'A bad night and a bad morning': Storm Éowyn destroys Connacht GAA Air Dome
The ruins of the Connacht GAA Air Dome after it was destroyed by Storm Éowyn. Pic: James Crombie/Inpho
The Connacht GAA Air Dome at the province's centre of excellence in Bekan has felt the full impact of Storm Éowyn.
A red weather warning had been in place overnight, with Connacht GAA's indoor venue destroyed by the strong winds and rain brought about by the storm.
The Mayo venue — which features an inflatable roof was built in 2020 — has hosted numerous matches of different codes when weather conditions would otherwise see cancellations occur.
A Connacht GAA statement read: "Unfortunately, the University of Galway Connacht GAA Air Dome was significantly damaged by Storm Éowyn overnight, thankfully no one was hurt.
"Thanks to everyone for the support, it is our full intention to rebuild this magnificent facility as soon as possible."
It is understood that the inflatable roof flew off the structure at around 4am on Friday morning.
Connacht GAA chief executive John Prenty, the driving force behind the indoor facility which opened in 2020 at a cost of €3.1m, said they will start work immediately to have it rebuilt and he is due to talk to the manufacturers during the day to begin plotting a course of action.
Since Christmas, 6,000 players have trained or played there, with the facility proving invaluable for schools and underage games.
Mr Prenty and three other Connacht GAA workers were on site throughout the night — as they were for other recent storms — doing everything they could to save the dome.
A number of teams, including two inter-county teams, had trained at the Bekan venue in mid-Mayo on Friday night before the storm hit landfall.
“It’s been a bad night and a bad morning,” said Mr Prenty. “But, thankfully, nobody got hurt and that’s the most important thing. We took every precaution we could and put everything in place, but it wasn’t enough. It tore and it’s on the ground.
“It’s probably the most iconic GAA building in the country because it was unique. Nobody else had it. It's gone, but it'll be back.”
The Irish Frisbee Championships were due to take place there this weekend, while next month the venue was due to host the Sigerson, Fitzgibbon and Ashbourne Cup finals for university football, hurling and camogie.
Numerous school games were also pencilled in, while a lot of the inter-county teams in Connacht train there.
The facility also includes several outdoor pitches which are used for matches and training camps, while the headquarters of Connacht GAA are also located on the site which is located between Knock and Ballyhaunis.
“Those are things we have to reassess and see where we're going to play those. We hope to get it back and running ASAP. I'm having a meeting with the people that designed it to get the ball rolling to get it back up again.
“I'm on my way out to the site just to see if there's any other damage in the rest of the facility. It’s a tough day. But I can guarantee you that it'll be built again,” added Mr Prenty.
Storm Éowyn has left 715,000 without power across the country and GAA venues have also been impacted in other counties.
In Limerick, a section of the stand in Kilmallock GAA's Fitzgerald Park was destroyed after Storm Éowyn ripped off a large section of its roof.
Part of the canopy appeared to be hanging dangerously close to properties located behind the GAA club.
Club secretary Denise Ryan said they locked the entrance gates to the club while the “substantial damage” could be assessed.
“We discovered it this morning after we got a phone call, it is very unfortunate, it is a large section (of roof), there are three sections and it's the middle one, it's probably the largest one,” Ms Ryan explained.
“It's devastating, there will be a lot of work involved, but we will work together on it, we have great support really, when we need it, so it will be fine [in the end], but it's unfortunate to be honest," she said.
“We've just logged it with the insurance company and we have to wait for the assessor. You just have to secure the area and make it safe, we have locked the entrances so that no one can get in, so that at least no one can go near it. That's the main priority.”
It is understood a neighbouring property suffered “minimal damage” during the storm, added Ms Ryan.
“There was no damage to cars or anything, we were very lucky in that sense. And no, no injuries, oh God no, that would be the worst thing really,” she said.
It comes as the west coast saw record-breaking winds.
Gusts reached a record-breaking 183km/h at Mace Head in Galway before the station was knocked offline shortly after 6am, according to Met Éireann. The previous record had been set in 1945 when gusts of 182km/h were recorded at Foynes, Co Limerick
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