One of the most impressive elements of Lidl’s partnership with the Ladies Gaelic Football Association is the running through from the Senior All Ireland to every level of the game across third-level instititions and secondary schools.
While the Lidl National League heads towards its centrepiece finals, the attention this week has been shared with the schools game, where memories are to be made that will last a lifetime.
Representatives from competing teams, representing nine counties, gathered at Croke Park on Tuesday ahead of six eagerly-anticipated 2023 Lidl All-Ireland Post-Primary Schools Finals.
The Junior A, B and C Finals are scheduled for next Saturday, March 25, with the Senior A, B and C Finals due to be played on Saturday, April 1.
The LGFA and competition sponsors, Lidl Ireland, are also delighted to confirm that the three Senior Finals will be live-streamed, with further viewing details to follow.
In the Senior A Final, Sacred Heart School from Westport will aim to become the first Mayo winners of this competition since Ballinrobe CS were successful back in 1995.
At that time, Ballinrobe were a powerhouse in the Senior A competition, landing five successive titles from 1991-1995.
Sacred Heart’s opponents are from Meath and Loreto, St Michael’s, Navan would bring this title to the Royal County for the very first time if they win, drawing a pretty straight line from the enthusiasm in the county driven by the senior team’s success in winning back-to back TG4 All Ireland Championships.
Loreto (Navan) were Senior B champions in 2015 and Senior C winners a year previously, have contested two previous Senior A Finals but finished as runners-up in 2002 and 1996.
Sacred Heart were runners-up in the Junior A Final against Cavan opponents Loreto last year.
The Senior B Final will pit Mercy Mounthawk from Tralee in County Kerry against Roscommon Town opponents Convent of Mercy.
Mercy Mounthawk were Junior C winners last year and will now aim for Senior glory against Convent of Mercy, who are two-time Senior A winners (2009 and 1989).
In the Senior C Final, St Mary’s from Naas take on Virginia College from Cavan, who were Finalists in this competition a decade ago.
St Mary’s will aim to emulate the feats of Cross and Passion in 2015, who were the last school from Kildare to win the Senior C title.
The Junior Finals will take centre stage next Saturday, March 25, with St Mary’s, Midleton (Cork) taking on Loreto College (Cavan) in the Junior A decider.
St Mary’s were crowned Senior A champions last year and are now aiming for Junior A glory but they’ll face stiff opposition in the form of Loreto, the current Junior A holders who were also recent winners in 2018.
The B Final pits Kildare against Armagh as Maynooth Education Campus take on St Ronan’s College from Lurgan, Armagh.
Maynooth were runners-up in the C competition last year and now have a shot at redemption in the B grade against St Ronan’s, who were Junior A Finalists in 2016.
The C Final is a Kerry v Galway affair as Presentation Milltown pit their wits against Dunmore CS.
Presentation Milltown will hope to keep the silverware in the Kingdom following Mercy Mounthawk’s 2022 win, as Dunmore CS, Senior C winners in 2005, aim to become the first Galway school to win the Junior C title since Coláiste Bhaile Chláir in 2017.
Across the six Finals, Cavan, Meath and Kerry are the counties with two schools getting ready for Lidl All-Ireland PPS deciders.
In attendance at the Lidl All-Ireland Post-Primary Schools Finals Captains day and pictured above are Uachtarán Cumann Peil Gael na mBan, Mícheál Naughton, back row third from right, and Lidl Ireland and Northern Ireland senior partnerships manager Joe Mooney, back row third from left, with Lidl All Ireland Post Primary School Senior Championship Finalists, back row from left, Éabha O’Connor of Mercy Mounthawk Tralee, Kerry, Aisling Hanly of Convent of Mercy, Roscommon, Lily Dwyer of Loreto St Michael’s Navan, Meath, Laura Moran of Sacred Heart School Westport, Mayo, Niamh Tolan of Virginia College, Cavan, and Anna Carpenter of St. Mary’s Naas, Kildare, along with Lidl All Ireland Post Primary School Junior Championship Finalists, front row from left, Casey Noone of Maynooth EC, Kildare, Orla McAlinden of St Ronans, Lurgan, Armagh,Emily Brenner of St Mary’s Midleton, Cork, Sarah Clarke of Loreto College, Cavan, Amy O’Connor of Dunmore Community School, Galway, and Aideen O’Brien of Presentation Milltown, Kerry.
