Féile na nGael has taken place each year since 1971. The inaugural tournament was held in Tipperary, and in the intervening 43 years, Féile na nGael has been hosted by 12 separate regions (Laois and Offaly have jointly hosted Féile on three occasions).
The Féile na nGael National tournaments will be held in Ulster again this year on the weekend of 19th – 21st June 2015. All Counties are asked to organise internal Féile na nGael tournaments at each of the appropriate grades – A, B, C etc.
As Antrim are the only Ulster County to previously host Féile na nGael (in 2000 and 2002), the Provincial wide hosting of Féile ensures that Armagh, Cavan, Derry, Donegal, Down, Fermanagh, Monaghan and Tyrone will play their part in hosting Féile na nGael for the first time.
2015 will see @UlsterGAA host hurling and @OfficialWexGAA @Carlow_GAA @wicklowgaa host football.
— GAA Féile (@feilegaa) January 20, 2015
Structure
The format for the national competition will be similar to 2014. In boys Hurling, there are 53 confirmed host clubs. As there are 10 host Counties (9 of Ulster, plus Louth), there are 22 visiting Counties, plus London. Therefore each visiting County is being asked to identify two teams to participate in Ulster, with a small number of Counties asked to identify three, as below.
Visiting Teams
The following counties will nominate the winners of their “B” competition:
- Cork
- Kilkenny
- Galway
- Tipperary
- Wexford
- Limerick
- Waterford
- Clare
Each of these counties will also nominate the runners up in their “B” Tournaments to participate at the National Finals.
Due to the nature of the internal programme in Dublin, they have been asked to nominate their “C” winners and runners up.
As a limited number of additional clubs may be required, the counties listed above may also be asked nominate the winners of their “C” or subsequent Féile competition if applicable.
For all other counties visiting Ulster, the winners of the internal “A” and “B” County Féile competition will represent their County in Ulster. Please note that the second representatives from these Counties must be the winners of a “B” competition.
Skills Star Competition
Due to the increase in teams participating at National, Regional and Provincial tournaments, there will also be no Skill Star competition in Ulster. A separate National Skills Day is planned for early June 2015 in Portlaoise.
Regional Féile na nGael Tournaments
The Regional Féile na nGael Tournaments will run over the same weekend as the national Féile tournament. In 2014, a total of 6 venues were identified, with 44 boys teams and 32 girls teams participating. These tournaments were very well received by all participating teams, and based on feedback received it has been decided to identify additional venues to facilitate the increased requests.
It is proposed that in 2015 the following venues will be employed:
- Thurles (Hurling and Camogie)
- Waterford (Hurling Only)
- Portlaoise (Hurling and Camogie)
- Kilkenny (Hurling and Camogie)
- Galway (Hurling and Camogie)
- Offaly (Hurling Only)
- Limerick (Hurling Only
Future Féile na nGael Tournaments
As part of the Féile review, it was decided to expand upon the number of Counties that have hosted Féile na nGael. Over a 10 year period all Counties would be offered the opportunity to host.
Therefore the following hosting arrangements have been proposed:
- 2016 – Munster (Tipperary/Waterford)
- 2017 – Leinster (Kilkenny/Wexford/Carlow)
- 2018 – Connacht (All Counties)
- 2019 – Munser (Kerry/Cork/Limerick)
- 2020 – Leinster (Greater Dublin Area)
For more information on Féile, please contact secretary.nationalfeile@gaa.ie