GAA Rounders Teams of the Year, Provincial Clubs of the Year & Communications Award 2026

23 October 2026/by Shirley Lennon

Teams of the Year

A new addition to our All-Stars night in 2025, Teams of the Year are three awards designed to showcase and recognise teams from clubs across the country who stood out to their peers. The point was to let all clubs nationwide cast a vote for the teams they met during their Championship journey that represented great play, excellent sportsmanship, warm hospitality, good craic and helpful support. Votes from your fellow players and teams are special and these awards meant a lot to last year’s winners – Kilmore (Junior); Emo (Intermediate) and Glynn Barntown (Senior).

Senior Nominees

Galway City Rapparees (Galway)
Erne Eagles (Cavan)
Limekiln (Dublin)

Senior Team of the Year – Limekiln (Dublin)

Limekiln -All Ireland Senior Women’s Champions 2026

Our Senior Women’s All-Ireland Champions 2026, Limekiln from Dublin epitomises resilience and strength of character. From barely having enough players to form a team in March when their Championship entry went in with more hope than confidence, to lifting the CJ Haughey Cup on the last Sunday in August, these ladies fought all year to show just what they’re made of. Led by Captain Emma Hudson and made up of a mixture of players who have represented The Kiln all their lives as well as transfers from other clubs in Dublin, Wexford and Cavan over the years, they all worked together, seamlessly when it mattered, to show how a team can achieve amazing things when they’re determined and focused. Credit is also due to Chris Hughes and Eddie Healy as well as everyone else in Limekiln who supported the team. With Senior Men and Mixed teams playing in the Championship this year, Limekiln are, and have always been, one of our most supportive clubs when it comes to running competitions. Their home, Tymon Park, has been home to so many of our league matches, our Junior Quarter-finals, our Junior Women’s Blitz Day and, most importantly this year, it was Limekiln who saved the day when our InterPros had to be moved at insanely short notice! It’s that sort of commitment and willingness to help that really creates the level of goodwill that exists around Limekiln. While this award is for Team of the Year, it’s impossible to underestimate how their overall contribution at all levels has assisted the Championship in this, and many other, years.

Intermediate Nominees

Emo (Laois)
Galway City Rapparees (Galway)
Kilmore (Roscommon)

Intermediate Team of the Year – Kilmore (Roscommon)

Kilmore Intermediate Men

Kilmore’s only Intermediate team is their men’s team who were promoted to the grade for the 2026 season, so this award is quite the honour for their first year playing at this level. What’s more, they were promoted as beaten finalists in the Junior Men’s 2025 All-Ireland final but absolutely hit the ground running and embraced their promotion with excellent performances all season. Qualifying out of the Intermediate Men’s group to semi-finals was a huge achievement and one that was well deserved but the experience of their opponents, eventual All-Ireland winners St. Clare’s of Cavan was just too strong for Kilmore that day and they bowed out of the Championship with their heads high after a super first Intermediate campaign. Undoubtedly talented and clearly hard-working these Roscommon lads are also great fun, on and off the pitch, and teams enjoyed playing them for their excellent sportsmanship and ability to regroup and get back on track even when games weren’t going their way. With their Mixed team set to join them in Intermediate in 2027, the future is bright for this Roscommon club and we look forward to seeing what they can achieve as their three teams progress through our Championships.

Junior Nominees

Kilmore (Roscommon)
Leighlinbridge (Carlow)
Naomh Pól (Waterford)

Junior Team of the Year Winners – Kilmore (Roscommon)

Kilmore Junior Mixed

And once again the Boys and Girls in Blue win a Team of the Year award! Not only have they won the 2026 Intermediate Team of the Year, but this is also their second year running to win the Junior Team of the Year award. And judging from the comments that accompanied the votes they received from other Junior teams, they are as well liked around the country as they are talented. Having won the Junior All-Ireland Mixed final last month, and received six Junior All Star nominations, the parish must be extremely proud of what they have achieved…but now they add two Teams of the Year awards to the trophy cabinet as well. A club that has only been playing competitively since 2024, the development in this team’s skills has been evident to anyone watching their journey. It’s evident they train hard, want to learn and spend time honing their skills. It’s also obvious how much they love the sport and how well they like each other. While their Mixed team had the more successful year in terms of silverware, Kilmore’s Junior Women’s team also had a great 2026 Championship season, reaching the semi-final stages and only losing out to eventual winners, St. Kieran’s of Limerick, and this award is as much for them as the Mixed team. As All-Ireland winners, the Mixed team will be promoted to Intermediate for next year so all the pressure will be on their Junior Women’s team to bring home a hattrick of Junior Team of the Year awards in 2027!

Provincial Clubs of the Year

Another new award for 2025, this award is based on points allocated to each club for contributions to GAA Rounders in categories such as teams fielded, number of members, underage competitions entered, Referees and National Committee members, social media presence

Connacht Club of the Year Nominees

Athenry (Galway)
Galway City Rapparees (Galway)
Michael Glavey’s (Roscommon)

Connacht Club of the Year Winners – Galway City Rapparees (Galway)

Galway City Rapparees Intermediate Women

For the second consecutive year, the club fielding the largest number of teams in Connacht has claimed the provincial title. With five teams competing in the 2026 Championship across three grades, it was a landmark summer for Galway City Rapparees.

Galway City Rapparees Senior Men

Demonstrating impressive consistency throughout the season, all five teams progressed to the semi-finals in their respective categories: Junior Men, Junior Mixed, Intermediate Women, Intermediate Mixed, and Senior Men. The Junior Mixed and both Intermediate teams advanced to All-Ireland finals, with both Intermediate sides ultimately securing All-Ireland titles. Adding to their on-field achievements, the club earned 17 All-Star nominations across Junior, Intermediate, and Senior grades, as well as nominations for Senior and Intermediate Team of the Year—a remarkable trajectory for a club established in 2021.

Galway City Rapparees Junior Mixed

While on-field success forms a key part of the Provincial Club of the Year criteria, Galway City Rapparees’ contribution to GAA Rounders extends well beyond competition. Off the pitch, members actively support the broader administration of the sport, including two active Referees, two Ard Chomhairle members, two Juvenile Committee members, and a vibrant Go Games initiative. The club also stepped up to host the Intermediate All-Ireland semi-finals in August and consistently promotes the game across local radio, print, and digital channels.

With three teams set to compete in the Senior grade in 2027, Galway City Rapparees continue to establish a strong foundation for the future.

Leinster Club of the Year Nominees

Cúchulainn (Carlow)
Emo (Laois)
Limekiln (Dublin)
Myshall (Carlow)
The Heath (Laois)

Leinster Club of the Year Winners – Emo (Laois)

Emo Intermediate Mixed

The province with the largest number of Rounders clubs gets five nominees for Club of the Year and it is from this group of amazing Rounders clubs that Emo has emerged the Leinster Club of the Year. As one of the country’s strongest underage Rounders clubs, the Laois side has been training and developing young Rounders players for years and their contribution to juvenile Rounders has been nothing short of phenomenal. With teams entered in most underage competitions most years, the red and white taking home silverware is a familiar sight at the end of most juvenile days! Their adult teams this year – three in Intermediate and one in Junior Mixed – were similarly impressive with great performances all year leading to semi-final appearances for the Intermediate Mixed and Men’s teams. While their Men narrowly lost out on a final place to St. Senan’s, the Mixed team went all the way to the Final showing great tenacity and skill to give Galway City Rapparees a great final which was tense and exciting for those in the stands, although maybe less so for those on the pitch. With three All Star nominees, members on the Juvenile Committee, an active Referee and regular social media updates on their teams’ performances, the Laois side are deserving winners of the Leinster Club of the Year award.

Munster Club of the Year Nominees

Na Piarsaigh (Limerick)
St. Kieran’s (Limerick)
St. Senan’s (Limerick)

Munster Club of the Year Winners – St. Senan’s (Limerick)

St. Senan’s Junior Women

As in Connacht, the Munster Club of the Year is staying with the same winners as in 2025, Foynes club St. Senan’s. Fresh from winning both Junior Men and Junior Mixed in 2025, those two teams moved up to our Intermediate Championship. In addition, they brought in a brand-new Junior Women’s team who took the competition by storm, losing no games until the All-Ireland final where they were defeated by fellow Limerick side St. Kieran’s. While the Intermediate Mixed team had a good first year at their new grade, they didn’t quite make it to knock-out games but the Men’s team did, defeating Emo in their semi-final and setting themselves up for an All-Ireland final in Offaly against St. Clare’s. While the result didn’t go their way on the day, their performance was strong and sporting and we have no doubt they’ll be back stronger and better for 2027. With all three teams managed by Club Secretary Ian Sheehy his commitment to the club is exemplary and his hard work, along with that of all the players and Club Officers, is the reason for this award two years running.

Ulster Club of the Year Nominees

Carrickmacross Emmets (Monaghan)
Erne Eagles (Cavan)
St. Clare’s (Cavan)

Ulster Club of the Year Winners – Erne Eagles (Cavan)

Erne Eagles Senior Men

And the third province where last year’s winners retain their title is Ulster with reigning Senior Men’s All-Ireland Champions club Erne Eagles taking the honours again for 2026. Another club with both underage and adult representation, Erne Eagles have shown this year how players can successfully transition from playing at juvenile level to adult teams with the right level of support and training.

While Eagles’ Senior Men took home silverware this year, and had some campaign all year where they showed their skill and mastery of our game, their Senior Women proved in their semi-final against Breaffy that they can really play their best when their backs are to the wall. On a miserable, wet day in Monaghan they pulled together and played for each other, making Breaffy fight for their win. At underage level, their U15s were so exciting to watch in the National Féile while their Go Games blitzes brought children from far and wide to experience the fun of playing our game in a non-competitive environment. Again, a club who contributes on a national stage with members on the Juvenile Committee, the CCC, the Hearings Committee and with several active Referees, Erne Eagles are truly deserving winners of the Ulster Club of the Year 2026 title.

Communications Award

And our final award of this evening, and the last one to be revealed before our sold out Black Tie All Stars event on 7 November in the Osprey Hotel, Naas is our Communications Award which, very deservedly, goes to Carrickmacross Emmets in Monaghan. Anyone following Carrick’s social media channels knows that their content is second to none with regular and varied videos and posts. The brainchild of Junior Women’s team Back Catcher Emma Fay, Carrick’s Communications are original, well put together, entertaining and fun to watch – comhghairdeas Emma, maith thú!

Emma Fay capturing footage at the Senior Men’s All Ireland Final 2026

And that’s all the awards we’re announcing before All Stars night on 7 November. Congratulations to all clubs nominated for an award. While we know everyone would like to win, to be nominated is an honour in itself – either to be chosen by your peers as a stand-out team for whatever reason or to come in the top three in terms of points earned for your club’s overall contribution to Rounders is very special and we hope that you all rightly feel very proud of your clubs, your players and your volunteers who made it happen. GAA Rounders couldn’t be the amazing community, the growing sport and the fantastic success story it is without every one of you and you all deserve a massive bualadh bos for all you do.

Our All-Stars event is now completely sold out and we cannot wait to welcome you all to the Osprey Hotel, Naas on 7 November for what is set to be a fantastic night of celebrations and craic!

Connacht Cup 2026: Erne Eagles Beat Kilmore in Final

21 October 2026/by Joe Naughton

Connacht Cup 2026

Erne Eagles finish unbeaten to claim Connacht Cup

Eagles come from behind against Kilmore as Galway City Rapparees and Athenry also celebrate silverware at Liam Mellows.

SATURDAY, 17 OCTOBER 2026 | GALWAY

Erne Eagles completed an unbeaten day at Liam Mellows GAA Club on Saturday, coming from behind to defeat an eight-player Kilmore side 11–10 in an exciting Connacht Cup final.

Kilmore looked on course to take the title, but the Eagles found a way back into the game with their final bat and edged a closely fought final to lift the Cup.

It was a fitting finish to a day of Rounders in Galway, where sunshine, a scenic setting and competitive games made for an enjoyable occasion at Liam Mellows. Twelve group matches were followed by three finals, with silverware also heading to Galway City Rapparees and Athenry.

🏆 Connacht Cup 2026 Winners

CUP: Erne Eagles
— defeated Kilmore 11–10

SHIELD: Galway City Rapparees Black & Yellow
— defeated GCR Pink Pony Club

PLATE: Athenry
— defeated Elphin

Eagles make unbeaten start

Erne Eagles’ mixed team travelled to Galway looking to add more silverware to their season and began their campaign against newly formed Clontuskert in the club’s first competitive tournament.

The Eagles won their opening game before defeating a strong Galway City Rapparees Black & Yellow side. Their final group match against Elphin was a tight contest, but the Eagles came out on top again.

Three wins from three sent Erne Eagles through to the Cup final, where they met Kilmore for the second time in the space of a week. The sides had also faced each other in the Ulster Cup final, with the Eagles winning that contest.

Eagles fight back to edge Kilmore

Despite playing with eight players, Kilmore put themselves in a strong position and looked to have the title within their grasp.

The Eagles had a fantastic top of the last, and produced the runs they needed to turn the game around. Their comeback secured a 9–7 victory and added the Connacht Cup to the club’s silverware.

For Kilmore, the Junior Mixed All-Ireland champions, it was a performance to be proud of against the Senior Men’s champions.

🦅 Erne Eagles team

AvaMae O’Sullivan, Alice Fitzsimons, Ayeisha Lonergan, Emma Perrin, Justin Perrin, Owen Roe O’Reilly, Darryl Dolan, Shane Sheridan and Paul Mollaghan.

Captain: Ayeisha Lonergan

The perfect day

Erne Eagles went unbeaten on their way to the Connacht Cup.

Rapparees and Athenry claim silverware

The Shield final was an all-Galway City Rapparees affair, with GCR Black & Yellow overcoming clubmates GCR Pink Pony Club to take the honours.

The two Rapparees teams had been mixed for the competition, giving players a chance to line out in different combinations and enjoy a competitive day.

Galway City Rapparees at the Connacht Cup 2026

Athenry also had reason to celebrate, beating Elphin in the Plate final to round off a successful day for the Galway club.

A first for Clontuskert

The Connacht Cup marked an important moment for Clontuskert, who played their first competitive Rounders matches after beginning their journey earlier this year.

Taking to the field against established clubs gave the newcomers valuable experience and another step forward as they continue to develop.

Kilmeena were also involved in the day’s action, while St Clare’s were unable to attend after withdrawing late.

🌟 Individual Award Winners

Four players were recognised for their performances throughout the day.

Best Female Newcomer: Ayeisha Lonergan

Best Male Newcomer: Eli Harrington

Best Female Player: Lisa Guilfoyle

Best Male Player: Aidan Carr

🏆 Connacht Cup Roll of Honour

Erne Eagles add their name to the Connacht Cup roll of honour after their dramatic final victory over Kilmore.

Year	Final	Winner	Score
2021	Breaffy v Glynn Barntown	Breaffy	10–5
2022	Breaffy v Galway Rapparees	Breaffy	7–2
2023	St Kevin’s v Breaffy	St Kevin’s	2–1
2024	Breaffy v Galway Rapparees	Breaffy	6–5
2025	St Kevin’s v Erne Eagles	St Kevin’s	26–12
2026	Erne Eagles v Kilmore	Erne Eagles	9-7

A day to celebrate Rounders

Liam Mellows GAA Club provided the venue for the tournament, with thanks due to everyone at the club for their support in the lead-up to the event and throughout the day.

Thanks also went to the Connacht GAA Rounders committee, including Mark Jennings and Shirley Lennon for their help with the organisation, as well as the referees, players, supporters and everyone who travelled or contributed.

From Erne Eagles’ unbeaten run to Clontuskert’s first competitive outing, the 2026 Connacht Cup offered plenty to celebrate and brought the Rounders community together for an enjoyable day in Galway.

Sunshine, silverware and a celebration of Rounders

Connacht Cup 2026 · Liam Mellows · Galway

GAA Rounders September & October Round-up

16 October 2026/by Shirley Lennon

Now that our Championship season is over and we’ve had our three fantastic All-Ireland Finals weekends, we get a break from Rounders until next April 😉…we do not! And nor do we want one! The four weekends since our Mixed All-Ireland Finals have been busy and Rounders-filled and it’s time to have a look at the action that’s taken place, nationwide, in September and October.

20 September

Naomh Pol and Sporting Limerick – Munster Cup Mixed Finalists

Rounders took over Mallow GAA on Sunday 13 September for our three All-Ireland Mixed finals and Munster Rounders were back in Cork the following Sunday for their Provincial Cup. In glorious late summer sunshine, the Mixed Final was held between Naomh Pól of Waterford and Sporting Limerick. Following a closely fought game, Naomh Pól took the victory 15:14 and the title of Munster Mixed Champions for 2026 made its way to the Déise for the first time. Meanwhile, the Women’s final was won by another Waterford side, Passage, newcomers to GAA Rounders this year. A fantastic achievement for both Waterford teams in their first year of competitive Rounders action – we look forward to seeing both grow and develop as Rounders clubs.

Passage of Waterford – Munster Cup Women’s Winners

Well done to Munster Ard Chomhairle Representative Michael Sheahan for organising such a great day of Rounders, to Michael and Hazel Hartigan for refereeing and for all the clubs who attended and players who took part. Thanks to Mallow GAA for their hospitality and for their generosity with allowing GAA Rounders to use their excellent facilities.

Clontuskert Open Day Exhibition Game

On the same day, Clontuskert GAA Rounders – another new club, based in Co. Galway – held a Club Open Day which ended with an Exhibition Game between their players and a side comprising players from Galway City Rapparees, Breaffy and Athenry. Showcasing all that is good about our sport, the game featured some excellent displays of Rounders skills from seasoned players and newcomers alike. Clontuskert have had a brilliant first year as part of the GAA Rounders family with teams entered in underage competitions, Go Games days hosted and a team in the upcoming Connacht Cup. We can’t wait to see how they get on in their second year in competitive action! Maith sibh!

27 September

Our InterProvincial Competition, not played since 2023, had been scheduled for March but, due to bad weather, had to be cancelled at short notice. It was postponed to 27 September and was highly anticipated and planned for. This year was to be the first time we held Men’s and Women’s InterPros and teams from all four provinces, of both genders, were training and getting ready to represent their province on a national stage. Unfortunately, bad weather once again caused a problem for us and the original venue, Athlone GAA, had to cancel at very short notice when a yellow weather warning for rain was issued. The Rounders gods were smiling down on us though and the legends that are Chris and Christy Hughes and Limekiln Rounders stepped in to save the day, offering us their pitches for the following day. Players from all seven teams (Munster Men were unable to field) stepped up and agreed to travel to the new venue – although this added to many of their journeys and we are grateful for their last minute flexibility – and we were ready to go. Our Women’s semi-finals were Connacht vs Munster, won by Connacht, followed by Leinster vs Ulster, where Leinster took the win. In the Men’s competition, the only semi-final was between Leinster and Ulster and, although close, it was Leinster who marched on to the Final against Connacht.

Connacht Men

Connacht Women

Our two finals were excellent displays of our game at its best with Connacht ultimately coming out on top in both matches. Our Referees for the day were Danielle Keane, Áine McLaughlin and Michael Dowling and Players of the Match for the two finals were Tommy Hoban of Connacht (Kilmeena) and Leah Mullins of Leinster (Cúchulainn).

GAA Rounders President Paula Doherty was on hand to present medals to the runners-up and winners, and plaques to the Referees. It was another fantastic day of Rounders and we extend our thanks to anyone involved

players from all seven teams
managers – Connacht Men – Martin Hoban, Aidan Lynskey and Stephen Cox; Connacht Women – Craig Davis, Jenna O’Brien, Gwen Redmond, Caitríona Cox & Séamus Keegan; Leinster Men – Carmel Moloney & Caroline Waters; Leinster Women – Serena Lewis & Grace Salmon; both Leinster teams – PJ Lalor & Peadar Waters; Munster Women – Michael Sheahan; Ulster Women – Shane Dolan; Ulster Men – Shane Sheridan & Darryl Dolan
referees
Limekiln Rounders
GAA Rounders Ard Chomhairle members who attended on the day

3 October

Saturday 3 October dawned bright and sunny and for the 80 Rounders players who had signed up for the Clew Bay Bash it was a highly anticipated morning with a very early start for some! It had also been a very late night for some others who had ventured to Clare Island the evening before 😉 Planned and organised by Kilmeena Rounders’ Will Fahy, with Stephen Cox, Darragh McDonnell and Martin Hoban, this genius idea involved bringing Rounders players from Connacht teams, and beyond – some brave Ulster players and the Leinster-based National Secretary were also signed up! – to Clare Island. Famous as the home of legendary pirate queen Grace O’Malley, this 140 inhabitant island didn’t know what hit it when a ferry load of Rounders players descended on it on Saturday morning! With two Rounders pitches (sketchily) marked on the island’s GAA pitch (which had been more or less under water the previous day!), teams were given coloured jerseys and sent off to play Round Robin games to see who could overcome tiredness, slight hangovers and the after effects of seasickness to become the Clew Bay Bash Champions for 2026!

Clew Bay Bash Winners

The very snazzy pink team, captained by Galway City Rapparees’ Pakie Killilea, were overall Champions and Cup winners while the Blue team, captained by fellow Rapparee Edel Brennan, took the shield. Male MVP was Owen Roe “Ditch” O’Reilly of Erne Eagles who took chasing the ball down to a whole new level, while Female MVP was another Rapparee, Cat Carty. I was honoured to be given my own Rounders G.O.A.T. medal which was a lovely, unexpected surprise. The return ferry left the island at 5.30pm bringing a group of tired but delighted and happy Rounders players back to Roonagh to make their way home. The organisation and planning that went into the event was phenomenal and Will and his team should be commended for their hard work. Plans are already afoot for next year’s event and the advice is…book early!

4 October

Sunday, 4 October, was the Limekiln Rounders Memorial Cup Day in honour of Amy Haverty. Another fantastic summer’s day in Limekiln with sunshine and smiles all around as three teams – Limekiln, St. Clare’s and a team made up of players from Galway City Rapparees, Na Gaeil Nua and Kevin’s Hurling & Camogie as well as some softballers-turned-Rounders-players for the day – played to see who would take home the Cup for 2026. Following three great games played with good humour and craic, and watched over by a cygnet from the park pond, the final was played between home team Limekiln and St. Clare’s. Won by one run by Limekiln, it was a fantastic day of Rounders enjoyed by all who took part. Thanks to Limekiln Rounders for organising such a great day, to all who played and took part and to Referees Niamh, Áine and Shirley.

10 October

Erne Eagles – Ulster Cup Winners 2026

The following Saturday it was the turn of Ulster to host their Provincial Cup and, while the weather wasn’t quite as kind as it had been the previous weekend, Cloghan in Monaghan was the destination for teams from all over Ulster and two from Connacht. In a change to previous years, the 2026 event was open to clubs from all grades and only featured a Mixed Competition. With nine teams entered and three pitches on the go, the action started at 10.30am and each team played two games over the morning league action. After lunch there were semi-finals culminating in a Cup and Shield final. The Cup final was between Erne Eagles of Cavan and Kilmore of Roscommon – the 2025 title holders – while the Shield was contested by St. Clare’s of Cavan and Slaughtneil of Derry.

Erne Eagles’ Justin Perrin receives his Player of the Match award from Referee Shirley Lennon

The two Cavan sides came out on top in two excellent games and Players of the Match were Slaughtneil’s Mark Farran and Erne Eagles’ Justin Perrin. Referees on the day were Adam, Shirley and Emma. Thank you to Michael Dowling who came on the day to shadow Trainee Referees Matthew, David, Alex, Justin and Arleen and to Ulster Representative Arleen Ramsey who organised a very enjoyable day of Rounders.

11 October

Kilmore and Carrickmacross Emmets Junior Women

Moneygall Junior Women

Nobber Junior Women

And in our second double-header weekend of October, and Limekiln’s third Sunday in a row to host a Rounders event, Tymon Park was, once again, the place to be for a Junior Women’s End of Year Blitz. Teams from Meath – Nobber, Monaghan – Carrickmacross Emmets, Tipperary – Moneygall and Roscommon – Kilmore, arrived in Dublin 12 bright and early and action started at 12pm. With each team playing all the others in the morning we had some close and competitive games with Kilmore and Carrickmacross Emmets both making it to the final which was won by the Roscommon ladies, captained by Sameen Oates.

Kilmore Captain Sameen Oates receives the Junior Women’s Blitz trophy from National Secretary Shirley Lennon

Special mention to Rachel and Sinéad from Carrickmacross who sustained injuries in their first game and we’d like to wish both ladies a speedy recovery. The remaining seven women on their team put in some work to play four games while down two players and are to be commended for their never say die attitude. Moneygall, in their first competitive Rounders event, were fantastic and, as each game progressed, the improvement in their play could be seen. Another side to watch for the 2027 Championship, it was a pleasure to have them involved. Nobber also played some great games with some clever batting and strong fielding – for another team only formed in early 2026, the future is exceptionally bright for these committed Meath-women. But the day belonged to Kilmore and their excellent teamwork, smart base running and brilliant fielding and batting were a pleasure to watch. For Annie and Sorcha, who had their first outings with the team on Sunday, congratulations and we hope you were both bitten by the Rounders bug and will continue to play and enjoy our game for many years to comes. Thanks again to the ever-willing-to-assist Chris and Christy Hughes of Limekiln. Chris reffed all day while Christy marked both pitches. We are very grateful for all your help over the entire year!

Looking Ahead

17 October

Saturday 17 October is the date of our third Provincial Cup of the year, the Connacht Cup, hosted this year by Liam Mellows GAA in Galway. With nine teams competing for the title of Connacht Cup winner, there will be interest from Connacht and Ulster teams with St. Clare’s and Erne Eagles making the trip from Cavan to Galway while Elphin, Kilmore, Clontuskert, Athenry, Kilmeena and two Galway City Rapparees teams will represent the home province. A review of the day will be published next week but the best of luck to all teams and players taking part.

18 October

The “getting bigger and better every year” CWL kicked off their 2026-27 season on 4 October and will hold their second Sunday of the year on 18 October in Myshall. With Women’s, Men’s, Mixed and Social Women’s categories, there will be multiple games over the day and anyone in the vicinity on Sunday will be treated to some excellent rounders!

7 November

On 7 November we swap the football boots for high heels and the jerseys for tuxedos and the Osprey Hotel in Naas will be the place to be for our GAA Rounders All Stars night. With 240 Rounders players and fans ready to party, we cannot wait for the brightest night in our calendar when 30 All Star winners will be revealed and when our prestigious Club of the Year will be announced. Tickets are limited and can be purchased at GAA Rounders All-Stars Night 2026 – Universe

15 November

Our last big event of the year will be our AGM or Annual Congress, held this year in Breaffy Resort in Castlebar, Co. Mayo. Our constitution stipulates that the AGM should move between provinces each year and 2026 is Connacht’s turn. Nominations for Ard Chomhairle positions have been received – more on that next week – and motions from clubs have been written and will be considered by the Motions Committee next week. The AGM booklet and documents will be circulated to all clubs at the end of October and we would urge all clubs to exercise their voting rights and to send two delegates to the AGM which will commence at 2pm on 15 November.

That’s some amount of Rounders excitement for the off-season and long may it continue – it’s just brilliant to see our game being extended beyond the traditional summer season and players getting to enjoy our sport into the autumn and winter months.

Best of luck to anyone playing this weekend – bainigí sult as na cluichí!

GAA Youth Forum Competition

14 October 2026/by Craig Davis

Ppp

GAA Rounders All-Star Nominations Round Up

9 October 2026/by Shirley Lennon

So, after a week of anticipation, excitement and surprise we now have our 112 nominations for our 30 awards. All the winners will be revealed at the Osprey Hotel on 7 November at our Black Tie All Stars Event and the countdown to that event starts in earnest now.

We will also crown Senior, Intermediate and Junior Teams of the Year, four Provincial Clubs of the Year and our prestigious overall Club of the Year award and we will be in contact with clubs early next week to let you know how to vote for those awards. We’re also still keeping an eye on socials to see what clubs are continuing to produce fresh, exciting content for our PRO Award and our final award of the evening will be the highly anticipated President’s Award so there’s still lots to come and plenty more to think about over the next few weeks.

For now, let’s just collate all the nomination information in one place so you can see at a glance who has been nominated, what clubs will have the best representation on the night and how the figures look across all grades and clubs.

Breaffy, Mayo – 18

Senior Men

Pitcher – Colin Cannon

Short Stop – Mark Jennings

Left Outfield – Colm Jordan

Centre Outfield – Victor del Rosal

Right Outfield – Nathan McHale

Senior Women

Pitcher – Michelle Hopkins

Catcher – Katie Groonell

First Base – Margaret Fitzgibbon

Second Base – Michelle Grover

Short Stop – Gráinne Gavin

Left Outfield – Katie Jordan

Right Outfield – Aileen Gavin

Roaming – Helen Gallagher

Senior Mixed – Male

Colin Cannon

Victor del Rosal

Colm Jordan

Senior Mixed – Female

Katie Groonell

Michelle Hopkins

Galway City Rapparees – 17

Senior Men

Second Base – Cathal Creaven

Third Base – Tomás Kenny

Right Outfield – Ajay Kumar

Roaming – Vishal Pathare

Intermediate Women

Sorcha Dowd

Katie Jessop

Clodagh Naughton

Intermediate Mixed – Male

Cathal Creaven

Ryan Dennis

Tomás Kenny

Intermediate Mixed – Female

Clodagh Naughton

Jessie Pereira

Alex Stewart

Junior Mixed – Male

Séamus Keegan

Greg Mannion

Junior Mixed – Female

Caitríona Carty

Sorcha Dowd

Carrickmacross Emmets, Monaghan – 12

Senior Men

Pitcher – Barry Lambe

Catcher – Colm Kiernan

First Base – Frank Duffy

Second Base – Ronan Kiernan

Third Base – Justin Burns

Short Stop – Patrick Bermingham

Left Outfield – Declan Finnegan

Centre Outfield – Oran Kiernan

Senior Women

Second Base – Aisling Ginnitty

Third Base – Fiona Fox

Right Outfield – Ciara Crosby

Senior Mixed – Female

Laura Hughes

Limekiln, Dublin – 12

Senior Men

Short Stop – Eddie Healy

Roaming – Ciarán Weldon

Senior Women

Pitcher – Serena Costelloe

First Base – Amanda Kealy

Third Base – Marion Hughes

Short Stop – Erica Meslin

Left Outfield – Yvonne Healy

Centre Outfield – Colette McCaul

Right Outfield – Emma Hudson

Roaming – Yvonne Healy and Merilin Neiland

Senior Mixed – Male

Chris Hughes

Erne Eagles, Cavan – 10

Senior Men

Pitcher – Darryl Dolan

Catcher – Paul Mollaghan

First Base – Shane Sheridan

Second Base – Gerard Clerkin

Left Outfield – Owen Roe O’Reilly

Right Outfield – Nathan Loughnane

Senior Women

First Base – Rachel Reilly

Third Base – Maggie Brady

Short Stop – Sarah Galligan

Intermediate Mixed – Female

Geraldine Goldrick

Glynn Barntown, Wexford – 9

Senior Men

First Base – Daithí White

Third Base – Paul Delaney

Centre Outfield – Ian White

Senior Women

Catcher – Michelle Malone

Centre Outfield – Kiera Donnelly

Senior Mixed – Male

Paul Cooper

Garry Jordan

Senior Mixed – Female

Chloe Doyle

Emma Reddy

Cúchulainn, Carlow – 6

Senior Men

Catcher – Glenn Sheir

Senior Women

Catcher – Leah Mullins

Second Base – Marian Sheir

Left Outfield – Amy Moloney

Centre Outfield – Amy Kelly

Senior Mixed – Female

Caroline Waters

Kilmore, Roscommon – 6

Junior Mixed – Male

Oisín Boland

Aidan Carr

Mark Harrington

Junior Mixed – Female

Nicola Craughwell

Ruth McElhone

Clodagh Sheerin

St. Senan’s, Limerick – 6

Intermediate Men

Dean Hogan

JP Mulvihill

Niall Sheehy

Junior Women

Dorothy Cullagh

Louise Kelly

Dympna O’Brien

Emo, Laois – 3

Intermediate Mixed – Male

Liam Horgan

Dan White

Intermediate Mixed – Female

Niamh Horgan

Myshall, Carlow – 3

Junior Men

PJ Lalor

Eoin Rea

Matthew Roberts

Elphin, Roscommon – 2

Intermediate Women

Avril Coyne

Áine McDermott

St. Clare’s, Cavan – 2

Intermediate Men

Jason Cawley

Wayne Gerber

St. Kieran’s, Limerick – 2

Junior Women

Deirdre Ambrose

Sandra Walsh

Gusserane, Wexford – 2

Junior Men

Matthew Flynn

Carel van der Merwe

The Heath, Laois – 1

Senior Female

Pitcher – Danielle Keane

Comhghairdeas libh go léir!

Further updates and information to come over the next few weeks but make sure to get your tickets here, GAA Rounders All-Stars Night 2026 – Universe, book your hotel and sort out your tux…only 29 sleeps to go 😉

Yvonne Healy

Limekiln, Dublin

Merilin Neiland

Ciarán Weldon

Limekiln, Dublin

And that’s our full list – all our Senior, Intermediate and Junior All-Star nominees for 2026. Congratulations to every single one of you – a massive well done on being nominated and, while only one of you can win in every category, we hope you are all so proud of your achievement to get this far and we hope you enjoy the build-up to next month’s All-Stars night on Saturday 7 November in Osprey Hotel, Naas, Co. Kildare.

Tickets can be purchased from GAA Rounders All-Stars Night 2026 – Universe

Thank you to everyone for your patience this week and your engagement with our Facebook and website articles – it’s been great to hear all the positive comments and the support for all our players. I’ve said it before but it’s worth saying again – our GAA Rounders community is special and is made up of some really cool people – here’s to another fantastic All-Stars night next month!

GAA Rounders Senior Mixed All Star Nominations 2026

7 October 2026/by Shirley Lennon

While the last two evenings’ nominations created amazing excitement around Junior and Intermediate clubs nationwide, the next two sets of reveals will be about our Senior players, the ones who set the standard for our game and the absolute top tier of our athletes.

All Stars night is undeniably for and about our sport and for anyone involved in playing, coaching and managing teams, but the awarding of our Senior All Stars is the most important part of that event. It is only right that we acknowledge, recognise and reward those players who give the most to our sport and who continue to inspire those playing at a different grade or age group.

Our Mixed game is our USP, the thing we do differently to any other GAA code, and it is fitting that the first Senior All-Star nominees of 2026 are for those twelve outstanding players who are the best of the best in our Mixed game. Made up of our All-Ireland winners and runners-up as well as our semi-finalists, and one player who’s team didn’t make it out of the group stages, our nominees come from three provinces and five counties. While only one award is presented for Senior Mixed Male and one for Senior Mixed Female, we have six nominees for each and they are listed below.

Senior Mixed Women

Chloe Doyle

Club – Glynn Barntown, Wexford

Position – Back Catcher

Katie Groonell

Club – Breaffy, Mayo

Position – Back Catcher

Michelle Hopkins

Club – Breaffy, Mayo

Position – Pitcher

Laura Hughes

Club – Carrickmacross Emmets, Monaghan

Position – Second Base

Emma Reddy

Club – Glynn Barntown, Wexford

Position – Pitcher

Caroline Waters

Club – Cúchulainn, Carlow

Position – Infield

Position – Back Catcher/Pitcher/Outfield

All winners will be announced at our Black Tie All Stars night, 7 November, in the Osprey Hotel, Naas, Co. Kildare. Tickets are available from GAA Rounders All-Stars Night 2026 – Universe

Tickets are starting to sell fast now that our nominees are being announced so don’t delay if your club wants to have a table, or three 😉, at the most amazing night in the Rounders calendar.

Our final, and biggest, reveals will be our Senior All Star nominees tomorrow, Thursday, evening at 7pm and you won’t want to miss that!

GAA Rounders Intermediate All-Star Nominees 2026

6 October 2026/by Shirley Lennon

Intermediate All-Star Nominations 2026

Safe to say there were some happy people in Roscommon, Galway, Wexford, Carlow and Limerick yesterday evening with our Junior All-Star nominee announcements. So let’s keep it going and shine a light on our Intermediate superstars for 2026. Again, statistics were taken for knockout games – semi-finals and finals – and again, four accolades are up for grabs with Intermediate Men, Intermediate Women, Intermediate Mixed (Male) and Intermediate Mixed (Female) all being awarded to the best of our best Intermediate grade players.

Intermediate Women

As the final was an all-Connacht affair, so the All-Star nominees are all Connacht cailiní. All five of them had great games in our All-Ireland decider matches and they rightly take their places among the top female Intermediate players of our game. All infielders, two Pitchers, a Catcher and two Short Stops – three from Galway and two from Roscommon – made the list.

Avril Coyne

Club – Elphin, Roscommon

Position – Short Stop

Sorcha Dowd

Club – Galway City Rapparees, Galway

Position – Back Catcher

Katie Jessop

Club – Galway City Rapparees, Galway

Position – Pitcher

Áine McDermott

Club – Elphin, Roscommon

Position – Pitcher

Clodagh Naughton

Club – Galway City Rapparees, Galway

Position – Short Stop

Intermediate Men

Not surprisingly, All-Ireland winners St. Clare’s of Cavan and runners-up St. Senan’s of Limerick populate this list of nominees, all five of them playing a blinder in last month’s Intermediate Men’s final in Offaly.

Jason Cawley

Club – St. Clare’s, Cavan

Position – Back Catcher

Wayne Gerber

Club – St. Clare’s, Cavan

Position – Short Stop

Dean Hogan

Club – St. Senan’s, Limerick

Position – Centre Outfield

JP Mulvihill

Club – St. Senan’s, Limerick

Position – Pitcher

Niall Sheehy

Club – St. Senan’s, Limerick

Position – Back Catcher

Intermediate Mixed – Female

In a break with what we’ve seen with all our other Junior and Intermediate nominees, a semi-final player has made their way onto the list. These five women are a mix of infielders and outfielders and demonstrate all that is great about our Mixed game at Intermediate level.

Geraldine Goldrick

Club – Erne Eagles, Cavan

Position – Centre Outfield

Niamh Horgan

Club – Emo, Laois

Position – First Base

Clodagh Naughton

Club – Galway City Rapparees, Galway

Position – Short Stop

Jessie Pereira

Club – Galway City Rapparees, Galway

Position – Second Base

Alex Stewart

Club – Galway City Rapparees, Galway

Position – Right Outfield

Intermediate Mixed – Male

Two Pitchers, two Catchers and a Baseminder, our top five all played in the Intermediate Mixed Final but, more than that, have shown all season just how skilled and talented they are at the game of Rounders. Any one of them could take the award – but only one will!

Cathal Creaven

Club – Galway City Rapparees, Galway

Position – Back Catcher

Ryan Dennis

Club – Galway City Rapparees, Galway

Position – Pitcher

Liam Horgan

Club – Emo, Laois

Position – Pitcher

Tomás Kenny

Club – Galway City Rapparees, Galway

Position – Third Base

Dan White

Club – Emo, Laois

Position – Back Catcher

All winners will be announced at our Black Tie All Stars night, 7 November, in the Osprey Hotel, Naas, Co. Kildare. Tickets are available from GAA Rounders All-Stars Night 2026 – Universe

Best value tickets are a table of ten at €650 so gather up your players, get everyone to Naas and let’s make this year’s All Stars even bigger and better than last year’s!

Connacht Club of the Year 2025 Winners Galway City Rapparees

Wednesday evening’s announcement will be our Senior Mixed All Star nominees and then on Thursday our Senior Single Gender All Star hopefuls – see you all tomorrow!

GAA Rounders Junior All-Star Nominees 2026

5 October 2026/by Shirley Lennon

It’s All-Stars Nominations week and we’re starting today with our Junior Nominees. As we did in 2025, we have four Junior All-Stars, with five nominees for each award.

For Junior, and Intermediate, statistics were taken for all knock-out games so quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals for Mixed and Women and semi-finals and finals for Men. All our nominees come from All-Ireland finalist clubs so let’s meet them now. All lists are in alphabetical order so no trying to guess what the order might mean!

Junior Women

With three from All-Ireland runners up St. Senan’s and two from winners St. Kieran’s, this award will definitely be headed to Limerick! Two Pitchers, a Catcher, a Short Stop and a Centre Outfielder make up our shortlist.

Deirdre Ambrose

Club – St. Kieran’s, Limerick

Position – Pitcher

Dorothy Cullagh

Club – St. Senan’s, Limerick

Position – Back Catcher

Louise Kelly

Club – St. Senan’s, Limerick

Position – Pitcher

Dympna O’Brien

Club – St. Senan’s, Limerick

Position – Short Stop

Sandra Walsh

Club – St. Kieran’s, Limerick

Position – Centre Outfield

Junior Men

Once again three nominees are from the runners-up, Myshall, with two from the winners, Gusserane. Both teams’ Pitchers and Catchers are joined by a Short Stop for a fully infield line up.

Matthew Flynn

Club – Gusserane, Wexford

Position – Back Catcher

PJ Lalor

Club – Myshall, Carlow

Position – Pitcher

Eoin Rea

Club – Myshall, Carlow

Position – Short Stop

Matthew Roberts

Club – Myshall, Carlow

Position – Back Catcher

Carel van der Merwe

Club – Gusserane, Wexford

Position – Pitcher

Junior Mixed – Female

A Catcher and Baseminders from all three Bases topped the points in Junior Mixed female with three from Kilmore and two from Galway City Rapparees.

Caitríona Carty

Club – Galway City Rapparees, Galway

Position – Third Base

Nicola Craughwell

Club – Kilmore, Roscommon

Position – Second Base

Sorcha Dowd

Club – Galway City Rapparees, Galway

Position – Back Catcher

Ruth McElhone

Club – Kilmore, Roscommon

Position – Third Base

Clodagh Sheerin

Club – Kilmore, Roscommon

Position – Second Base

Junior Mixed – Male

Three of the nominees are from All-Ireland winners Kilmore and two from runners-up Galway City Rapparees. The final five are both teams’ Pitchers, both Short Stops and a Centre Outfielder.

Oisín Boland

Club – Kilmore, Roscommon

Position – Centre Outfield

Aidan Carr

Club – Kilmore, Roscommon

Position – Pitcher

Mark Harrington

Club – Kilmore, Roscommon

Position – Short Stop

Séamus Keegan

Club – Galway City Rapparees, Galway

Position – Pitcher

Greg Mannion

Club – Galway City Rapparees, Galway

Position – Short Stop

All Stars Night

All winners will be revealed on All Stars night, 7 November, in the Osprey Hotel, Naas, Co. Kildare. Tickets are available from GAA Rounders All-Stars Night 2026 – Universe

Last year’s All Stars was a night not to be missed. Make sure you get your tickets early so you get to experience all the fun and excitement this year. Tickets cost €70 or a table of ten is €650. The event is Black Tie – where will you find a better excuse to dress up, talk Rounders, have a delicious meal and dance the night away with the best bunch of people you could meet?!

Our Intermediate All Stars nominees will be revealed on Tuesday night – followed on Wednesday by our Senior Mixed and Thursday by our Senior Single Gender lists – so make sure you come back for those!

GAA Rounders InterProvincial Tournament – 27 September 2026

25 September 2026/by Shirley Lennon

Barely two weeks after completing our third consecutive weekend of All-Ireland Finals, we’re all back on the road this Sunday and converging on the middle of the country and Athlone GAA for our InterProvincial Tournament. It’s been three and a half years since our last InterProvincial Tournament in Abbotstown – that was a Mixed event and the shield was won by Leinster. This time around we’ve mixed things up and are having two competitions – one for Men and the other for Women so both winners will be inaugural InterProvincial Champions – and that’s not something you get to be every day!

A quick explanation of the rules before we start previewing! What the InterPros Committee set out to achieve was to have squads as balanced as they could be. We wanted players from as many clubs as possible, playing at all three grades, to be given the opportunity to represent their province.

Each squad can be made up of 15 players, three each from Senior, Intermediate and Junior
No club was to have more than five representatives over the 15-player panel
Each starting team must be made up of three players from each grade and substitutions are to be like grade for like e.g. a Junior player can only be substituted for another Junior player
Player grades are based on the highest grade they played in 2025

As we go through the panels, you’ll see that we did bend these rules in a few cases where the required number of players weren’t available because, ultimately, we all want these games played and the rules were mainly to ensure that one panel wasn’t made up of 15 senior players and another of 15 junior players!

The semi-finals line-ups for both are Connacht vs Munster and Leinster vs Ulster and we’re staggering times so that each province’s teams are playing at opposite times. Let’s take a look at the panels, the players and what we can expect from the day.

Where? Athlone GAA, N37 PW42

When? 12pm Connacht vs Munster Women

12.15pm Leinster vs Ulster Men

2pm Leinster vs Ulster Women

2.30pm Men’s Final

4pm Women’s Final

Cost? Free

Women’s Competition

Connacht vs Munster – 12pm

Connacht, the squad with the biggest Management Panel, also has a whole lot of All-Ireland finalists from Senior, Intermediate and Junior and, at first glance, is a very well-rounded, talented bunch of women (and Craig!).

Managed by three Galway City Rapparees players – Craig Davis, Jenna O’Brien and Gwen Redmond – and Kilmeena’s Caitríona Cox, this squad pulls from six Connacht clubs with a number of very experienced players set to line out.

Senior players are Breaffy’s Helen Gallagher and Kilmeena’s Noleen Coghlan and Irene Kaye. Intermediate Representatives are Elphin’s Gretta Davis (who played in 2025 with Intermediate side Michael Glavey’s), Athenry’s Assumpta Feeney, Lisa Guilfoyle and Tara Reapy and Galway City Rapparees Hazel Kilduff, Clodagh Naughton, Jessie Pereira (two extra Intermediate players allowed as there are only three Seniors). Connacht Women’s Junior representatives are Elphin’s Ciara Butler and Avril Coyne and Kilmore’s Nicola Craughwell and Clodagh Sheerin.

Connacht Women’s Squad

While a number of players on the eight original squads in March weren’t available for the rescheduled game in September, a special mention to Kilmore’s Ana Carr who misses out on her place following her injury incurred in the Junior Women’s Semi-final in August. We have no doubt that Ana will be on the next Connacht InterPros team!

Co-captains are Clodagh Sheerin and Hazel Kilduff.

Munster Rounders has no Senior teams and the only Intermediate players are the ladies who line out for St. Senan’s Mixed team, so special allowances had to be made for their squad. The revised date meant a lot of the original players were now unavailable so the new squad is made up of Knockainey player Jacki Hehir; St. Senan’s Back Catcher Dorothy Cullagh; Na Piarsaigh Back Catcher Sarah Stanley and nine of the St. Kieran’s ladies who played in last month’s Junior Women’s All-Ireland. They are Linda Clifford, Stephanie Downes, Gráinne Enright, Siobhán Halligan, Caitríona Hough, Majella O’Connor, Ashling O’Sullivan, Ashley Redmond and Sandra Walsh.

Munster is managed by St. Kieran’s Michael Sheahan and their Captain is Linda Clifford with Dorothy Cullagh as Vice Captain.

So, do we predict a winner?!! Connacht has a lot of talent all over the field. With multiple great batters, their fielding ability is pretty impressive too. Gretta Davis is an excellent pitcher, the Managers are spoiled for choice for a Short Stop with Avril Coyne, Clodagh Naughton and Irene Kaye all exceptional in the position. Helen Gallagher, Noleen Coghlan, Nicola Craughwell and Clodagh Sheerin are all super base minders and both Hazel Kilduff and Jessie Pereira are safe hands outfield. Both Lisa Guilfoyle and Ciara Butler are great Back Catchers and with a panel of 14 there will be plenty of fresh legs for substitutions.

On the other hand, ten of Munster’s panel of twelve have played in an All-Ireland final less than a month ago, nine of them on the winning side, so it’s hard to imagine they’ll be suffering from a lack of confidence in their abilities. With a full selection of infielders and outfielders and multiple Back Catchers from which to choose, Michael Sheahan’s only dilemma will be who to start as Pitcher with the unavailability of Deirdre Ambrose or Louise Kelly. But no doubt one of the panel has a hidden pitching talent we’re unaware of just yet.

So no, we don’t predict any winners, for any of these games. Mostly because it’s practically impossible but also because, like the All-Ireland finals, these games are so special and it’s such an honour and a source of pride to be chosen to represent your province that all we want for these men and women is to go out there, give it their all, enjoy the match(es) and take away very special memories of their achievement. Win or lose, there aren’t many of us can say we played Rounders for our province!

Leinster vs Ulster – 2pm

Our second Women’s semi-final will be between Leinster and Ulster. Leinster’s panel brings together 15 players from six clubs spread over four counties and is made up of Senior and Intermediate players from Glynn Barntown – Pamela Brennan, Liz Fitzgerald, Stephanie Kelly, Sheena King (Captain) and Alisha Reddy; Senior Cúchulainn ladies Amy Kelly, Leah Mullins and Amy Moloney, fellow Carlow Junior players Jen Kelly, Tracey McNally (Vice Captain) and Louise Riddell from Leighlinbridge and Wexford Junior women Deborah Roche and Christine Stone from St. Martin’s. Representing north Leinster are Dublin Metropolitans’ Laura Cuddihy and Skryne’s Karen Lynch.

Managed by The Heath’s Grace Salmon and Serena Lewis, Leinster’s Senior and Intermediate players are a seriously accomplished bunch and with baseminders and infielders from Glynn Barntown and Catchers and Outfielders from Cúchulainn they will form a strong core team. The three Leighlinbridge women all played their part in their team’s path to the Junior Women’s semi-finals this summer while Karen Lynch can pitch and play outfield and Laura Cuddihy is a strong batter and fielder. Again, this is a powerful batting team so opposing outfielders will need to be ready!

But this Ulster team is more than a match for anything the Leinster squad can fire at them. Outfielders like Lisa Flood, Lindsey O’Reilly, Louise McAndrew and Marie Whelan are excellent at catching and getting the ball back infield quickly and strong baseminders like Sharon Ivers, Carol McKeown and Arleen Ramsey will do damage with any ball thrown to them. Manager Shane Dolan will have multiple Pitcher and Catcher options with Louise Byrne, Áine Cahill, Catherine Deery and Lisa Lynch all capable and confident while Laura Hughes at Short Stop would have to be one of Ulster’s strongest assets.

Captained by Erne Eagles’ Lisa Flood, with Carrickmacross Emmets’ Louise Byrne as Vice-Captain, the Ulster squad is also made up of Carrickmacross Emmets Senior, Intermediate and Junior players Aoife Byrne, Laura Hughes, Aisling McDermott and Marie Whelan; fellow Monaghan side Inniskeen Grattans’ players Catherine Deery and Carol McKeown; Cavan ladies Áine Cahill, Sharon Ivers, Lisa Lynch and Louise McAndrew from St. Clare’s and Lindsey O’Reilly of Erne Eagles while Arleen Ramsey of Belfast side Wolfe Tones takes the final Junior slot on the team.

Both sides are very evenly balanced mixes of experienced senior players, capable Intermediate fielders and strong Juniors but will the depth of the Ulster squad, and the expertise of the skilled tactician that is their manager (I promise he didn’t pay me to say that 😉) give them the edge over the multi All-Ireland and All-Star winning, one extra player strong Leinster side? Sunday afternoon will reveal all!

Men’s Competition

And so we move on to the Men’s Competition. Where, unfortunately, we only have one semi-final, as Munster are unable to field a team and have given a walkover to Connacht who go straight into the final. So let’s have a look at the semi-final at 12.15pm where Leinster will take on Ulster.

Leinster vs Ulster – 12.15pm

Ulster come into this game with 10 of their 14 players the proud owners of shiny new gold All-Ireland medals this month. And even though the rumour is that they’ve spent most of the three weeks since 6 September celebrating, they’re still a fairly solid crew of talented and skilled players. Captained by Erne Eagles’ Justin Perrin, with Inniskeen Grattans’ Seán O’Connor filling the Vice Captain role, they are joined by Eagles Gerard Clerkin, Karl Dolan, Paul Mollaghan and Owen Roe O’Reilly, St. Clare’s men Wayne Gerber, Ciarán Gray, PJ Kelly, Chaz Solomons and Barry Walsh and Junior players from Inniskeen Grattans, Trevor Hilliard, and Wolfe Tones, David Mallon and Matthew Mallon.

Managing this team are two legends of the game – Erne Eagles’ Darryl Dolan and Shane Sheridan – so the experience and knowledge is both on the pitch and the sideline. With multiple talented players for every position, it won’t be an easy decision to pick a starting nine, but we have every confidence that these two will work it out!

Their Leinster opponents are managed by Cúchulainn ladies Carmel Moloney and Caroline Waters and their full squad of 15 has players from seven different teams across the province. Junior players are Myshall’s Shane Coburn, PJ Lalor, James Nolan and Eoin Rea as well as Gusserane’s Conor Murphy. Their Intermediate representatives are Dublin Metropolitan’s Carley brothers, Asa and Beau, Raheen’s Eunan Furlong and Emo stars Austin O’Meara and JP Tynan (Vice Captain). The Senior big guns are from both Glynn Barntown – Paul Cooper (Captain), Garry Jordan and Ian White – and Cúchulainn – Pierce Ryan and Peadar Waters. Some talent in that squad and quite a few lads not long off an All-Ireland final pitch either.

While both teams have undeniably strong Senior players, it may well come down to the depth of Intermediate and Junior talent available. As the bigger province, Leinster has a larger pool from which to draw and with both Junior Men’s All-Ireland finalists coming from the province, all five men had notable involvement in the recent final. Ulster has fewer Junior players and they bowed out of the All-Ireland Championship at an earlier stage. However, Ulster’s Intermediate men are all St. Clare’s players and all five of them played a blinder in their recent All Ireland final making it another very evenly balanced contest.

Men’s Final – 2.30pm

And then we’ll have the Final, which will definitely feature Connacht men, so let’s have a look at them and how they might fare. Managed by Mayo men Martin Hoban of Kilmeena and Aidan Lynskey of Breaffy, with Kilmeena’s Stephen Cox acting as Selector, this panel of 15 has a full complement of players from each grade. With Senior men from Breaffy – Mark Jennings, Jamie Murphy and Victor del Rosal; Kilmeena – Tommy Hoban (Captain) and Michael Glavey’s – Oliver Conway, the top tier of players is very strong and has key positions both infield and outfield covered. Add to this their Intermediate men of Jay Hall, Tomás Kenny, Ajay Kumar, Rory McGarvey and Cathal Creaven (Vice Captain) – all from Galway City Rapparees and the depth of the panel goes up several notches. All of the Rapparees have been playing Senior Men this season and all except Ajay were part of the Intermediate Mixed team which recently won the All-Ireland final. Then we can include the Junior part of the squad which includes more All-Ireland winners Kilmore – represented by Aidan Carr, Breian Carroll, James Jamieson and Mark Harrington and Garrymore’s Fintan Hession and I think we can safely say that we have a balanced, strong and super impressive side.

Connacht Men’s Managers Aidan Lynskey & Martin Hoban

Kind of glad I’m not predicting any of these games as they’re all fairly hard to call. And isn’t that exactly what we’d hoped for from our InterProvincial Tournament? The best of the best from each province – from all grades – fighting it out to be crowned with one of the highest honours in our sport.

Our Referees on Sunday will be The Heath’s Danielle Keane and Michael Dowling and Limekiln’s Áine McLaughlin. A huge thanks to Joe Higgins of Galway City Rapparees for marking the pitches, to Kilmore’s Ana Carr for all her amazing work in designing our social media videos for the team reveals and to Athlone GAA for hosting our event.

Our InterProvincials Tournament couldn’t happen without the hard work and commitment of a lot of people and, while many of them have already been mentioned above, humour me while I thank them here again.

Ulster – Team Managers Darryl Dolan, Shane Dolan & Shane Sheridan, St. Clare’s Louise McAndrew for sorting pitches for training, Carrickmacross Emmets Ronan Kiernan for organising the Men’s team in March for the original date and Ulster Representative Arleen Ramsey for liaising with Ulster GAA to source kits for all players.

Connacht – Team Managers and Selectors Craig Davis, Jenna O’Brien, Gwen Redmond, Caitríona Cox, Martin Hoban, Aidan Lynskey and Stephen Cox and Galway City Rapparees Joe Naughton for arranging pitches for training and for sorting the team to play Connacht Men in their warm-up game.

Leinster – Grace Salmon, Serena Lewis, Carmel Moloney and Caroline Waters for managing teams but especially to Peadar Waters and PJ Lalor for organising, training, selecting, managing and playing!

Munster – Michael Sheahan who coordinated it all from start to finish and Ian Sheehy who worked tirelessly to get a Munster Men’s team sorted.

Ard Chomhairle for their support but especially to the Committee of Paula Doherty, Mark Jennings and Shirley Lennon

And most importantly, to the players. Without these men and women stepping up, coming to InterProvincial trainings sessions and making themselves available for Sunday, we would have no competition so míle buíochas agus buladh bos mór to you all.

The action starts at 12pm and we look forward to seeing you all there!

One final thing – don’t forget the next date in our calendar – Saturday 7 November is our annual All Stars awards night in the Osprey Hotel in Naas. If last year’s event is anything to go by, this won’t be a night to miss! Tickets on sale now from GAA Rounders All-Stars Night 2026 – Universe

GAA Rounders President Paula Doherty with Breaffy’s Mark Jennings and Jamie Murphy at the 2025 All-Stars Night