Dingle retain Comórtas Peile Páidí Ó Sé title
A REPEAT of last year's men's final saw Dingle living up to their favourites tag by beating Louth's Cooley Kickhams by fivepoints, 0-12 to 0-7, to retain their title at the 2010 Tayto Comórtas Peile Páidí Ó Sé at the weekend.
The spring sunshine ensured the spirits of all 16 teams were high throughout the Comórtas Peile Páidí Ó Sé, which included an exhibition of American Football as culminated in a photographic exhibition in Páidí's pub in Ventry on Sunday evening.
Dingle beat a Joe McNally managed St Anne's of Tallaght in the first round before getting through a robust match against local rivals An Ghaeltacht.
Cooley Kickhams are under new manager DJ Kane and they impressed the former Down star with victories over O'Donovan Rossa and Roscommon Gaels.
Dingle Captain and Lee Strand Milk Man of the Match David Geaney said.
" We got three tough matches over the weekend including a decent tussle with our neighbours. We enjoyed meeting the teams from around the country. In particular, Cooley Kickhams have been great sportsmen on and off the pitch over the weekend,".
The ladies final was a one-sided affair with Mountmellick of Laois dominating Mayo's Carncon despite the best efforts of All-star Cora Staunton who managed all but two of her club's six points.
Mountmellick got two early goals which took the sting out of any Carnacon resurgence and the game ended Mountmellick 3-12 Carncon 0-6.
Following the successful introduction of an American Football exhibition match in 2009, this year again saw two of Ireland's top Irish American Football teams lining out on the Corca Dhuibhne Rugbaí grounds on Saturday.
UL Vikings beat off a physical Cork Admirals 427 to retain what has been dubbed Gaeltacht Bowl by the Irish American Football League players.
"The gods were kind to us with the weather and all teams seemed to get a kick out of the weekend and no one got injured. We had just under 600 people in West Kerry from as far away as Belfast which is great for local businesses.
"In particular I'd like to thank Lee Strand Milk for helping to make the tournament a great success this year. Finally, it was an honour to present broadcaster and close friend Micháel Ó Sé with a media award for contribution to the GAA over many long years," Páidí said.
One of the main events of the weekend was an Independent Newspapers / The Kerryman sponsored photographic exhibition by award winning photographer David Conachy which was launched on Sunday evening by Sunday Independent editor and Tralee man Aengus Fanning in Páidí Ó Sé's Pub. The exhibition will remain on show in the pub for the next two months.
