Castlebar Mitchels is a

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

club based in the

Castlebar Castlebar () is the county town of County Mayo, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Developing around a 13th century castle of the de Barry family, de Barry family, from which the town got its name, the town now acts as a social and economic focal poi ...

area in

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The club was founded in 1885 and is named after the nationalist

John Mitchel John Mitchel ( ga, Seán Mistéal; 3 November 1815 – 20 March 1875) was an Irish nationalist activist, author, and political journalist. In the Great Famine (Ireland), Famine years of the 1840s he was a leading writer for The Nation (Irish n ...

(1815–1875). Though

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

is the club's dominant sport, hurling is also played. The club's name is a source of controversy, due to Mitchel's

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

, advocacy of

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

and support for the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

Honours

All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football tournament which began in season 1970–71. It is the top-tier competition for the senior football clubs of Ireland and London. The current champions are Kilcoo of ...

: Runner-Up 1994, 2014, 2016 *

Connacht Senior Club Football Championship The Connacht Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football tournament played between senior clubs in Connacht, with one qualifying from each of the five individual county championships. The winners of the Connacht football champ ...

: 1969, 1993, 2013, 2015 *

Mayo Senior Football Championship The Mayo Senior Football Championship (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the ''Connacht Gold Mayo Senior Football Championship'') is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by the top Mayo GAA clubs. Westport are the title hol ...

: (30 titles) 1888, 1903, 1930–1932, 1934, 1941–1942, 1944–1946, 1948, 1950–1954, 1956, 1959, 1962–1963, 1969, 1970, 1978, 1986, 1988, 1993, 2013 2015,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Mayo Senior Hurling Championship The Mayo Senior Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition contested since 1923 by the top Mayo GAA clubs. Tooreen are the current (2022) title holders, defeating Ballyhaunis in the final. Presently the competition has four teams: T ...

: Winners (2): 1952, 1955 (Runners-up 2019)

Notable players

* Tom Cunniffe *

Paddy Durcan Paddy Durcan (born 1994) is a Gaelic footballer who plays for Castlebar Mitchels and at senior level for the Mayo county team. He started at Left Half Back in the 2016 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final and again in the 2017 All- ...

Barry Moran Barry Moran is a former Gaelic footballer who played at senior level for the Mayo county team until his retirement in July 2018. Moran also played club football for Castlebar Mitchels. He started at midfield in the 2012 final which Mayo lost ...

Neil Douglas Lieutenant-General Sir Neil Douglas (1779 – 1 September 1853) was a British Army officer who fought at the 1815 Battle of Waterloo and later became Commander-in-Chief, Scotland. Life He was born in Glasgow the fifth son of John Douglas ...

Richie Feeney Richie Feeney is a former Gaelic footballer who played for the Mayo county team. A Right half back in the Mayo senior team, Feeney began playing with Castlebar Mitchels. He is the brother of fellow-player Alan Feeney, He is a son of the la ...

* Patsy Flannelly *

Henry Kenny Henry Frances Kenny (7 September 1913 – 25 September 1975) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Minister of State at the Department of Finance from 1973 to 1975. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1954 to 1975. He was the fathe ...

John Maughan John Maughan (born 1962) is an Irish Gaelic football manager and former player who most recently managed the Offaly football team. He is a former manager of the Mayo, Clare, Roscommon and Fermanagh senior football teams. He is only the third ...

* Éamonn Mongey * Padraig Carney * Donal Vaughan

References

External sources

Club Website
Gaelic football clubs in County Mayo Hurling clubs in County Mayo Gaelic games clubs in County Mayo {{Connacht-GAA-club-stub