Mayo's Clare Island wins historic double at All-Island tournament

Clare Island GAA had its greatest ever day on Saturday last when their men’s and women’s teams won the 2023 All-Island Football Championship on home soil.

The All-Island tournament was first held on Clare Island in 1998 and has grown to become a massive celebration of sport, culture and the island way of life.

This year, men’s and women’s teams from the Aran Islands and Inishbofin in Galway, Bere Island and Whiddy Island in Cork, Arranmore Island in Donegal, and Inishturk and Clare Island in Mayo competed for the coveted annual prize.

The tournament is held on a different island each year, and this year it returned to Clare Island for the fourth time. The island men hold the proud record of having won each of their four home tournaments.

The Clare Island women dominated their competition from start to finish, defeating old rivals Inishmore in the final by a scoreline of 10-8 to 4-3.

Meanwhile, the men scraped a win against nearest neighbours Inishturk in the semi-final and went on to defeat defending champions Bere Island in the final by a scoreline of 0-6 to 0-4.

On the occasion of the tournament’s 25th anniversary, a special presentation was made to former Clare Island Development Officer, Donal O’Shea, who was the driving force behind its creation.

The trophies were awarded to women’s captain Tracie O’Leary and men’s captain Eamonn O’Malley. Players of the match were Kayla Moran for the women’s final and Olof Gill for the men’s.