Sin Gleoite!
All back and country roads led to the Dingle Peninsula on the Bank Holiday weekend and the west Kerry Gaeltacht has lived up to the billing. It’s Comórtas Peil Na Gaeltachta time and every Irish speaking and Irish culture seeking soul has made their way down to the most south westerly tip of this island.
A social gathering, the comórtas offers an opportunity to the various communities to catch up and trade notes and stories with their faraway peers.
There’s a warm and magical feel to the event and thought it all revolves around the football, the football revolves around the camaraderie and the togetherness. How could anybody miss out?
The competition rolled off on Friday and concludes on Monday, with the senior final between hosts An Ghaeltacht and Donegal side Cill Cartha bringing it all to a close.
One team who were unlucky not to make the final was Cork’s Cill Na Martra. They were knocked out by Donegal’s Cill Chartha in a semi-final that went all the way.
Inseparable after the hour, it took extra-time and a late Ryan O’Donnell goal to seal the deal for the men from the hills and though they went down, the Rebel men went with a few highlights.
The majority of them coming from the right boot of Micheal Ó Deasuna. The former Cork minor kicked a couple of great scores for his team in an entertaining fare, the pick of them levelling the game up late on.
Bend it like Micheal O Deasuna ó @GAACillNaMartra 😻☄️☄️pic.twitter.com/N4GeQSu8x9
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) June 3, 2019
https://twitter.com/Jdtoffee1/status/1135514854486413313
Look at the swerve on that. Some were calling him one of the best dead-ball kickers in Cork, the club don’t want to heap too much pressure on the young man’s shoulders but that right boot doesn’t lie.
“Ah it’s a great event, it’s a great bit of craic,” said the Cill Na Marta secretary Niall Ó Croinín to SportsJOE after spending the weekend down in West Kerry.
“You’d see the same old faces there every year, it’s a great way of catching up with the people from the other Gaeltacht areas as well, there’s a great buzz around the place every June and you’d find lots of smiling faces…”
“Sometimes lads are disappointed they’d win a game because they’d be looking forward to the pints that night! Ah no, it’s very enjoyable, it’s a bit of a pity that the county players aren’t let to play much anymore, it comes at the height of their season but still, everybody had a good time and the football is played at a high standard too!”
