Cill Óige ladies to compete in Páidí Ó Sé football festival

Westmeath’s Cill Óige - including current Rose of Tralee Rachel Duffy - will line out in the ladies intermediate competition as part of the Lidl Comórtas Peile Páidí Ó Sé 2023 taking place all across the Dingle Peninsula from February 24-26.

The four team knockout competition sees them up against Kerry club Annascaul/Castlegregory in a straight semi-final, while on the other side of the draw, Dingle ladies play Wicklow’s Newtownmountkennedy.

Cill Óige is a relatively new club which incorporates the Rosemount and Castledaly areas. Last year, Cill Óige reached the Westmeath LGFA Junior Championship final, losing out to neighbours St Joseph's.

Thirteen counties from the four provinces of Ireland as well as one UK club will take part in the 34th edition of the Lidl Comórtas Peile Páidí Ó Sé. There will be 22 adult men’s and ladies club teams coming for a weekend of competitive football and social events including popular Irish band Super Céilí at Páidí Ó Sé’s pub in Ventry, West Kerry.

The intrigue of the Páidí Ó Sé legend and the draw of the rugged Dingle Peninsula has always been a big attraction to celebrities like Dolly Parton and Tom Cruise over the years. Last year saw Corona’s frontman Danny O’Reilly togging out at the GAA tournament with his club Templeogue Synge Street.

With Páidí having guided Westmeath to Leinster SFC glory in 2004, in addition to the considerable success he enjoyed as a Kerry player and manager, a number of clubs from the Lake County have taken part in the festival he founded, with Rosemount GAA having competed in 2018.

This year, in addition to Cill Óige, the Midlands will also be represented by Offaly's Clara who will compete in the Dermot Early senior men’s cup. Meanwhile, current London junior champions Wandsworth Gaels, the adopted club of Westmeath native and global pop star Niall Horan, are competing in the junior men’s competition.

The football festival, which was founded by eight-time All-Ireland winner Páidí Ó Sé, is supported by Lidl Ireland (the sixth year of their involvement), EJ Menswear, Kerry County Council Tourism Unit, Fáilte Ireland and Údarás na Gaeltachta, and has attracted over 18,000 club players since it was founded in 1989.

Comórtas chairman Pádraig Óg Ó Sé (son of Páidí) said: “We are thrilled to keep driving forward Páidí’s vision to attract new people to the peninsula every year to play Gaelic football. His intention was that they would come back again and again to holiday here. His dream has become a reality.

"Clubs are really enthusiastic to be involved and we have planned a great weekend of craic and entertainment for them," added Pádraig Óg, who also acknowledged the support of all the sponsors.

Michael Collins, Sales Operations Manager with Lidl Ireland said: "We are delighted to continue our partnership with this year’s Comórtas Peile Páidí Ó Sé for a sixth year. We are committed to supporting and promoting women in sport. Through our support of Gaelic football at club level and county level through our partnership with the LGFA, we will have invested €10 million of investment in Ladies Gaelic football over a 10 year sponsorship.”

Full details are available on www.paidiose.com