore.

Motorists are advised to allow extra time for their journeys.

Further updates will be provided when available.

🕯️ Dr Noel Farrell RIP

We at Hi Connacht were saddened to learn of the passing of Dr Noel Farrell over the weekend.

Noel was a hugely respected figure at Roscommon Golf Club, where he was a member for over 50 years. Over that time, he served in almost every role on the club executive. He was Club Captain in 1983 and again in 2004, and Club President in 1998.

As Course Manager for many years, Noel oversaw the club's development into an 18-hole facility, along with many other improvements in recent times. His contribution to the club and to golf in Roscommon will be long remembered.

We extend our deepest sympathies to Noel's wife Susan, his daughters Gillian, Sinead and Darina, his son David, his brothers Charlie and Paul, his grandchildren, extended family, and his many friends at Roscommon Golf Club.

May he rest in peace. 🙏
Photo 📸 RIP.ie