ST Gall's GAC and St Brigid's GAC have announced that the annual 'Hurling for Hunger' charity tournament is set to return to Belfast this weekend after a two-year hiatus with St Genevieve's school in West Belfast selected as the host venue.
The tournament has become a staple in the diary each year with teams competing in a one-off charity hurling game since 2022 and the 2026 edition will be the first since 2024 and under a brand-new format with four teams across Belfast competing for the prestigious Belfast Hurling Cup.
'Hurling for Hunger' was established in 2022 and started as a pre-season charity fixture between St Brigid's GAC and St Gall's, but the 2026 edition will see a bigger expansion spanning across two weekends as four teams compete for glory.
The tournament will act as a pre-season headliner as hosts St Gall's are set to face St Enda's on Sunday afternoon before Antrim Senior Hurling champions St John's compete with Division One title holders Rossa in the semi-finals and the following Sunday will see the victors compete for the Belfast Hurling Cup in the final.
Priscilla McGreevy from St Gall's GAC said: "Our first tournament took off in 2022 just after Covid, so we went again in 2023 after the success of the first year.
"Unfortunately, the past few years there have been some logistical problems, but now we are back and going bigger again. This time we are having a slightly different format this year and including more teams."
The tournament's birth came from St Gall's legend Jackie Webb who had the idea of running a tournament to raise food for those in need, particularly after the pandemic.
"It came about after a few chats with Jackie Webb who had the idea of a hurling tournament whilst raising funds for the hungry and families who were in need.
"He tied in with another great St Gall's clubman Paul Flannagan and John Rush from Naomh Brid also got involved and we took it from there having our first fixture between St Gall's and St Brigid's in 2022."
The charities which became the beneficiary of the tournament were two West Belfast charities, Foodstock Andersonstown and the Daughters of Charity Catholic foundation.
A spokesperson for Foodstock said: "Thanks to the incredible response to the last Hurling for Hunger Tournament, the fantastic amount of £4,000 was raised – £2000 of which was donated to Foodstock.
"As a result of this massive effort, they were able to reach hundreds of individuals and families who found themselves struggling. This coming together of the GAA community not only provided a helping hand to many but sent a strong message of solidarity across the city.
"Foodstock is working to tackle poverty throughout the communities in Belfast by reaching hundreds of homes on a weekly basis with food supplies, running breakfast clubs at local schools and providing healthy snacks to hundreds of children daily and this donation was invaluable in that work."
The Daughters of Charity also thanked the two Belfast GAA clubs.
"Naomh Brid and Naomh Gall fundraised for the Daughters of Charity, for their Mission Appeal. Just around the time of receiving the £2,000, which was raised for us at the Hurling for Hunger Tournament, Sr Medhim in Meleka, one of our Ethiopian sisters was visiting Ireland.
"She informed us that a lot of families, living through war between Eritrea and Ethiopia are starving and living on the margins of society. This generous donation was given to Sr Medhim which she used to buy food for the poor and starving families. This contribution made a huge difference to the people’s lives and saved many children from dying."
Sunday's tournament will see the first throw-in at 1:30pm.
Priscilla said that as much as the hurling side is important, the charities are the main driving force behind the tournament organisers.
"The hurling matches are an added bonus but the charities are the main aim," she said.
"In the first year we raised over £1,000, but the second tournament raised £4,000 to divide between the two charitable foundations. One hundred per cent of the money raised goes to the charities."
To donate to the 'Hurling for Hunger' charity, you can support on the day with a collection at the games, alternatively you can donate online at 'Hurling for Hunger'.
