“Building Carne” a timely reminder of the importance of community

Credit for all photographs: Tom Reilly (Belmullet)

Eamon Mangan has watched Carne Golf Links emerge from the imagination of the local people to become one of the leading links golf courses on the planet, and he’s brilliantly chronicled the creation of this little corner of golfing heaven in a new book — ‘Building Carne: My Memories.’

Described by Fr Kevin Hegarty — parish priest of Kilmore Erris for over 40 years — as “the story of how a dream became a majestic reality”, this is a beautifully produced love letter to the great 27-hole links complex on Mayo’s Erris peninsula.

It all began when a handful of locals put £5 a man in the kitty for phone calls and eventually bought out 17 local farmers for £130,000 in 1987 as they dreamt of creating something special for the community.

They then called in golf course architect Eddie Hackett, then 80 years of age, and he was so smitten by the site that he helped the local people carve the course out of the natural dunescape with shovels and rakes rather than bulldozers and diggers.

True to Hackett's design philosophy, the holes were created by God and merely encouraged to emerge from the ancient terrain over seven long years.

‘Building Carne’ is a unique collection of stories, drawings, photographs and letters which chronicles this incredible journey.

Denise Brady Design did a wonderful job combining the graphic elements with the text and the author explained at December’s official launch that he finally put pen to paper after many requests from people in the Belmullet community.

“Unfortunately, many of those who were involved in the development of the Carne project from the beginning are no longer with us,” he said.  “I have great memories of working alongside fellow members of Erris Tourism, Belmullet Golf Club, business people, farmers, community clubs and national organisations.

“So many people contributed in different ways and it is heartening to see Carne continue to progress and thrive. I felt that it was an important part of our history and heritage and that now was a good time to record the story, in the centenary year of the club.”

Golf had been played at Carne since 1925, but that rudimentary nine holes bears no resemblance to the links that Hackett carved from his imagination and his many walks through the dunes with the author and other local people.

“It is magnificent sandy links land with towering sand hills broken up by valleys and hollows,” Hackett said in his initial course site report on 11th June 1986, having been picked up at Ballina railway station by the author for the first of many long drives west to Belmullet. “It is ideal golfing terrain, the kind that golfers dream about.”

Fr Hegarty said that it was a privilege to launch Eamon’s book, and he compared the efforts of the local community to that of Monsignor Horan, whose determination to build an international airport near the village of Knock in rural County Mayo was met with widespread scepticism in the 1980s.

Fr Hegarty said that “‘Building Carne’ is a story of how a dream became a majestic reality, told expertly and lovingly by one who was there through it all. Along with being a work of history, the book has the style and texture of a coffee table book, decorated by many magnificent photographs of the course.”

Hackett’s hand-drawn maps of the proposed new course add to the value of this lovely book, which also explains how Ally McIntosh and Jim Engh came along and helped build the third nine that sits alongside Hackett’s original creation and makes Carne a must-play destination for lovers of links golf from all over the world.

The book is also a lovely tribute to the myriad local people who helped create this golfing miracle on the talon-shaped Erris Peninsula.

As Hackett said, “If ever the Lord intended land for a golf course, Carne has it.”

‘Building Carne’ (€35.00) is available from Carey’s Newsagents, Belmullet; SOLAS Visitor Centre, Eachléim; Castle Book Shop, Castlebar and online at www.mayobooks.ie. Any profits will go towards worthy causes in the Erris community.