Youth teams from the midlands joined a host of visiting Irish GAA clubs recently for Britain's premier Gaelic Football festival in Erin Go Bragh Sports Grounds Holly Lane, Erdington (Birmingham).  The annual event, which is now a key feature in a drive to promote Gaelic Games across England, saw over 450 young people in 34 teams take to the Gaelic football field for the coveted championship cup and shield competitions.   The boys competition saw Ratoath (Meath), Sigerson (Tyrone), An Tochar (Wicklow), Ballymun Kickhams (Dublin), Eire Og (Carlow) and St. Michael's (Cork) top their groups on Day 1 whilst Portlaoise 'A' and 'B' (Laois) dominated the girls competition. The visiting boys and girls teams from Ireland continued their fine form and were joined by Sean McDermott's GAA Club, Connollys GFC and Bishop Challoner Ladies 'A' in the cup competition on Day 2. A talented Ratoath team led by player of the tournament Brian McMahon overcame Sigerson in the championship cup final. Girl Player of the festival Rachel Conroy and her Portlaoise team were champions in the girls cup competition. Roger Casements (Coventry) and Blessed George Napier School (Oxford) won the boys and girls shield competitions.     The skills competition saw two of Britain's young GAA stars take honours. Kyle Connelly from Glen Rovers (Hertfordshire) and Aoife Mannon from the Bishop Challoner Girls team (Birmingham) showed some spectacular displays of individual Gaelic football skills to clinch the boys and girls skills competitions.      Commenting on the weekend St. Enda's GAA coach Dominic Murray said 'We all had a super weekend. The smooth way the weekend went is a testament to the effort put in by everyone in Birmingham…. our national game seems to be in very strong position in Britain and will continue to grow on the back of this event'.   The event led by Warwickshire Schools GAA and the GAA of Britain drew support for many local Gaelic football clubs in hosting the visiting teams from Ireland and off the field of play many of the Irish youngsters had the opportunity to take in the sights of Birmingham. Mike Mitchell from Setanta GFC, (Warwickshire) commented 'We had the pleasure of hosting St. Brogan's from Bandon, Cork. We had great support from our club host families and had a full action plan for the entire weekend, so that not only did we all enjoy the Gaelic football, but our visitors enjoyed the delights of the great city of Birmingham'.   Boys Result   Feile Peile International 2006 Boys Championship Cup Winners            Ratoath GAA Club (Meath, Ireland)   Feile Peile International 2006 Boys Championship Runners-up  Sigersons GAA Club (Tyrone, Ireland)   Feile Peile International 2006 Boys Championship Semi-final                 Castleblaney Faughs GAAClub (Monaghan,Ireland)   Feile Peile International 2006 Boys Championship Semi-final                 St. Enda's GAA Club (Tyrone, Ireland)   Feile Peile International 2006 Boys Shield Winners                                Roger Casements GAA Club (Warwickshire)   Feile Peile International 2006 Boys Shield Runners-up               Four Masters GAA Club (Warwickshire)   Feile Peile International 2006 Boys Player of Tournament                      Brian McMahon. Ratoath GAA Club (Meath,Ireland)   Feile Peile International 2006 Banner Winners                           St Enda's GAA Club (Tyrone, Ireland)   Feile Peile International 2006 Skills Competition 1st Place                     Kyle Connelly-Glen Rovers GAA (Hertfordshire)   Girls Results   Feile Peile International 2006 Girls Championship Cup Winners Portlaoise GAA Club 'A' (Laois, Ireland)   Feile Peile International 2006 Girls Championship Runners-up   Portlaoise GAA Club 'B' (Laois, Ireland)   Feile Peile International 2006 Girls Shield Winners                                Blessed George Napier School (Oxford)   Feile Peile International 2006 Girls Shield Runners-up               Erin Go Bragh GAA Club (Warwickshire)   Feile Peile International 2006 Girls Player of Tournament                       Rachel Conroy Portlaoise GAA Club (Laois, Ireland)   Feile Peile International 2006 Girls Competition 1st Place                      Aoife Mannion BishopChalloner GAA(Warwickshire)   For further information please contact Brian Roberts- [email protected] Tweet

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