A Comórtas like no other

My first memory of Comórtas Peile na Gaeltachta is from 1984, when An Rinn was full of talk about Willie Joe Padden.

Though I recall nothing of the senior final, won by Willie Joe’s club, Béal an Mhuirthéad, the anticipation beforehand remains vivid. So does my amazement at seeing Páirc Uí Shíothcháin so packed.

Legendary broadcaster Seán Bán Breathnach considers Padden’s performance that day as the best individual display he has ever seen at the Comórtas. Even now, the name Béal an Mhuirthéad is as magical to my ear as Tír na nÓg.