CUMANN LUTHCHLEAS GAEL
What is Feile na Gael?
Feile na nGael is a all Ireland Competition organised by the GAA for 15-a-side teams, comprising players who under 14 years of age on 1st January in the year of Feile.
Its stated aim is to bond communities, forge friendships, provide educational opportunities and unearth new leaders and its primary objective is to facilitate and enable personal, social and cultural development amongst young people with emphasis on cultural and community activities, leadership and training through sport. The competition hosts approximately 25,000 boys and girls each year
Feile na nGael was first held in 1971 and was hosted by County Tipperary. Since then it has been held annually in late June in different counties. This years Feile na nGael 2011 was hosted by Galway. Participation in Feile na nGael is by invitation.
The 2012 NATIONAL Hurling Feile will be hosted by Dublin on July 5th,6th & finals in Croke Park on the 7th. Meaning all Dublin Clubs will have the opportunity to participate and many will host visiting county Feile winners.
The 2012 DUBLIN COUNTY Hurling Feile will be held on the weekend of the 19th & 20th May involving all Dublin Clubs across various divisions.
Kilmacud Crokes are extremely fortunate with TWO Hurling teams playing in BOTH the National and County Feile Competitions, a great opportunity to all the boys involved.
In general all clubs in the host county are invited to participate while all other counties organise local County Feile versions of the event and the winners are then nominated to represent their county at the National event which is great achievement and honor for the clubs involved. (Kilmacud Crokes were the Dublin County champions in 2011 and 2005)
Each visiting team will be hosted by a local GAA Club which will look after their visiting guests of 24 players and 3 team mentors on Thursday 5th & Friday 6th July for, typically each host family hosting two boys. All host families will are Garda vetted in line with child protection guidelines.
The competitions first day ends with a BIG Parade in O’Connell Street of all the participating team members.
What is the parade about?
The purpose of the parade is to showcase the great work done by the Clubs for their Underage players.
The venue and route of the parade to be decided and the parade will be reviewed by dignitaries from the GAA, the Media and local Guests. The Route of the parade will be lined with GAA Supporters and parents.
Format
The general format of Feile is as follows. There may be some exceptions where groups have unequal numbers. Each Division is divided into four groups of four teams. All teams in each group play each other. A team receives two points for a win, one for a draw and no points for a loss. The four teams in each division that win their group qualifies for the semi finals. The two semi final winners then play in the final. Games are twenty minutes a half instead of the standard thirty minutes.
Teams usually play their first game on the first day in being Thursday afternoon the 5th July 2012 the day festival begins. Following this there is a parade for all teams through Dublin. On Friday 6th July all teams play a further two group games in the morning while semi finals are played in the evening.
The finals are played in the main GAA stadium in the host county namely Croke Park on the Saturday July 7th.
Successful Clubs
Na Piarsaigh of Cork have won the Feile na nGael title six times, most recently in 2006. Glen Rovers, also from Cork, and James Stephens of Kilkenny have won the title five times. In all Cork clubs have captured fourteen titles, Kilkenny nine while Limerick, Clare and Dublin clubs have won three titles each. Kilmacud Crokes last won the National Feile in 2005 and the Dublin Feile in 2011.