by Lizzy Murphy
The long-established County Carlow club will face Gaelic Sports Club Luxembourg for the inaugural Willibrord-Lazerian Cup during a weekend celebrating friendship, heritage and connection through Gaelic Games.
The girls of Old Leighlin will carry a proud Carlow football tradition onto an international stage this weekend when they travel to Luxembourg for a special sporting and cultural exchange.
Old Leighlin, Carlow will face the Luxembourg girls youth team in the inaugural Willibrord-Lazerian Cup at Stade Gust Jacquemart in Weimerskirch on Saturday, 26 September. Throw-in is at 11am, and supporters are warmly invited to attend.
This is not simply a visiting team travelling abroad for a match. Old Leighlin is a small but mighty village with a deeply rooted football identity and a long, well-established tradition in ladies’ and girls’ football.
Founded in 1952 and based at Molaise Park, Old Leighlin GAA has been part of community life for generations. Its Ladies and girls teams are supported by an enduring network of players, coaches, families and volunteers who have passed their love of the game from one generation to the next.
The travelling girls represent that wider club tradition—a community in which football is about belonging as much as competition.
A personal journey from Old Leighlin to Luxembourg
The visit has a particularly personal meaning for Luxembourg coach Lizzy Murphy Dunne, who grew up playing football with Old Leighlin.
It was in Old Leighlin that she first learned to love the sport and experienced the friendship, identity and sense of community that come with Gaelic Games.
Now, after many years living in the Grand Duchy, she will welcome a team from her home club to meet and play against the young Luxembourg footballers she coaches.
The weekend therefore brings two important parts of her life together: the Carlow club where her own football story began and the developing community of girls’ Gaelic football in Luxembourg.
A friendship beyond the football field
The visiting team will be welcomed on Friday evening at a reception hosted by Her Excellency Jean McDonald, Ambassador of Ireland to Luxembourg, at the Ambassador’s Residence.
Representatives of Old Leighlin and Gaelic Sports Club Luxembourg will sign a special Friendship Charter, affirming their shared commitment to friendship, respect, inclusion and cultural exchange through Gaelic Games.
The charter also expresses the clubs’ intention to create a lasting relationship, with further opportunities for young players from Old Leighlin and Luxembourg to meet, play and learn from one another.
An ancient connection from Carlow to Luxembourg
The name of the new trophy reflects a remarkable connection between County Carlow and Luxembourg that reaches back more than 1,300 years.
St Lazerian became abbot of the important monastery at Old Leighlin, which had originally been founded by St Gobban in the early seventh century.
Later that century, St Willibrord travelled from Northumbria to Ireland and spent approximately twelve formative years at Rath Melsigi, traditionally identified with Clonmelsh in County Carlow. It was there that he received his religious training and was ordained before setting out with fellow missionaries for continental Europe.
Willibrord subsequently established his great monastery at Echternach in 698. He remains closely associated with the town and is honoured as the patron saint of Luxembourg.
The Willibrord-Lazerian Cup consequently represents more than two local saints. Its name recalls the ancient monastic landscape of County Carlow and the journey from Ireland to Luxembourg undertaken by Willibrord and his companions.
More than thirteen centuries later, the young footballers of Old Leighlin will follow that historic route from Carlow to Luxembourg—not as missionaries, but as sporting ambassadors for their club, village and county.
Its message is fitting: celebrating friendship and connection through Gaelic Games.
Ladies Gaelic football in Luxembourg
Gaelic Sports Club Luxembourg was established in 1978 and has played an important role in developing Gaelic Games in the country. Its Club na nÓg youth section celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2026.
Luxembourg’s girls have already represented their club at European Gaelic Games events, including the European Féile. This visit gives them an opportunity to play against an established Irish club and to build friendships with girls who share their love of football.
For both teams, the weekend will offer much more than Saturday’s result. They will meet at the Ambassador’s reception, sign their Friendship Charter, compete for the new cup and share a team dinner after the game.
The initiative forms part of the wider Carlow–Luxembourg connection during Ireland’s 2026 Presidency of the Council of the European Union, showing how grassroots sport can bring European communities together in a meaningful and lasting way.
It also carries an important message about keeping teenage girls involved in sport by giving them opportunities to travel, represent their communities and feel part of something bigger than a single team.
Whatever the score on Saturday, the girls of Old Leighlin and Luxembourg will write the first chapter of a new friendship—built upon an ancient connection and renewed through Gaelic football.
Match details
Old Leighlin, Carlow v Luxembourg Girls Youth Team
Saturday, 26 September 2026
Throw-in: 11am
Stade Gust Jacquemart, Weimerskirch, Luxembourg
Supporters are warmly encouraged to come along and support both teams.
