Day Three of Three Finals’ Days and the bar was high, the expectation was immense and the pressure was on – not just for the five clubs involved but for the organisers as well!!

And none of them disappointed – we had great weather, a fantastic facility in Mallow GAA, super rounders, a party atmosphere and a day filled with fun, friends and craic! What more could we have asked for from our last big day of the 2026 Rounders Championship?

What stood out, again, this Sunday was the standard of Rounders played in all three games and, while we always knew that the Ard Chomhairle was taking a chance in having three weekends of Finals with Junior, Intermediate and Senior games on the same day, the one thing that is absolutely clear from what we did this year is that we put the spotlight on all our players – and the Junior and Intermediate teams more than rose to the occasion. Our three Junior finals have been close, exceptionally skilled games. Our Intermediate games showcased just how high the standard of our middle grade really is and our Senior teams closed all three days with their usual displays of amazing Rounders.

Over the year, since our Finals’ venues were announced, there have been whispers (and shouts!) that Mallow was a strange choice, with no competitive Rounders teams in the county. But we felt that moving around the country to give everyone the chance to see top quality Rounders in their province was the right move – whether we were right or not is a debate for another day but whatever about the county, the venue was perfect. A pitch the size of Croke Park, a covered stand to hold 500 and a bar/restaurant on-site all made for a great Finals location.

For the third Sunday in a row, we were up early and with cables and sound systems, signage and cameras, mats and flags all in place by 10am, we were ready to go!

Junior Final: Galway City Rapparees vs Kilmore

I had made no secret of the fact that this game was special to me for multiple reasons, but it was also very clear how special it was to the two teams involved. Galway City Rapparees had won this same title in 2024 while Kilmore were contesting their first Junior Mixed final – although not the club’s first All-Ireland final, having played in the Junior Men’s 2025 final against St. Senan’s.

All the official admin and photos out of the way, Rapparees won the toss, captain Eimear Cuddy chose to field, and the game started with Oisín Boland up to bat. Kilmore’s first three batters made it safely on base leaving it to Aidan Carr to step up with bases loaded. He didn’t disappoint and got Oisín home with a super shot to outfield that moved everyone on. It took until batter six for Rapparees to get an out, with a fantastic catch by Colin Flannery, followed two batters later by a foul out from Séamus Keegan and an out on first by Mel Mannion. Kilmore managed to get through their entire batting order and bring four home before switching to fielding. In a great display of Kilmore skill, three of the first four Rapparees’ batters were caught out – by Ruth McElhone, Mark Harrington and Clodagh Sheerin – leaving the score 4-0 going into the second.

In the next two low scoring innings, only one runner got home for either team with some great catches from Kilmore pitcher Aidan Carr – literally everywhere on the pitch chasing down pop-ups and foul balls – and two outs on first by Nicola Craughwell, while Rapparees’ outs were spread between Ajay Kumar, Cat Carty and Greg Mannion as well as a foul out and an out on first after a great throw from Sorcha Dowd.

Into the fifth on a 5-0 scoreline, Kilmore brought another four home and Rapparees knew they needed a good scoring innings to give them a chance to get back into the game. Séamus Keegan up first made it safely on base, but Cat Carty’s hit was caught by Clodagh Sheerin. The next two batters made it to base and moved runners along but Mel Mannion’s third good ball was caught by James Jamieson while Greg Mannion was fouled out, giving Rapparees two runners home.

Into the final innings Kilmore again brought four home, leaving Rapparees needing 11 to draw and force extra innings. Ajay Kumar was fouled out and Sorcha Dowd made it to first but was out on second. While the next four batters got home safely, Eimear Cuddy’s hit didn’t go far enough to prevent the ball getting to Nicola Craughwell on first before she did and the game ended 13-6 to Kilmore.

While the scoreline suggests a wide gap, the actual game was close and the lack of scores in the first three innings just left Rapparees with a mountain to climb once they started getting runners home. They can be very proud of their fielding with their customary blend of outs on first and super clean catches, but, for the Galway side, this match was dominated by their pitcher/catcher duo of Séamus Keegan and Sorcha Dowd who, between them were involved in seven outs. Maith sibh!

While the Rapparees are understandably disappointed with the result, I hope they take heart from the great campaign they had all year, the amazing performances they put in at both knock-out games and the fact that the future for this team is very bright and I have no doubt that we’ll see them in many more finals over the coming years. I’ve said it before but it’s worth saying again, both Junior Mixed finalists are great ambassadors for our game, embodying what is good about our sport in terms of skill, ability, dedication and excellent sportsmanship.

Slightly off topic but it’s only fair to give credit to all eighteen finalists this year – the level of sportsmanship, fair play and respect for officials and fellow players were very noticeable and very much appreciated. Anyone watching our games couldn’t help but notice the excellent manner in which all nine games were played and the positive way our game was portrayed so míle buíochas agus maith sibh go léir!

But Sunday belonged to Kilmore and nobody could doubt how much it meant to them or question the amount of hard work, effort and determination that brought them to that victory. Every player on the pitch made a contribution, every supporter on the sideline and watching online was willing them on and, no different to Gusserane who won the Junior Men’s title last weekend, it was clear that the disappointment of losing a 2025 final gave them just that edge and extra desire to make sure this one was theirs.

I refereed the game – and what an amazing game it was to have as my first ever All-Ireland final! My wonderful umpires were Hazel Hartigan of Kildimo Pallaskenry, Ian Sheehy of St. Senan’s and Michael Sheahan of St. Kieran’s. Our Player of the Match was Kilmore Second Baseminder Clodagh Sheerin, who had an amazing game, with four outs and some of her signature lightening fast running to get on base and home as well.

Intermediate Final: Emo vs Galway City Rapparees

One game in and we were so ready to keep the momentum going and get some more teams on the pitch! With only enough time to grab a snack and a drink, Galway City Rapparees were back, this time taking on Emo in the Intermediate Mixed final.

Emo’s 2026 squad is a blend of experience and youth and had been showing all year that they are more than capable of taking on established sides and winning. Their pitcher/catcher duo of Liam Horgan and Dan White have been fantastic to watch all season and for two 16-year-olds they have skill and talent in abundance. Backed up by seriously skilled male players like JP Tynan, Eoin Keenan and Aaron Keane outfield, and experienced and talented females – Niamh Horgan, Catherine O’Keeffe, Ava Murphy and Chloe Keenan – who have multiple All-Ireland titles between them infield, on paper this team looked strong.

Galway Rapparees starting nine were the familiar setup we’ve seen over the season and with their four women part of the Intermediate Women’s All-Ireland winning team from two weeks ago, and their five men all part of the Senior team who reached an All-Ireland semi-final in their first year at the grade, this was another impressive lineup.

Emo fielded first and got off to a slightly rocky start when nerves led to an overthrow on what should have been an out on first. Rapparees batters were strong and base by base they managed to load the bases to allow Tomás Kenny bring their first score home. Up next, Jessie Pereira was fouled out by some excellent pitching from Liam Horgan while Pakie Killilea’s hit was caught by Eoin Keenan. Although Ryan Dennis made it on base, next batter up, Jenna O’Brien, was caught out by JP Tynan, meaning Galway finished their first at bat with four home.

Emo’s first four batters all made it to first base but Eoin Keenan was out on Second after a great throw from Rory McGarvey to Jessie Pereira. Ava Murphy’s hit was caught by Catcher Cathal Creaven and Catherine O’Keeffe’s pop-up was caught by Ryan Dennis leaving Emo with three runs scored.

The second innings was low scoring with just one run in for Rapparees while their excellent fielding kept Emo scoreless. Cathal Creaven caught two fantastic outs while Tomás Kenny on Third Base also had an excellent catch.

In the Third, Rapparees upped their game and brought six runners home while Rory McGarvey outfield caught out two consecutive batters, keeping Emo runs to two. The score heading into the fourth was 11-5 to Rapparees.

In another low scoring innings, only Pakie Killilea made it home for Rapparees while Emo suffered three outs from four batters. Jessie Pereira and Aaron Keane were the sole scorers for their respective teams in the final innings and the game ended 13-6 to the Galway side.

While Emo didn’t get the result they were hoping for, their fielding at times was superb with excellent accurate pitching from Liam Horgan – involved in five outs – two great catches from the ever-reliable JP Tynan, excellent accuracy on base from Niamh Horgan and Chloe Keenan and good batting and base running from Liam Horgan and Dan White. As a young, settling in and blending together team, it is clear that with some continued practice and game play – no doubt helped along during the upcoming CWL Winter League – this team will be a force to be reckoned with next year.

Rapparees’ finely tuned batting and fielding was the key to their success in this game. Mistakes were instantly punished, any chance to steal a base was taken, pop ups were mostly caught and while outs on base were few, this is because Ryan Dennis’ pitching was so accurate, and Cathal Creaven’s catching so spot on, hits were sent high or long into the hands of ready outfielders and just making it on base was a massive achievement.

Bitten by the Senior Rounders bug in 2026, Galway City Rapparees will now join the elite group of six clubs with three Senior Teams for 2027 and we very much look forward to seeing how their Women’s and Mixed sides perform next season.

Our Referee for our Intermediate Final was PJ Lalor, ably assisted by Hazel Hartigan, Niall Sheehy and Michael Sheahan and their well-deserved pick for Player of the Match was Emo’s Niamh Horgan who was responsible for four outs.

The anthem for this game, and the Junior Mixed Final, was sung by Elin Mulhall of Galway City Rapparees.

Senior Final: Breaffy vs Glynn Barntown

Our last final of the day, the 2026 Finals and the 2026 Season was our Senior Mixed game between reigning Champions, going for three in a row, Breaffy and Glynn Barntown.

Just as the Senior game began, the sun, which had been threatening to shine all day, broke through and it was a beautiful summer’s afternoon with two of the best Rounders teams in the country about to battle it out to be our Senior Mixed champions.

Breaffy batted first and, while Colm Jordan got safely around the bases, Colin Cannon was tagged out on First while Daithí White caught Michelle Hopkins out. Victor del Rosal also made it around to score a run but Helen Gallagher was fouled out before anyone else got home. Two scored, Breaffy headed out to field and had a great start, with Colin Cannon returning the favour and catching Daithí White out and Chloe Doyle’s outfield hit going straight to Victor del Rosal. With Paul Delaney on Second, Paul Cooper came to bat and hit our first Home Run of the day! While the next two batters made it to base, Aileen Kelly was tagged out on Third and the innings ended 2-2.

Breaffy came in to bat in the Second determined to get ahead and they did that with six runners home, which Glynn Barntown could only answer with getting Garry Jordan around the bases. In the Third, Breaffy again got three home while keeping Glynn Barntown scoreless with two outs on Second Base by Mark Jennings, including a great double out from Victor del Rosal.

Into the fourth with the score 11-3 it was the Wexford side’s turn to have a powerful fielding innings and all the action was with Daithí White on First base who caught the first three batters out on clean catches. In to bat they brought two runners home to narrow the gap to 11-5.

Similar scores for both sides in the Fifth and Sixth – with a second Home Run, this time by Breaffy’s Victor del Rosal – brought us up to the final innings with Glynn Barntown trailing by eight runs. Breaffy at bat scored three with two super catches by Garry Jordan, now moved to Pitcher, and one by Aileen Kelly at right outfield. In to bat for the final time and with two out and nobody home the pressure was on substitute Keira Donnelly. Michelle Hopkins’ pitching was just too good and she fouled out on her third good ball giving the win to the Mayo team with a final score of 18-7.

It was evident how heartbreaking this defeat was for the Wexford team and it was difficult to watch them bow out of the Championship on such a low but, as Referee Michael Dowling said after the game, both teams are part of Rounders royalty and we know they’ll be back, stronger and better, next year.

As befits a Senior All-Ireland final, the fielding in particular in this game was superb. Balls were caught out of the sky, at awkward angles and after excellent runs to be in the right place, we saw two amazing Home Runs, balls hit over 80m, a double out and some amazing pitching from all three pitchers. This is what Senior Rounders is about and this is what all Junior teams aspire to. While they may not always realise it, Senior players who showcase our sport at the highest level are the top tier, the ones we all look up to and the reason why Junior and Intermediate players get better.

And as befits defending Champions there were multiple stand-out Breaffy players on the day. Most impressive runner was Victor del Rosal who came home six times, once as a Home Run. He also had involvement in three outs. Colin Cannon at Short Stop had a great day with three outs while Colm Jordan was his usual magnetic self to any balls sent to left outfield with four clean catches for outs, and three runs scored.

In a very long overdue Senior All-Ireland Final Refereeing debut Michael Dowling (The Heath) was his calm, decisive self and the game ran like clockwork. His umpires were Danielle Keane, Serena Lewis and Grace Salmon of The Heath. Their pick for Player of the Match was Home Run Hero Victor del Rosal, who had a phenomenal day for Breaffy. The final anthem of the day was sung by Clíodhna Henry.

While Sunday’s games drew the smallest crowds of our three weekends there was still a significant number of supporters for all five clubs and the atmosphere for all three games was electric.

Once again, all three games were live streamed on TG4 Sport’s YouTube Channel by Click Zoom with commentary from PJ Lalor, Danielle Keane, Shirley Lennon, Ian Sheehy and Emma Perrin.

For the final time, huge thanks to the following who made sure the day went off without a hitch; Craig Davis, Gretta Davis, Paula Doherty, Michael Dowling, Martin Hoban, PJ Lalor, Shirley Lennon, Rebecca O’Connell, Michael Sheahan, Ian Sheehy and Peadar Waters

And that’s an official wrap on our 2026 Championship season – and what an unforgettable year it’s been! We’ll have a full recap of the Finals later in the week, but for now, let’s take a moment to reflect on everything we’ve experienced and achieved since it all kicked off back on April 19th. We are so lucky to be part of this incredible GAA Rounders community – a family that brings us together to share the sport we love, forge lifelong friendships, and make memories that last far beyond the final whistle.