Mark Zuckerberg to donate €150,000 to GAA clubs

The oldest of the three clubs, Tallow GAA, was founded in 1887.

When Zuckerberg bought Strancally Castle, club treasurer Kieran Geary said he emailed anyone he “could reach out to, in relation to any potential future sponsorship”.

Having not heard anything for a couple of weeks, the club secretary, Lyndsey Murphy, then received a phone call from Zuckerburgs, “just reaching out, discussing” the proposition.

“Initially we were a bit taken a back, was it actually legitimate? And from there things moved fast with Mark’s legal team, who were fantastic to deal with,” Geary said.

A zoom call was organised with Zuckerberg’s team to identify “how Priscilla and Mark might help support us going forward”, Geary said.

“His team were so easy going, relaxed, down-to-earth and wanting to support us, wanting to get involved and hopefully visiting the club on the next visit over.

“We also have a few jerseys we are hoping to present to the Zuckerburg/Chan family, due to the donation and how generous they have been,” Geary added.

Geary said the aim was to firstly invest the donation in the club’s underage teams, its senior and adult teams and to put some money into coaching and games.

Then they will invest in the club’s community walkway to improve accessibility.

“We aim to be at the heart of the community,” he said.