GAA star was 'buried alive' for two days before club pulled up 'coffin'

Wednesday marks 36 years to the day since a Galway GAA star was pulled up from the ground after 49 hours buried underneath it in a coffin.

In an incredible showing of sheer willpower, nerve and mental strength, a man whose contributions on the grass were without question found himself six feet below it to make perhaps his second greatest contribution to his club, reports Galway Beo.

Frank Burke of Turloughmore GAA was placed underground on 30 December 1988, waking up in the New Year on a cold 1 January day. Burke went the distance for a most noble of causes - to raise enough funds to build a social centre and pitch in nearby Lackagh.

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Frank was centre-forward for the Galway hurlers in 1980 as they took Liam back over the Shannon, and had captained Turloughmore to Senior County Championship victory in 1985.

Jarlath McDonagh as Chairman of Turloughmore GAA Club at the time, and he recalled the moment when Frank Burke's fate was sealed. He told Tuam Herald many years later that after their 1985 championship win, there had been an AGM where a "big discussion" led to ideas on how to raise funds for the facilities that the club, despite their success, still lacked.

Turloughmore GAA Club had just taken their eighth Senior championship yet lacked their own training and playing areas. At the time, they moved between Murrays Field, and unused tracts of nearby private land.

Burke, a two-time All-Star, volunteered for the novel task, something which one of the club members had seen on TV. The coffin was a little larger than a regular coffin, and was fitted with a reading light and a camera.

Burke even spoke to Jim Fahy via telephone and visible over the camera on RTÉ television during the fundraising stunt.

However, it was not the only fundraising activity responsible for the club's fitting facilities, a host of less exotic and dangerous events also helped the club reach their goal.

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