CupidÕs arrow takes leading archery couple to Galway

Date Published: 07-Mar-2013

IF two of the country’s top soccer players, athletes or boxers decided to settle down in your community, there would – one imagines – be a great deal of fanfare surrounding their arrival. However, for Ireland’s top archer, Stuart Wilson and his girlfriend, current Northern Ireland indoor champion Noleen Lilley, their relocation to the West has been somewhat of a low-key affair.

Speaking to them in their home in Craughwell, the decision taken by the couple – who have just returned from the European Indoor Championships in Poland – to put down roots in Galway seems to be one they are delighted to have made and they are really enjoying their time in this part of the country.

“I was working in England for 12 years, in Oxford, and I decided to come home,” says Bangor native Wilson. “I had never worked in the South before and I decided to move down. So, I got a job in Portiuncula Hospital and lived in Ballinasloe for six months.

“Noleen was a nurse in Craigavon and she took a chance to come down and work here also. So, she is working in University Hospital in Galway. We moved in together into this house (in Craughwell) last Christmas.”

On his arrival, Wilson – who represented Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games in 2010 – immediately sought out an archery club and located not one but two in the locality. “I emailed them both and only one got back to me and that was Athenry.”

In many respects, the arrival of Wilson must have been akin to Robin Van Persie transferring to Craughwell United – although with Mike Madden scoring four goals in their Lillis Cup game last weekend, RVP is hardly needed – but Wilson does admit his coming was inconspicuous.

“I tend to keep my head quite low beneath the parapet,” laughs the 37-year-old. “Some of them had heard of me but they weren’t a very competitive club. They weren’t going to competitions, but, then again, I think the club has only been formed in the last year and a half.

“Once I joined, they started going to competitions and all of a sudden I got picked for the European (Archery Indoor) Championships. I have broken three Irish records this year which got me qualified No. 1 and I was picked to go to Poland.”

Interestingly, the Irish team – which included Wicklow archers Robert Hall, Alan Convery and Melaine Lawther – that travelled to Poland last week were all originally from Northern Ireland as was team manager, Wilson’s other half, Lilley. “It was just one of those things,” he remarks.

In any event, it was the Irish team’s best showing – finishing ninth – among the 30 competing nations while Lawther was very unlucky not to take home a bronze medal in the individual events. “She came fourth and she was so close to getting a medal . . . all we could do was shoot to the best of our ability and we did break two Irish records when we were out there. So, we didn’t do too badly,” says Wilson.

It is evident chatting to Wilson that archery is very much part of who he is. Then again, he does hail from a family that has ruled the sport in Northern Ireland for the last three decades, with his father Jack and older brother Lee both winning multiple championships while his younger brother Darrel was on the team with Wilson that represented Northern Ireland at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in India.

Some may recall that those Games received a great deal of media attention as there were fears that some facilities would not be ready to host the showcase, while other facilities were believed to be sub-standard. For his part, Wilson featured in the media after he said he would sleep in a tent if it meant he could compete.

At any rate, the Games did go ahead and Wilson was one of 6,081 athletes from 71 Commonwealth nations and dependencies to compete in the 21 sports and 272 events, making it the largest Commonwealth Games to date.

Of course, Wilson’s globetrotting adventures may paint a romantic picture but he insists the reality is so much different – at least for Irish competitors. “Archery is such a minority sport and there is no money involved or anything.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.