Tag Archive for: senior women

GAA Rounders – Meet the Referees – Women’s All-Ireland Finals

With our 2026 All-Ireland Finals line-ups almost complete, it is time to turn the spotlight on the dedicated officials who will be managing the game, tracking every pitch, and ensuring our showpiece games run smoothly.

While the focus will, rightly, be on the teams, the players and their management, the Referees and their umpires are an important part of the day too. Officiating an All-Ireland Final is a major honour. Over the next three days, we will reveal the appointed referees for each of our upcoming Finals Days.

We will begin today with our Women’s Finals. In a first for GAA Rounders, all three Women’s finals – Junior, Intermediate and Senior – will take place on the same day – Sunday 30 August – at the NGDC, Abbotstown, Dublin 15.

This will be a day to celebrate the women who play our sport, at all levels, and it’s shaping up to be a fantastic day of Rounders. Starting at 11am with our Junior final – between St. Kieran’s and St. Senan’s, continuing at 1pm with our Intermediate final between Galway City Rapparees and Elphin and culminating in our 3.30pm Senior Final between Breaffy and Limekiln.

Junior Women’s Final

Taking charge of the all-Limerick Junior derby is a man playing his Rounders west of the Shannon, though his journey began much further west. Originally from Philadelphia, the Galway City Rapparees Back Catcher, actor, and singer Jay Hall is our 2026 Junior Women’s Final Referee.

Jay Hall

Jay began refereeing in 2025, taking charge of Junior fixtures across Connacht and Limerick, and rapidly demonstrated his sharp command of the Rule Book. After progressing to Junior quarter-finals and Intermediate semi-finals this season, Jay now takes on his first national decider.

Fun Fact: Jay’s referee match reports read like novels! Every single play, catch, and out is chronicled in meticulous detail. Other Referees take note – getting Jay’s reports is so entertaining we might just make that level of storytelling mandatory for 2027!

Intermediate Women’s Final

With the Intermediate final being an all-Connacht clash between Galway City Rapparees and Roscommon’s Elphin, an Ulster official steps in to take the reins. Multi All-Ireland winner, All-Star recipient, and Erne Eagles stalwart Darryl Dolan brings a wealth of experience to this game.

Darryl Dolan

The Cavan team’s Senior Men’s pitcher, and sometime outfielder, returned from injury this season, showcasing his usual high standard across Senior Men and Senior Mixed campaigns while juggling refereeing duties.

Fun Fact: This is far from Darryl’s first All-Ireland final, either playing or officiating. When asked how many finals he has refereed over his career, his official answer was simply: “I dunno”—so we will safely assume it’s well into double figures!

Senior Women’s Final

The final game of the day sees four-in-a-row champions Breaffy of Mayo face Dublin’s Limekiln, and will be officiated by one of our most experienced senior referees, Carlow’s AnnMarie Brennan.

AnnMarie Brennan

Representing Cúchulainn Rounders Club, with whom she has collected numerous national honours, AnnMarie has been officiating since her teenage years. Her extensive rule knowledge, calm game management, and long-standing dedication make her an ideal choice for the Senior decider.

Fun Fact: Officially on maternity leave following the arrival of baby Oisín in May, AnnMarie initially returned for a one-off refereeing appearance at the World Games in Waterford this July. Having caught the Refereeing bug once again, she offered to cover some local fixtures before answering the call for the Senior Women’s decider – and we are delighted she did!

Each of our Referees will have three base umpires to assist them. With a wealth of experience, knowledge and skill behind them, we know that all three Women’s finals will run smoothly and show spectators just how great our game is.

On Wednesday we will reveal the Referees who will be responsible for our three Men’s finals on Sunday 6 September in Offaly GAA’s Centre of Excellence in Kilcormac.

 

GAA Rounders Championship Preview – 2 August 2026

After a two Sunday break – while we let the limelight fall on some county hurlers and footballers – we’re back to league action and the last two Sundays of games before we start Intermediate and Senior knockout stages.

While last Saturday was a fantastic day of quarter-finals, our Junior teams can take this weekend off and we’ll focus on our Intermediate and Senior grades.

13 games will take place in Wexford, Carlow, Mayo and Galway and Men’s, Women’s and Mixed teams will all take to the pitch to fight it out for semi-final places in those six competitions.

The West Is Most Definitely Awake!

After a fantastic Junior Mixed win in Dublin last weekend, no rest for Galway City Rapparees as their Senior Men, Intermediate Mixed and Intermediate Women all line out this Sunday. Hosting neighbours Kilmeena, slightly further away neighbours Michael Glavey’s and not neighbours at all Erne Eagles, this promises to be a brilliant day of Rounders in Galway – never mind Race Week, this is the Galway sporting action everyone will be watching!

Galway City Rapparees Senior Men

With two pitches on the go for the day, action starts at 12pm with Senior Men when the hosts take on Erne Eagles. Undefeated this season, the Cavan side are the team to beat. Just showing up on Sunday will take them to the top of the table while a win for Rapparees will put them on level points with Breaffy. As Breaffy won their head-to-head match, they’ll still be higher placed. However, for a team in their debut year at Senior, that would be some achievement. A loss on Sunday will leave the Galway men dependant on whether Carrickmacross Emmets beat Glynn Barntown on 9 August to see if they qualify in third or fourth place out of the group for Semi-finals.

The second Senior match of the day in Galway, at 1.45pm, will be between Erne Eagles and Kilmeena in Senior Mixed. In April, who would have predicted that Eagles, last year’s beaten finalists, would find themselves at the bottom of the table in July? With both teams propping up the table, this game will be played for pride and not having the ignominy of finishing last!

Galway City Rapparees Intermediate Women

Galway City Rapparees’ Intermediate Women have had a fairly quiet summer up to now, not having played since May. Having beaten Elphin and St. Clare’s, their season got off to a great start but will the two-month break, as well as playing two games in the same afternoon, mean that they’re fired up and ready to march on to semi-finals or that they’ve lost their edge? Smart money is probably on the first option! Kilmeena have had a disappointing year, and injuries and player unavailability has left them struggling. A win at the end of the season would definitely boost confidence for next year and for their Senior Mixed game which follows the Women’s game. No matter the result of this game, the Galway girls will have to keep their heads high and their gamefaces on and get ready for a second Women’s game against Roscommon’s Michael Glavey’s at 3.30pm. Another side that hasn’t had the best season, Glavey’s would undoubtedly love to record a win and sneak up the table to match St. Clare’s on points. With neither Kilmeena nor Glavey’s in a position to qualify out of the group, wins on Sunday will just make everyone feel a bit happier and will end the season on a high. Normally so kind and positive, it seems unlikely that Rapparees will grant those wishes!

Erne Eagles Intermediate Mixed

The final Intermediate game of the day, at 1.45pm, features Galway City Rapparees’ and Erne Eagles’ Mixed teams. Another group where Rapparees have had a quiet summer – they haven’t played an Inter Mixed game since May either – they still have two games to play to finish out their league fixtures. They also play St. Senan’s next Tuesday and losing to both the Limerick and Cavan sides would mean that Rapparees would be out of the Championship. Erne Eagles lost to St. Senan’s but beat both St. Clare’s and Michael Glavey’s and will be hoping for a third win in a row to bring them into their second consecutive semi-final.

Predictions:

  • Senior Men – Erne Eagles
  • Senior Mixed – Erne Eagles
  • Intermediate Mixed – Galway City Rapparees
  • Intermediate Women – Galway City Rapparees to win both

Referees:

  • Senior Games – Seán Bailey
  • Intermediate Games – Shirley Lennon

Also in Connacht there will be one game at 1pm in Mayo – where they’ll probably still be celebrating – when The Heath head to Breaffy for both sides’ final game of this year’s league. Undefeated Breaffy meeting ‘yet to register a win’ The Heath looks predictable but, sometimes, it’s those very games that surprise everyone and, while the ladies from The Heath have struggled with player availability and the jump from Intermediate to Senior this year, they have a fantastic never-say-die attitude that has served them well this year. It would be great to see a really good contest here and for both sides to play their best and show what they can do!

Prediction: Breaffy

Referee: Gretta Davis

Sunny South-East Showdown!

370km away, in southern Wexford, Glynn Barntown will be hosting their near neighbours Raheen in Senior Men’s and Women’s, and Intermediate Mixed games. Starting at 12.30pm with Men, form would suggest that the hosts will be victorious. Raheen have yet to win a match this year and, while Glynn Barntown’s performances haven’t always been amazing, a win would bring them to midtable and, with Carrickmacross Emmets still to travel to them next weekend, would give them a fighting chance of qualifying for semi-finals.

Raheen Rounders

Senior Women is still a bit difficult to predict qualifiers from, and with two games each left to play, Glynn Barntown and Raheen have more opportunities than most to work their way up the table. Raheen won’t qualify but Glynn Barntown, if they can win this Sunday and the following weekend against Carrickmacross, will hope to make a semi-final. Raheen’s Women’s team this year has seen plenty of new faces who have stuck with it all season and are improving but it will likely take until next year before they start winning against seasoned Senior Women’s sides. But, for a team only in their second year at Senior, they are holding their own, have fielded every game and played their best.

The middle game in Wexford on Sunday is between both club’s Intermediate Mixed teams. A win for Raheen will guarantee them a semi-final place while a loss will leave three teams – Dublin Metropolitans, Glynn Barntown and Raheen – on 16 points and every run scored on Sunday could prove vital. Raheen know a defeat would see them eliminated on Run Rate, while Glynn Barntown would need to record a double-digit victory to overtake Dublin Metropolitans and claim a semi-final spot.

Predictions:

  • Senior Men – Glynn Barntown
  • Senior Women – Glynn Barntown
  • Intermediate Mixed – Raheen

Referee: PJ Lalor

Leinster Clashes: Carlow vs Dublin & Laois vs Wexford

And finally, to Carlow, where Cúchulainn are giving Galway City Rapparees a run for their money in the hosting stakes and putting on four games, starting at 11am. Dubliners Limekiln will head south and the day will start with Senior Men. This is the Carlow men’s final group game while Limekiln still have to host Raheen next weekend. While Erne Eagles, Breaffy and Galway City Rapparees all qualify for semi-finals, the fourth place is between Glynn Barntown and Carrickmacross Emmets and will be decided next weekend. Neither Cúchulainn nor Limekiln will qualify but this won’t stop them from playing a competitive match for the five points and a higher place on the table.

Men’s game over, the Mixed teams will take to the pitch at 12.30pm. As with Men, Breaffy and Glynn Barntown have definitely qualified, so the rest of the pack is chasing third and fourth places and a win here would keep both sides in the mix. The only thing separating both teams now is Run Rate with Cúchulainn’s keeping them ahead for now. Expect neither side to give anything in this must-win game.

Cuchulainn Senior Women

The final Senior game of the day will be between both sides’ Women’s teams at 2pm. Limekiln’s Women have played so well this season – for a side containing so many players who never played together before this year. Cúchulainn’s last outing – against The Heath – was a masterclass in excellent batting, with four Home Runs scored, and they’ll be looking for a similar performance again on Sunday. Unlikely that Limekiln will give them that opportunity, but it should be a great game between two well-matched sides.

Predictions:

  • Senior Men – Cúchulainn
  • Senior Women – Limekiln
  • Senior Mixed – Limekiln

Referee: Michael Dowling

And that’s it for our penultimate week of league action. ‘Must-win’ games, ‘result doesn’t matter at all’ games and ‘last day out this season’ games – all will be played with the same heart and determination that our players have shown all season. And all will be worth heading out to watch and support our players give it their all.

Whether you’re on a sideline in Connacht or Leinster, we hope you enjoy Sunday’s games and whether you’re playing on a pitch in the west or the south-east we wish you all the very best of luck!

 

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