Yet another Celtic twist will be added to this years Almonte Celtfest. On Sunday July 13, 2008 at 1:00 p.m. the Ottawa Gaels Gaelic Football team will showcase their talent in an exhibition game for lucky spectators to witness. The club began back in 1974 when Pat Kelly, John Keenan, Don Kavanagh, Frankie Casy, Brendan Mulhall and a few other friends got together and wanted to play a gaelic match. They founded the Ottawa Gaels Gaelic Football team and affiliated themselves with the Toronto Gaelic Athletic Association.Today the Toronto league has eight teams, six from the Toronto area, one from Buffalo and the Ottawa Gaels. There are also teams in Montreal and Quebec that sometimes play in tournaments. Generally the season opening tournament is in Montreal on the May long weekend and this year the Ottawa teams were successful in both the men’s and women’s tournaments. Dermot Guinnane, a veteran player and coach has been playing for 20 odd years now, having started in school when he was about 7 years old. “I love the speed of the game and that it is so high scoring,”said Guinnane. “With goals and points there is never a dull moment.” Guinnane, who moved to Gatineau three years ago after marrying a native Gatineau girl in Ireland, was delighted to find there was a Gaelic team in Ottawa where he could continue his passion. Although Guinnane finds coaching fun he admits it is a challenge. It seems as though the challenge is paying off. “We’ve had a youth system that has produced some great footballers and that is very encouraging,”said Guinnane. “There aren’t as many people leaving Ireland these days so in order for our sport to survive and to thrive we really need to get more Canadian men and women playing the sport!”