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GAA Rounders Men’s All-Ireland Previews – 6 September 2026

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As we approach the middle weekend of our trio of Finals for 2026, the excitement and nerves are peaking – the bar has been raised pretty high after our Women’s Finals Day, the expectation is for three great games, a day of brilliant Rounders accompanied by an amazing atmosphere and some outstanding play and we know our Men’s finalists won’t disappoint.

We’re moving venues this weekend to Offaly – a county that is this year, for the first time, hosting two prestigious days of Rounders. On 9 August our Junior Semi-finals took place in Edenderry GAA and this Sunday Offaly GAA Centre of Excellence, Kilcormac will host our most important day of the year in Men’s Rounders – our Junior, Intermediate and Senior All-Ireland Finals.

Our semi-finals and finals this year are moving around the country to give all our clubs the chance to experience a Finals Day near them and we hope that lots of our players and supporters use the opportunity to travel to a midlands venue to experience a Finals Day that promises to showcase our Men’s game at all three levels.

Junior Final: Gusserane vs Myshall – 11am

Our Junior Women’s final was all-Munster, our Intermediate Women and Junior Mixed finals both feature two Connacht teams, our Senior Men will be all-Ulster and, keeping things provincially equal, our Junior Men’s game is contested by two south Leinster teams.

GAA Rounders President Paula Doherty with Junior Men’s finalists PJ Lalor of Myshall, Carlow, and Mark Molloy of Gusserane, Wexford

Wexford side Gusserane have been impressive all season, only losing one league match – to Myshall. Their other three games were won with a bat in hand and, as the group runners-up, they qualified for a quarter-final against Inniskeen Grattans of Monaghan on 25 July in Tymon Park. In a very hard fought, close contest they didn’t have it all their own way. Gusserane were winning after the second innings, but Inniskeen had a great run in the third to pull two ahead. The Wexford men brought seven home in the final two innings and kept Inniskeen runs to only three more. Impressive Gusserane play from Conor Murphy, Matthew Flynn, Morgan Nash Colfer and Carel van der Merwe meant they emerged 31-29 winners and set up a semi-final contest against Galway City Rapparees in Edenderry.

Unbeaten all year, Rapparees were favourites to win this game but smart fielding from Ned Molloy, John Flynn and Matthew Flynn, and impressive batting from Niall Molloy, Conor Flynn, Morgan Nash Colfer and Matthew Flynn saw Gusserane lead from the first innings and open the gap further with each time at bat. The final score was 25(4)-11(5).

Myshall’s path since the league games has been shorter. As group leaders, they qualified straight to semi-finals and met Dublin side Na Gaeil Nua in Edenderry. Again, leading from the start, the Carlow men impressed with excellent fielding from Shane Coburn on Second Base and Catcher Matthew Roberts and super base running from Matthew Roberts, James Nolan, PJ Lalor and Eolann McDonald meant that they took the game 29-18 with a bat in hand.

Our final will be contested by two very well-matched sides with talent across the pitch – outfielders, baseminders and pitchers are all strong and tactical. However, what’s very exciting is how well both teams can bat and base run. And if the two Back Catchers – both called Matthew and both extremely good at what they do – bring their A game on Sunday, we can expect to see lots of outs at home base and on first.

Our Junior Men’s final will be refereed by Breaffy’s Mark Jennings and his umpires will be Gretta Davis (Elphin) and Emo’s Michael Slevin and JP Tynan.

We know that our two Junior Men’s Finalists can give us an entertaining, close, hard-fought battle and we look forward to them showing the supporters and those watching on our TG4 Sport Live Stream just how skilled our Junior Men are and just how exciting our sport is when played at this level.

Ádh mór oraibh go léir

Intermediate Final: St. Clare’s vs St. Senan’s – 1pm

Junior title decided, it will be time for our Intermediate finalists to take it up a notch and show us why they deserve to play in our Senior Championship next year.

GAA Rounders president Paula Doherty with Intermediate Men’s finalists Barry Walsh of St Clare’s, Cavan, left, and Kevin Doody of St Senan’s, Limerick

St. Senan’s won the Junior All-Ireland Men’s final in 2025 and only twelve months later are contesting an Intermediate final, which just shows the level of hard work and dedication these Limerick men have put in since that win. St. Clare’s made it to an All-Ireland semi-final in 2025, losing out to eventual winners Galway City Rapparees, and have taken it one step further this year and made the final. Both teams have worked hard this year and want to win – but only one can take home the trophy and the title of Intermediate Men’s All-Ireland winners 2026.

St. Clare’s topped the table with four wins from six, only losing to Kilmore and St. Senan’s in the group stages. Their semi-final against Kilmore saw them rack up 11 runs in the second innings, leaving them 15-4 ahead going into the third. A scoreless third and a good fourth innings for Kilmore meant it was 16-11 at the top of the final innings. St. Clare’s batted first and only got one home, but their defensive play was good with excellent catches for outs by Ciarán Gray and Antonio Larrochia and an out on First Base to leave the final score 16-12 and a place in the final booked.

St. Senan’s league campaign had mixed results with two wins – over Kilmore and St. Clare’s – a draw – with Emo – and two losses – to Kilmeena and Dublin Metropolitans. Their semi-final in Galway against Laois side, Emo, with whom they had drawn the previous month, meant that it was hard to predict which way this semi would go. With no more than one run in it until the fourth innings – and the lead switching between the two teams – St. Senan’s managed to bring four home to open their lead to 15-11. In an exciting fifth innings, Emo matched this score and St. Senan’s came in to bat for the final time, needing just one run to book their spot in the final. Declan Rattigan was first up and got safely on base. The next two batters were caught out leaving it very tense when John Hanlon came to bat. He made it safely to base as well, leaving Senol Yamac all to do to get a runner home. His hit was caught by JP Tynan but it gave enough time for Declan Rattigan to safely run home and secure the victory.

St. Senan’s Intermediate Men

Both finalists met during the group stages and, while St. Senan’s came out on top that day in May (wining in Tymon Park by two runs), a lot has happened since then and a lot of games have been played, training sessions have been had and lessons have been learned. St. Clare’s have three very skilled and experienced players in PJ Kelly, Bryan Dolan and Jason Cawley as well as lots of talent in their squad with outfielders like Ciarán Gray and Barry Walsh and infielders such as Chaz Solomons and Darragh Johnston. St. Senan’s also boasts a mix of experience – Ian and Niall Sheehy, John Hanlon and Stephen Lynch – and new talent like Euan Sheehy and Declan Rattigan as well as excellent fielders and batters like Kevin Doody, JP Mulvihill, Dean Hogan and Dean McCarthy. If both teams can play their best Rounders, keep calm and composed and take their scores and their outs, this will be an excellent game between two very well-matched, on the cusp of being Senior, teams and we look forward to a great display of our sport from 1pm on Sunday.

Ádh mór gach duine…bainigí taitneamh as an cluiche!

Our Intermediate final Referee will be Philip Keane of The Heath, ably assisted by fellow The Heath players Danielle Keane, Serena Lewis and Grace Salmon as his umpires.

Once again, I can’t write this without thanking all six teams’ Club Secretaries for their help and assistance all year – and especially while I’ve been annoying them 24/7 over the past two weeks! Míle buíochas Mairéad, Anita, Louise, Ian, Lindsey and Ronan!

Senior Final: Carrickmacross Emmets vs Erne Eagles – 3.30pm

And, in the final game of the day in Offaly, and a rematch of the 2025 Senior Men’s All-Ireland Final, two Ulster teams will take to the pitch to battle it out for the Corn Aodh Rua. Resident in Monaghan for the past twelve months, and in Cavan for the year before that, this cup is getting very comfortable living in Ulster – but which of the Drumlin counties will be taking it home on Sunday evening?

GAA Rounders president Paula Doherty with Senior Men’s finalists Damien McArdle of Erne Eagles, Cavan, left, and Oran Kiernan of Carrickmacross Emmets, Monaghan

Unbeaten all year, Erne Eagles have won every game by at least five runs – and often with a bat or more in hand – making their cruise to the final look effortless. But this would fail to take into account the amount of hard work, effort and dedication these Cavan men have put into their 2026 campaign and their desire to avenge last year’s final which they lost by one run to Carrickmacross Emmets. Having Darryl Dolan back as pitcher has undoubtedly made a big difference to the Mullahoran side but everyone on the squad has played their part in ensuring that this year’s wins were achieved. Baseminders such as Shane Sheridan, Gerard Clerkin and Karl Dolan are accurate and composed, catchers Paul Mollaghan and Damien McArdle quick and exact, outfielders Owen Roe O’Reilly, Nathan Loughnane, Justin Perrin and Dylan McKeever secure outs and throw to base with consistency and skill. And the whole team works together to ensure constant communication and working towards a common goal.

Erne Eagles Senior Men

One of the best places to be on any pitch is as a base umpire. None of the pressure of being a Referee and the best seat in the house to observe play and the interactions between fielders. I had the pleasure of umpiring the Erne Eagles vs Galway City Rapparees semi-final on 16 August and it was clear that these lads are a unit, they work for each other and the good of the team and, unless it was all a really good act, they seem to like each other and get on well too! I also umpired the Erne Eagles vs Breaffy Women’s semi-final that same day and got the exact same vibe so I’m going to say it’s part of the ethos of the club which filters through to every team from underage right up to senior.

Carrickmacross Emmets come into this game as reigning Champions and that brings its own level of pressure. However, these lads are well used to that sort of pressure and it’s unlikely to cause them many sleepless nights this week. With only two games lost at league stages – to Breaffy and Erne Eagles – Carrickmacross improved as the season progressed and finished the league with a 25(3)-12(5) win over Glynn Barntown in Wexford, ensuring that confidence was high for their semi-final against Mayo side Breaffy. Turning the result of their earlier encounter on its head, the Monaghan men took the win 12(7)-4(7) with some excellent batting from Colm Kiernan, Barry Lambe and Frank Duffy. Fielding stars that day included Ronan Kiernan – with three catches for outs and involvement in a further two outs on base, Short Stop Paddy Bermingham, Frank Duffy on First Base with six outs and Justin Burns on Third Base involved in five outs. The Carrick team is a tried and tested formula of players who know their positions, the game and each other. They play seamlessly and well and can be relied upon to produce excellent displays at just the right time.

Not unlike Erne Eagles, the support from within the entire Carrickmacross Club – from Club Chairman Colm Birdy down to the small flag wavers who will cheer the players onto the pitch – is remarkable and shows just how much of a community Rounders creates within towns and villages across the country. Irrespective of which team takes the Corn Aodh Rua on Sunday, the win will mean everything to people across the entire club, and this is one of the special things about the GAA in general, but Rounders in particular. We saw it last week with St. Kieran’s, Galway City Rapparees and Limekiln‘s wins and the joy it brought to supporters and family members as much as to the players on the pitch. And we’ll see it again this weekend…and this is why we all spend wet Sundays and muddy midweek evenings playing and training and driving the country to compete in and watch this addictive game that we all love.

Beirigí bua a bhuachaillí!

The honour of refereeing this Senior Final will go to The Heath’s Danielle Keane and her umpires will be her brother Philip Keane (returning the umpiring favour!) and fellow The Heath players Serena Lewis and Grace Salmon.

Just a reminder for those of you unable to attend that all three finals will be live streamed on TG4 Sport’s YouTube channel with live commentary for all matches. Coverage will start at 10.50am.

For anyone who can attend, tickets are required and can be purchased at the following link GAA Rounders Men’s All-Ireland Finals 2026 – Universe

Finally, the very best of luck to all six clubs involved in Sunday’s finals. Bígí fíor as bhur ghnóthachtáil and enjoy the day! We can’t wait for another day of top-quality Rounders and the excitement of a September All-Ireland Finals Sunday – remember them?!! 😉

See you all in Offaly!

 

GAA Rounders Championship Preview – 9 August 2026

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We’ve made it to the last Sunday of our league! Over 260 games played in 16 short weeks – take a bow all of you who have organised, played in, refereed or travelled to watch one of those matches. You are the lifeblood of GAA Rounders and what keeps our organisation such an amazing community and our sport so exciting and compelling to watch and play.

Sunday will see Senior and Intermediate league games and Junior semi-finals all take place, all in Leinster when Dublin, Offaly and Wexford play host to 12 promising games. Let’s have a look at who’ll be taking to the pitches.

Senior Games – Dublin & Wexford

Wexford’s Glynn Barntown will host Monaghan’s Carrickmacross Emmets who will have an early start to travel the 235km between both clubs. First up at 12.30pm will be the Women from both clubs, followed, at 2pm, by the Mixed teams and the day will close out with the Men at 3.30pm.

In the Women’s competition, Breaffy and Limekiln have already qualified for semi-finals. A win or draw for Carrickmacross will mean they will also go through, leaving Erne Eagles taking the final spot. If the Wexford side win, it will leave a three-way tie between Erne Eagles, Carrickmacross and Glynn Barntown, meaning that Run Rate will decide the final two spots in the semi-finals. We love these “couldn’t be closer” final matches of the league!!

In Mixed, Breaffy, Cúchulainn and Glynn Barntown are all through and a win, or loss, for Carrickmacross will see them join that list of qualifiers.

Men isn’t straightforward either! Erne Eagles, Breaffy and Galway City Rapparees have already booked their semi-final slots, but the final place will go to the winner of Sunday’s game so there’s absolutely everything to play for in all three games.

Referee: Cúchulainn’s AnnMarie Brennan

Predictions: Women & Men – Carrickmacross Emmets; Mixed – Glynn Barntown

In Dublin, Limekiln will host Raheen in their final league games and, while the Dublin Women have already qualified for semi-finals, both sides’ Men’s teams are out of contention for this year. Don’t expect that to make it any less exciting to watch though!

Referee: GAA Rounders Vice-President Michael Dowling

Predictions: Limekiln to win both

Tymon Park will host one final game on Sunday when Intermediate Men from Dublin Metropolitans play Cavan’s St. Clare’s in the very last Intermediate league game of the year. St. Clare’s need to win to join Emo, Kilmore and St. Senan’s in the semi-finals next Saturday in Galway. A win for Dublin Mets will leave a three-way tie between St. Clare’s, Kilmeena and Dublin Mets for fourth place and so the qualifier will come down to Run Rate. This make-or-break game starts at 3.30pm.

Referee: GAA Vice President Michael Dowling

Prediction: St. Clare’s

Junior Semi-Finals

Rapparees Junior mixed team

Rapparees Junior mixed team

Cracking Junior games will take place all day in Edenderry GAA when our top twelve teams take to the two pitches for our Junior Men’s, Women’s and Mixed semi-finals.

We are very grateful to Edenderry GAA’s Committee for inviting GAA Rounders to their fantastic facility and for allowing us to host our Junior Semi-finals in Offaly.

At 11am Junior Women – Kilmore and St. Kieran’s – and Junior Men – Galway City Rapparees and Gusserane – will commence our day’s Rounders.

The Women’s match will see the unbeaten Roscommon side take on Limerick’s St. Kieran’s, runners-up in their league group. While Kilmore were favourites to win their quarter-final against Wexford’s Gusserane, St. Kieran’s were expected to have a harder time getting past Carrickmacross Emmets. Kilmore have demonstrated all year that they are excellent fielders – spectacular catches from Ruth McElhone, Clodagh Sheerin, Nicola Croughwell and Ana Carr in the quarter-final pay testament to that – and super base runners but they are also excellent batters, able to place balls outfield in the gaps between fielders. St. Kieran’s are also skilled batters and their pitcher, Deirdre Ambrose, is accurate and fast. With back catcher Siobhán Halligan, the two make a formidable team for getting outs. On the day, Kilmore’s experience, cool heads, calm fielding and strong batting should see them take the win.

Referee: National Secretary Shirley Lennon

Prediction: Kilmore

The Men’s match will also see unbeaten Galway City Rapparees take on Wexford’s Gusserane, runners-up in their league group. Topping their group and bypassing the quarter-finals, Rapparees will be rested and ready for this challenge while Gusserane had a tough fight on their hands in Tymon Park two weeks ago to get past Monaghan side Inniskeen Grattans. With pitcher Séamus Keegan and back catcher Colin O’Halloran working in sync to get outs on home and straight to first, Rapparees are a well-oiled fielding machine that also have the batting skills to get runs on the board. Gusserane, who played Intermediate Mixed this year, are also a tight outfit with a strong pitcher in Karel van der Merwe and excellent fielders in Conor Murphy and Morgan Nash Colfer. Expect neither side to give an inch in this potentially tight and super close game.

Referee: The Heath’s Danielle Keane

Prediction: Galway City Rapparees

After a short break, or not depending on how long the first games take, we’ll be back to action with two 1pm games – again one Women’s and one Men’s match.

In Men, Carlow’s Myshall will take on Dublin’s Na Gaeil Nua. Group toppers Myshall also skipped Quarter-finals, while Na Gaeil Nua beat Limerick side Na Piarsaigh to earn their place on Sunday. With an excellent pitching/catching combo in PJ Lalor and Matthew Roberts, Myshall have the potential to punish third good balls not hit or clips that go backwards. Newcomers to Rounders, Na Gaeil Nua have proved that experience isn’t everything and have shown all season that they can bat and catch like seasoned professionals. Shortstop Ryota Yamagochi and 2nd Base Javier Isern can both bat far and run fast and it will be containing them and their teammates that will cause Myshall problems.

Not the first time these sides have met, having played each other last month in the league, the victors that time were Myshall. Have Na Gaeil Nua learned from their mistakes that day or will Myshall be ready to win again?

Referee: The Heath’s Danielle Keane

Prediction: Myshall

Our lunchtime Women’s game is between unbeaten Carlow side Leighlinbridge and unbeaten Limerick team St. Senan’s so this really will be unchartered territory for the team on the wrong side of Sunday’s scoresheet.

Leighlinbridge Junior Women

St. Senan’s pitcher, Louise Kelly, has been their secret weapon all season and her ability to pitch fast and accurately has caused problems for all the sides they have met so far. Many of St. Senan’s women also play Intermediate Mixed and the skills honed at the higher grade have worked to their advantage in ensuring smart batting, fast fielding and quick outs. However, they have yet to come up against an opponent like Leighlinbridge who can also field and bat and have won several league games by more than double scores and with multiple bats in hand. Their quarter-final defeat of Skryne was clinical in its tactical efficiency with three up three out and no mercy given for any errors made. This will be both teams’ toughest battle to date – who will be strong enough to make it through?

Referee: The Heath’s Philip Keane

Prediction: St. Senan’s

And finally, at 3pm it will be time for our two Mixed semi-finals with repeat appearances from Kilmore and Galway City Rapparees, this time taking on Limerick’s Na Piarsaigh and Monaghan’s Inniskeen Grattans respectively.

The Galway side comprehensively beat strong Laois team Emo in their quarter-final with excellent performances from Ajay Kumar – scoring a Home Run, pitcher Séamus Keegan, back catcher Sorcha Dowd, Mel Mannion on 1st Base and 3rd Baseminder Cat Carty. Shortstop Greg Mannion missed nothing outfield and, at bat, had some great hits. While Inniskeen also had an excellent performance against Leighlinbridge to make their way into the semi-finals – shortstop Trevor Hilliard was a one-man wall past which few balls made it, it wasn’t quite as impressive or comprehensive. Their fielding was just a bit less tight and their batting not quite as sharp, but the intervening two weeks may have given them time to hone those skills and be ready for the Rapparees.

Referee: National Secretary Shirley Lennon

Prediction: Galway City Rapparees

Kilmore have impressed all season with their excellent fielding and clever batting and comprehensively won through their group, not losing a game. Their depth of squad is such that even on days when key players are not available, they can make it work and still get the runs in and outs needed to secure the win. Key to their success is pitcher Aidan Carr and his accurate, fast and smart bowling. His ability to catch short pop-ups and throw to base has caught many batters out. Outfield Mark Harrington is a powerhouse and has both an excellent catch and throw. Keeping it in the family Mark’s son, Eli, and Aidan’s wife, Ana, are both important infielders who can be relied upon to catch, throw and bat accurately. Jamie Sharkey at shortstop is dangerous if a ball is batted short and Oisin Boland is not an outfielder you want to direct a ball towards! Na Piarsaigh have their share of excellent fielders and Patrick Fitzgerald has been responsible for many outs. At shortstop Ian Jennings was formidable during their quarter-final defeat of Carrickmacross Emmets, while pitcher/catcher Alan Healy and Sarah Stanley were both responsible for multiple outs. Although Na Piarsaigh’s ability to keep calm during what was the most tense finish to any of the ten quarter-finals that day was seriously impressive and won them the match, they weren’t facing a team as collectively strong as Kilmore and it’s hard to see how they will have the batting power in particular to overcome the Roscommon side.

Referee: The Heath’s Philip Keane

Prediction: Kilmore

And then there’ll be six – our six Junior Finalists. The best of the best who will bring their A game to Abbotstown, Kilcormac and Mallow and aim to be crowned All-Ireland Champions for 2026. All we can say is bring it on! Sunday will be some day of Rounders and we can’t wait to be there to see every bit of it.

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