Robbie McCallion

Robert McCallion
Personal information
Born (1979-08-09)9 August 1979[1]
Swinford, County Mayo, Ireland
Died 7 April 2009(2009-04-07) (aged 29)
Beaumont Hospital, Dublin
Nickname Robbie[2][3]
Occupation Garda
Club(s)
Years Club
 Swinford
Inter-county(ies)
Years County
 Mayo

Robert McCallion (9 August 1979 – 7 April 2009) was an Irish Gaelic footballer. He played for Swinford and the senior and under-21 Mayo county teams.[1][4][5]

McCallion played for his local club Swinford and was part of their teams from the under-10 grade and upwards.[3] He was part of the Swinford minor team which won every match it played in 1997.[5] He won the Mayo Intermediate Football Championship with Swinford in 1999.[4]

McCallion's family included numerous members of the Garda Síochána, including a parent, brother, uncles and a cousin. He initially worked with Corrib Oil but joined the Gardaí on 7 February 2005.[1] He was killed while serving as a member of the Garda Síochána; initially injured in Letterkenny on 26 March 2009, he was brought to Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, where he died less than two weeks later. He was afforded a state funeral.[3][6] A memorial stone in his honour is located in Bernard McGlinchey Town Park in Letterkenny. Robert McCallion Memorial Park in Swinford, County Mayo, is named after him.[4][7] A number of Gaelic football matches have been played in his honour,[5][8][9][10] including one in 2016.[2]

  1. ^ a b c "McCallion, Robert". Garda Síochána. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Memorial match for late Garda Robbie McCallion". Donegal Daily. 27 February 2016. Retrieved 27 February 2016. The Garda Robert McCallion Memorial match will take place today (Sat) on the eve of the Donegal versus Mayo Allianz National League third round game. The Donegal Garda Divisional team will play the late Garda McCallion's home club Swinford. This east Mayo side will travel to Letterkenny to take on the local Gardai today (Sat) at 2.30pm at O'Donnell Park in Letterkenny.
  3. ^ a b c McDonald, Brian (14 April 2009). "Heartbroken town salutes as Robbie 'gets transfer home'". Irish Independent. Retrieved 14 April 2009.
  4. ^ a b c "Swinford pitch to be named after Garda". Hogan Stand. 26 April 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  5. ^ a b c Heneghan, Conor (1 May 2012). "Mayo GAA club to pay special tribute to late Garda". JOE.ie. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  6. ^ "Thousands attend McCallion funeral". RTÉ News. 13 April 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  7. ^ McNulty, Chris (6 May 2012). "'Hero' Garda McCallion remembered". Donegal News. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
  8. ^ "Garda Robert McCallion to be remembered in Swinford this weekend". MidWest Radio. 2 May 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  9. ^ "Donegal to play Mayo in honour of Garda Robbie McCallion". Donegal Democrat. 14 April 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  10. ^ Quinn, Trevor (8 May 2012). "Mayo and Donegal up for the challenge". The Mayo News. Retrieved 8 May 2012.