'Generous' Zuckerberg gifts GAA clubs €150k after castle purchase

‘Generous’ Zuckerberg gives GAA clubs €150k after castle purchase

Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, intend to donate €50,000 (£42,000) each to three clubs

Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg is making a move into Irish sport by donating €150,000 (£128,000) to three Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) clubs in County Waterford.

The clubs are the three nearest to Zuckerberg’s newly acquired Strancally Castle.

Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, plan to give €50,000 (£42,000) each to Shamrocks GAA, Tallow GAA and Lismore GAA, with the money to be paid out over two years.

A spokesman for Zuckerberg said the couple were “aware of the very significant role that the GAA plays in local communities in Ireland” and, as new members of the community, they “wanted to support” the clubs.

This is their first philanthropic donation in Ireland since they bought the property in August.

BBC News NI spoke with club representatives to assess the reaction to the gift, with many in the clubs and their communities “hugely welcoming” the donation.

Tallow GAA, the oldest of the three clubs, 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”.

After not hearing back for a couple of weeks, club secretary Lyndsey Murphy then got a phone call from Zuckerburgs, “just reaching out, discussing” the proposal.

“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 arranged with Zuckerberg’s team to work out “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 plan was first to put the donation into the club’s underage teams, its senior and adult teams, and some coaching and games funding.

After that, they will invest in the club’s community walkway to improve accessibility.

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

Shamrocks GAA has been active since 1953 and draws from the combined parishes of Knockanore, Glendine and Kilwatermoy.

The club’s secretary, Tim Lenehan, said there was initially some scepticism about the donation.

“I honestly thought initially it was someone pulling my leg, but we let it evolve and did a bit of checking ourselves and it seemed to be legitimate enough.”

The club intends to use the money to develop facilities such as changing rooms, as well as to grow its underage section.

“We are a very small club, just over 200 members, so obviously fundraising is a hard issue enough because you are usually tapping up the same people all the time for different things, so this is very welcome.”

According to Lenehan, news spreads quickly in the area.

The committee was told about the donation on Monday - and everyone in the community “knew by about 8 o’clock this morning,” he said.

“The news is very welcome, I think everyone understands the situation with fundraising, it can be difficult you know,” he added.

Lismore GAA Club was founded in 1897.

Club secretary Emer Barry said she had known about the possible donation for around six weeks.

“It’s just shock and disbelief at the moment, it is hard out figure out at the moment, what’s happening and where things are going.”

On the prospect of a future visit from the couple, Barry said “she doesn’t quite know at the moment.

The club plans to use the funds for projects including proposed floodlighting, new pitch-side fencing and a community walkway.

Asked about Zuckerberg possibly wearing a Lismore jersey, Barry said they were “always open for players, there is no parish rule in Waterford”.