He spent 49 hours buried underground
A Galway GAA flag (Image: ©INPHO/Bryan Keane)
New Year’s Day marks 37 years since a Galway GAA legend was hauled from the ground after spending 49 hours buried in a coffin.
In an extraordinary display of determination, courage and psychological fortitude, a player whose exploits on the pitch were beyond dispute found himself six feet beneath the surface to deliver what may have been his second most significant gift to his beloved club.
Frank Burke from Turloughmore was lowered into the ground on 30 December 1988, emerging into the crisp air of New Year’s Day on 1 January. Burke endured the ordeal for the most worthy of reasons – to generate sufficient money to construct a social centre and playing field in neighbouring Lackagh.
Frank had starred at centre-forward for the Galway hurling team in 1980 when they brought Liam MacCarthy back across the Shannon, and had led Turloughmore to Senior County Championship glory as captain in 1985, reports Galway Beo.
Jarlath McDonagh served as Chairman of Turloughmore GAA Club during that period, and he remembered the precise moment when Frank Burke’s destiny was decided.
Speaking to the Tuam Herald years afterwards, he revealed that following their 1985 championship triumph, an AGM featured a “big discussion” about potential fundraising methods for facilities that the club, despite their achievements, still desperately needed.
Turloughmore GAA Club had just secured their eighth Senior championship title yet remained without their own training and match venues.
During that era, they alternated between Murrays Field and unused sections of neighbouring private property.
Burke, a two-time All-Star recipient, put himself forward for the unusual challenge, an idea that one of the club members had witnessed on television. The coffin was slightly larger than a standard one, equipped with a reading light and a camera.
Burke even managed to have a chat with Jim Fahy over the phone, visible via the camera on RTÉ television during the well-liked fundraising stunt.
However, this wasn’t the sole fundraising endeavour that contributed to the club’s impressive facilities; a variety of less thrilling and risky events also played a part in helping the club achieve their target.