Roscommon Hall of Fame to celebrate All-Ireland heroes

A unique Hall of Fame celebrating Roscommon’s All-Ireland-winning teams down through the years will be unveiled at Michael Gilligan’s memorial garden in Fairymount next month.

The display will feature individual plaques featuring photographs and details of every Roscommon team to have won an All-Ireland title in Gaelic football, hurling, camogie and handball.

There will be a separate tribute section to All-Ireland winners in other sports, such as the boxing sisters, Aoife and Lisa O’Rourke. A special memorial section will also honour young club and county players who passed away during their playing career.

The Fairymount native, who now lives in Roscommon Town, has spent many years developing his memorial garden, which has become a popular contemplative space for its many visitors. The garden is a little oasis of calm and peace where members of the parish are remembered, historical and public figures are honoured and unsung heroes, including frontline healthcare workers, are also celebrated.

Situated on a large site, the garden, containing shrubbery, walkways and seating, is close to Michael’s native place in the townland of Mullaghnashee near Fairymount village.

Michael explained the latest addition to his garden, which will be unveiled at a launch on Saturday, August 8th. “We’re going to commemorate every All-Ireland-winning Roscommon team and have their pictures and names displayed.

“The football teams, the hurling teams and the ladies’ teams that have won All-Irelands over the years will all be represented here. It’s been a phenomenal year this year for the GAA in Roscommon. The lads have won minor, senior and under-20 Connacht titles, while the ladies, not to be outdone, have won three cups and are involved in three All-Ireland finals, with the U-16s winning an All-Ireland last week.

“We’ll have a right good day of celebration on August 8th when we unveil these plaques, which are being sponsored by All-Star Shredding. On the reverse side of this wall, we’ll remember young club players who died while still playing and county players who passed away at a young age. We’ll also be planting remembrance trees on the day to remember all these young players,” he said.

Michael also revealed that several trophies will be on display on the day of the launch.

“I want to thank the GAA county board for facilitating this launch. All the cups won by Roscommon teams this year will be here on the day, along with the trophies won by clubs. St. Brigid’s won the senior club championship and Strokestown won the intermediate club championship, so those cups will be here as well,” he said.

The cup display will also include the Roscommon Senior Hurling Championship trophy, which is named after the late Four Roads and county hurler, Mickey Cunniffe.

Michael noted that the event would also provide an opportunity for older generations to come together. “Part of this function on August 8th is geared towards older people, to allow them to come and enjoy the day, mix and mingle, share memories of times past and celebrate the great Roscommon teams that won All-Irelands.” He extended his appreciation to everyone who had supported and promoted the initiative, including sponsors, those who have made donations, Roscommon GAA County Board, Roscommon GAA historian Tony Conboy and well-known Rossie supporter Paddy Joe Burke.

Paddy Joe, who visited the garden ahead of the August 8th event, congratulated Michael on his efforts and said the project comes during an extraordinary period for Roscommon GAA.

“It’s a privilege to be here and congratulations on the tremendous amount of work that you have put in. It’s amazing that all this is unfolding in 2026, which has been an unbelievable year for the game we all love in Roscommon, the GAA,” he said. “The lads have won three Connacht titles and it’s brilliant to see the ladies win three cups as well. We’re heading to see them in All-Ireland finals now and, with the help of God, there’ll be a number of All-Ireland cups here as well.

“We have a wonderful county. We all love our footballers. It’s deep in our DNA and ingrained in all of us. For all the people who want to come and see what’s on show here, please come on August 8th. You’ll be treated to an unbelievable exhibition of the past, present and future of the greatest game in the world, the game we love, the GAA,” said Paddy Joe.

Former Roscommon footballers, Cathal Cregg and Kevin Higgins, are among the many who have also thrown their support behind the event. Cathal and Kevin, from the local club Western Gaels, said they and their club members were delighted to support the initiative.

Everyone is warmly invited to attend the event on August 8th and it’s expected that a number of county players from different codes and grades will be present on the day.