Islanders from offshore islands along the west coast of Ireland will make the journey to Bere Island over the weekend of September 7th and 8th to take part in the annual All Ireland Islands' Gaelic football tournament.
BY HELEN RIDDELL
ISLANDERS from offshore islands along the west coast of Ireland will make the journey to Bere Island over the weekend of September 7th and 8th to take part in the annual All Ireland Islands’ Gaelic football tournament.
It’s the third time Bere Island will host the event, which was set up in 1998 when the first islands’ tournament was held on Clare Island. The football tournament was organised as a way to bring island communities together in a social setting and to share their common experiences of island life, with a different island hosting the event each year.
Brendan Murphy of Bere Island GAA club, who are hosting the event, says they anticipate up to 400 people for the event: ‘The tournament was last held here on Bere Island in 2010. It’s always a great weekend, and one of the highlights of the year for all islanders. All of us on Bere Island are looking forward to hosting the tournament. There has been a huge amount of interest in it locally and we welcome everyone to come along and watch the matches over the weekend. There is always a great standard of football from both ladies’ and men’s teams.’
The islanders will be arriving on Bere Island on Friday September 7th, with a full day of football scheduled for Saturday, along with plenty of opportunities for the islanders to get together and catch up with each other. The ladies and men’s finals take placeon Sunday.
Brendan says the Bere Island teams have been busy training and are looking forward to the weekend adding that ‘it promises to be brilliant weekend.’
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