Comórtas Peile na Gaeltachta is an annual All Ireland

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

competition contested by clubs from the

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

-speaking

Gaeltacht ( , , ) are the districts of Ireland, individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home. The ''Gaeltacht'' districts were first officially recog ...

areas of Ireland. Clubs compete on a county-basis at first, in order to qualify for the tournament that is hosted by a different club from the Gaeltacht each year. The first competition was held in

Gweedore Gweedore ( ; officially known by its Irish language name, ) is an Irish-speaking district and parish located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of County Donegal in the north-west of Ireland. Gweedore stretches some from Glasserchoo in the ...

, County Donegal in 1969 and was won by the local club

CLG Ghaoth Dobhair CLG Ghaoth Dobhair is a Gaelic Athletic Association, GAA club based in the parish of Gaoth Dobhair (anglicize to Gweedore) in northwest County Donegal, Republic of Ireland. They are one of the strongholds of Gaelic football in County Donegal. T ...

RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta (; "Radio of the Gaeltacht"), abbreviated RnaG, is an Irish language radio station owned and operated by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). The station is available on FM in Ireland and via satellite and on the Intern ...

provides radio coverage of both the regional qualifiers and the national finals, held over the June Bank Holiday.

TG4 TG4 ( ga, TG Ceathair, ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television network. The channel launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was formerly known ...

provides live television coverage of the men's semi-finals and finals on the June Bank Holiday Sunday and Monday, and these are also broadcast online.

History

The idea for the competition came about in 1968 at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

when both Antoin Ó Cearúill from

and Antoin de Bairéad from

An Ghaeltacht GAA An Ghaeltacht is a Gaelic Athletic Association club in County Kerry. The club competes in the Kerry Intermediate Football Championship. It also competes in the West Kerry Football Championship, Division 1 of the Kerry County League and the ann ...

were playing on the UCD Gaelic footbal team who won the

Sigerson Cup The Sigerson Cup is the trophy for the premier Gaelic football championship among Higher Education institutions (Universities, Colleges and Institutes of Technology) in Ireland. It traditionally begins in mid January and ends in late February. ...

. They were good friend and decided that their home teams should play each other, de Bairéad brought his time from

Baile an Fheirtéaraigh Ballyferriter ( ga, Baile an Fheirtéaraigh , meaning 'Ferriter's townland', or ''an B ailtín'') is a Gaeltacht village in County Kerry, Ireland. It is in the west of the Corca Dhuibhne (Dingle) peninsula and according to the 2002 census, abou ...

to Ó Cearúil's

Gaoth Dobhair Gweedore ( ; officially known by its Irish language name, ) is an Irish-speaking district and parish located on the Atlantic coast of County Donegal in the north-west of Ireland. Gweedore stretches some from Glasserchoo in the north to Crolly ...

to play in a friendly. On the 5th of January 1969 "In a blizzard" of snow as the Derry People/Donegal News said Baile an Fheirtéaraigh GAA got the better of Gaoth Dobhair – 3-6 / 0-3. Antoin de Bairéad himself scored two points on the day. That evening at a celebratory Cabaret in Óstán Radharc na Mara Antoin de Bairéad, Antoin Ó Cearúill, Seán Delap, Feardorcha Ó Colla and decided that there should be a competition between the

areas similar to the

. Sean Delap said he would provide a trophy. On the 15 March 1969 the first ever official meeting for Cómórtas Peile na Gaeltachta was held in the Castle Hotel, Dublin. The following were elected Toghadh na hoifigigh seo leanas: Uachtarán: Seán Delap, Gaoth Dobhair. Leasuachtarán: Commandant Seán Ó Colmáin, An Daingean. Cathaoirleach: Antoin de Bairéad, Baile an Fheirtéaraigh. Rúnaí: Feardorcha Ó Colla, Gaoth Dobhair. Cisteoir: Séamus Mac Gearailt, Corca Dhuibhne. On the 23 May 1969 the competition was officially launched at the

Gresham Hotel Hotel Riu Plaza The Gresham Dublin, formerly The Gresham Hotel, is a historic Star (classification)#Hotel ratings, four-star hotel on O'Connell Street in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is a Dublin institution and landmark building which ...

. Justice Seán Delap donated the trophy and Canon Hamilton from County Clare donated the 72 Medals. The inaugural competition was held in

, County Donegal on the 3rd August 1969. There was 8 teams present from 6 counties; 1 from Dún na nGall, Gaillimh, Port Láirge and an Mhí and two teams from Maigh Eo and Ciarraí. The local club

being crowned as champions against Baile an Fheirtéaraigh – 2-8 / 2-7. From 1975 onwards, the competition has also been contested at junior level. The 2010 champions were Béal an Mhuirthead from Mayo at senior level, who won the tournament on home ground, and An Spidéal at junior level. Cloich Cheannfhaola from An Fál Carrach in Donegal hosted and subsequently won the 2011 senior title, beating Maigh Cuilinn of Galway in the final on a scoreline of 0.11 to 1.6. At junior level, Naomh Muire from the Rosses in Donegal won the title by beating Laochra Loch Lao of Belfast on a scoreline of 0.14 to 0.13. The 2012 competition was held in

, who are the joint most successful club in the competition's history. They managed to win the tournament outright on home soil also, the third consecutive team to do so. They beat

Mayo Mayo often refers to: * Mayonnaise, often shortened to "mayo" * Mayo Clinic, a medical center in Rochester, Minnesota, United States Mayo may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Mayo Peak, Marie Byrd Land Australia * Division of Mayo, an Aust ...

's Cill tSéadhna, a team who remarkably made the final after three games in two days. Even more remarkably, they scored a total of 17 goals in 4 games (15 of them in the first 3 games). Gaoth Dobhair, however, were by far the superior team over the weekend. They won the final on a scoreline of 1–13 to 2–9. An estimated crowd of 10,000 attended the picturesque coastal region for the finals. The

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

club

Rinn Ó gCuanach CLG Rinn Ó gCuanach CLG is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in the Irish speaking (Gaeltacht) area of Ring, County Waterford, Ireland. The club fields teams of both GAA codes, including two adult Gaelic football teams and two adult hurling ...

hosted the competition in 2013, having last hosted it in 1999. The

Kerry Kerry or Kerri may refer to: * Kerry (name), a given name and surname of Gaelic origin (including a list of people with the name) Places * Kerry, Queensland, Australia * County Kerry, Ireland ** Kerry Airport, an international airport in County ...

teams An Ghaeltacht and Lios Póil won the senior and junior finals respectively that year. The 2017 finals of Comórtas Peile na Gaeltachta were played on the scenic shores of

Lough Mask Lough Mask () is a limestone lake of about in Counties Mayo and Galway, Ireland, north of Lough Corrib. Lough Mask is the middle of the three lakes, which empty into the Corrib River, through Galway, into Galway Bay. Lough Carra flows into ...

for the first time at

Tuar Mhic Éadaigh Toormakeady or Tourmakeady (, the official name) is a Gaeltacht in south County Mayo in the west of Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated f ...

, Co. Mayo. The 2020 Comórtas Peile na Gaeltachta which was planned to be hosted by Naomh Anna, Leitir Móir, was deferred in response to government guidelines to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland.

Senior Championship 1969–2022

Results by team

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Junior Championship 1975–2016

An Cailín Gaelach winners

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Comortas Peile na Gaeltachta 1969 establishments in Ireland 1969 in Gaelic games Gaelic football competitions in Ireland