Tag Archive for: St Clares

GAA Rounders September & October Round-up

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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 Rounders All-Star Nominations Round Up

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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 😉

 

GAA Rounders Intermediate All-Star Nominees 2026

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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 InterProvincial Tournament – 27 September 2026

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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

 

 

 

 

 

GAA Rounders Men’s Finals Day – 6 September 2026 – Review

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Our Women’s Finals Day on 30 August was amazing – so many firsts, three great games, excellent rounders, nail-biting finishes. And I’m sure many people thought there was no way our Men’s Finals Day could equal, let alone surpass, it. Controversial though this might be, I think it just might have!

We always knew our Senior Final would be a showcase game but for the second week in a row, the Junior and Intermediate Finals which preceded them were equally skilful, hard fought and tight.

While Offaly GAA Centre of Excellence isn’t as well-known to Rounders players and fans as NGDC Abbotstown is, it certainly didn’t disappoint as a Finals’ venue. Excellent clubhouse and dressing rooms, use of the main pitch with a stand, ample carparking and a coffee truck onsite!

With all three finals once again being live streamed by TG4 Sport, the day started early to get cameras set up, the sound and PA system in place, mats down and signs up. Even from 9am it was clear that the weather, while dry, was going to cause some difficulties for fielders and batters with a very strong wind blowing in gusts and changing direction during the morning. But at least it wasn’t raining 😉

Junior Final: Gusserane vs Myshall

Our first Men’s team to take to the pitch in Kilcormac was Gusserane from Wexford and they came on in style to Chappell Roan’s Pink Pony Club! The run-on was lined with children from both teams waving flags and captain Conor Murphy proudly led his side onto the grass, followed minutes later by Shane Coburn and Myshall to the sounds of Sandstorm by Darude. Following team photographs and the coin toss by Referee Mark Jennings, the game started with Myshall fielding.

Gusserane Captain Conor Murphy and Myshall Captain Shane Coburn

Gusserane took the first innings to settle with none of their first five batters getting any further than second base. Myshall managed to get two home in their first batting but two great catches from Morgan Nash Colfer and John Flynn set the tone for the Gusserane outfield for the rest of the game.

Back in to bat for the second time, Gusserane got on the scoresheet with Matthew Flynn and Carel van der Merwe both hitting home base. Myshall answered with another five home, although two super catches from Niall Molloy and Conor Murphy kept the total low and the score at 7-2 to Myshall heading into the third.

Gusserane got three home in this innings, keeping Myshall to the same number of runs. Both pitchers fouled batters out while there were excellent catches from James Nolan, John Michael Nolan, Matthew Flynn and Niall Molloy.

Top of the fourth and Gusserane came to bat with a renewed determination and a plan of attack! With some smart batting, aware base running and lightening speed, they brought eight home. They followed that up with excellent fielding, keeping Myshall scoreless for the first time to head into the final innings with the score 14-10 in the Wexford men’s favour. Only Ned Molloy made it home in the final innings so Gusserane needed to keep Myshall from scoring four, or more.

Pitcher Carel van der Merwe caught the first batter, John Michael Nolan, out but the next two batters got safely on base. Morgan Nash Colfer caught Kevin Farrell out but his hit brought Matthew Roberts home. James Nolan came to bat with two out and hit a perfectly placed ball outfield, bringing Eoin Rea home and getting himself to third base. Shane Roberts’ groundball brought James home, leaving the score 14-13 with a runner on first and PJ Lalor up to bat. With PJ safely moving everyone on, Vice Captain Eolann McDonald came up knowing that getting the two base runners home would secure victory for the Carlow men. Hitting the last good ball short, it was easily picked up by John Flynn and thrown to Kevin Whelan for an out on first, then confidently lobbed back to Matthew Flynn for a cool one-handed catch to ensure no more runs were scored and the victory was Gusserane’s.

To have been ahead and to lose by the narrowest of margins, it would take a heart of stone not to feel for Myshall and how much it hurt that they didn’t get it over the line but with talent like theirs and a squad as strong as they have, we have no doubt that they’ll be back next year and quite likely in another final next season. Standout players for the Carlow side were Eoin Rea at Short Stop, Matthews Roberts at Back Catcher and John Michael Nolan and James Nolan for expert batting.

But Gusserane! Many of these lads knew Myshall’s pain from having been in the same situation after the 2025 Junior Mixed final which they lost to St. Senan’s and the hard work and commitment that they put into their 2026 campaign showed in their resilience and never say die attitude in this final. Congratulations to them on a most deserved win and we really look forward to seeing them joining the ranks of our Intermediate Men’s Championship in 2027. Bualadh bos also to their Managers Mary Power and Keith Molyneux for their skill and time with this team.

Once again our Referees were all provided with a live microphone feed which helped spectators and those watching the live feed to keep up with calls and outs. Referee Mark Jennings was assisted by Michael Slevin and JP Tynan of Emo and Gretta Davis of Elphin as base umpires. The match officials’ pick for Player of the Match was Gusserane pitcher Carel van der Merwe, who had a fantastic day pitching in very difficult conditions. He was also responsible for a great out from a catch and got home twice.

Intermediate Final: St. Clare’s vs St. Senan’s

If the opening game of the day was a cracker, we were all ready for this game to really keep us on the edge of our seats. Last year’s Junior Men’s winners, and with only one season at Intermediate under their belts, St. Senan’s, taking on the mighty St. Clare’s from Cavan with their years of experience and multiple All-Stars gained over a lifetime of playing Rounders.

Jason Cawley of St. Clare’s and Kevin Doody of St. Senan’s

Winning the toss, St. Clare’s elected to field and, in a slight change from normal service, PJ Kelly headed out to Second Base, leaving his usual Back Catcher position to Jason Cawley. So far, so unusual but we put faith in Managers Shane Dolan and Louise McAndrew and the process!

Declan Rattigan came up to bat first for St. Senan’s and in a display of very smart fielding, pitcher Darragh Johnston got the ball to Steve Deyarmin on First to get the first out of the game and the start that St. Clare’s were looking for. With the next two batters making it to base, St. Senan’s Captain Kevin Doody came to bat and hit the ball straight into the hands of Chaz Solomon, thereby stopping any advancement of the runners on base. Next up was Niall Sheehy whose hit went to Short Stop Wayne Gerber and with another fast throw to Steve Daryarmin, secured the third out and no runs scored.

St. Clare’s came to bat meaning business. Two excellent catches from Dean Hogan outfield and one from Ian Sheehy on Third showed St. Senan’s ability to field but the Cavan men batted smart and got nine runs home in that first innings leaving the score 9-0 going into the second.

More excellent fielding with clean catches from Jason Cawley and Wayne Gerber as well as an out on second (still trusting the process!) led to the Limerick lads being contained to one run home. St. Senan’s fielding was excellent in this innings with only Barry Walsh and Bryan Dolan getting home.

The third and fourth innings saw St. Senan’s get more home than St. Clare’s each time and, heading into the final innings the score was 19-12. Needing to get at least seven home the pressure was on St. Senan’s for their final turn at bat. Batter one, Kevin Doody, made it to base but Batter two, Niall Sheehy was out on second. There followed four runs home but then John Hanlon’s ball to left outfield was expertly caught by Ciarán Gray. The following two batters made it on base and JP Mulvihill came to bat knowing that getting himself around the bases would level the score. Unfortunately for him, his hit didn’t go far enough and was thrown back to Catcher Jason Cawley who tagged the base and prevented another run being scored.

While St. Senan’s were visibly disappointed with the outcome of the game, they should take heart from the fact that getting to a final in any team’s first year at a division is difficult and should not be underestimated for the amount of time, hard work and talent is required to achieve that. We have no doubt that they will have learned from their first year and will hit the ground running in typical St. Senan’s determined fashion and we look forward to seeing them back in 2027.

St. Senan’s Intermediate Men’s Team

To Shane and Louise…sorry for ever doubting the process! Clearly that’s a magic formula and was the way to go. Let’s be honest, experienced talented players like PJ and Jason can move around infield and play anywhere and make a difference and St. Clare’s has players like that in abundance. Chaz Solomons on Third Base is a workhorse while Steve Deyarmin had multiple outs on First. Outfield, both Bryan Dolan and Ciarán Gray had a great day while Player of the Match, Wayne Gerber, was responsible for outs and got home three times. And let’s not forget the hardest job on the pitch on a breezy day like yesterday – Pitcher Darragh Johnston played a blinder and was a hugely important part of the success of the team.

St. Clare’s following the Intermediate Men’s Final Win

St. Clare’s have been keen to get back to Senior Rounders for some time now and it’s been lovely watching their journey to that place over this season. We look forward to seeing how they get on in 2027 and wish them well!

Referee for this game was The Heath’s Philip Keane and his umpires—also from The Heath—were Danielle Keane, Serena Lewis, and Grace Salmon.

Senior Final: Carrickmacross Emmets vs Erne Eagles

Our final, highly anticipated, game of the day was our Senior Final between reigning Champions Carrickmacross Emmets of Monaghan and Cavan side Erne Eagles. A rematch of the 2025 Senior Men’s Final, Erne Eagles had taken the title in 2024 and we were expecting a dogfight to see who would come out on top for 2026.

Erne Eagles Senior Men

Winning the toss, Erne Eagles elected to field and first batter up, Colm Kiernan, was out on first base following a quick throw from Short Stop Mick Cullen to Shane Sheridan on First Base. Second batter up, Declan Finnegan, made it to base but Oran Kiernan behind him fouled out while Ronan Kiernan’s hit was caught by Justin Perrin outfield and fired back to Damien McArdle to prevent Declan Finnegan’s run in. After an almost textbook perfect first innings at field, Eagles came to bat and managed to get two home. Excellent catches from Colm Kiernan and Oran Kiernan as well as an out on base on Third showed just how dangerous the Monaghan men can be when they’re fielding well.

The second innings saw no change to the scoreline but there were some more impressive catches for outs from Mick Cullen, Shane Sheridan, Justin Perrin, Colm Kiernan and Declan Finnegan as well as an out on First Base for Frank Duffy.

Things started to get a bit more exciting in Innings Three as Carrick got six home to be followed by Eagles pulling away more by getting nine home. The fourth was low scoring with some great fielding from both sides – outfield catches, a foul-out and Tag by Darryl Dolan, a super back catch from Damien McArdle and a great catch from Gerard Clerkin.

Into the fifth and Carrick got nobody home while Eagles cranked it up a gear at bat bringing 12 home, before Barry Lambe caught a pop-up from Mick Cullen to bring the innings to a close.

In the sixth, Carrickmacross got Dillon Carolan and Frank Duffy home but elected to bat on into the seventh. Batters two, three and four were all caught or fouled out and the game ended 24(6)-10(7) to Erne Eagles.

While the scoreline shows a gap, the actual game was tight enough for most of the innings and doesn’t accurately reflect the excellent fielding and batting we observed on the day. Justin Burns on Third for Carrick literally put his body on the line multiple times to block balls while Colm Kiernan had two split second reflexes back catches for outs. Carrickmacross should be proud of their performance – it’s never easy to defend a title, it’s even harder when you’re facing an opponent like Erne Eagles with the depth of squad and number of excellent players they have to call on. This year, the victory was deservedly theirs – who knows where the Corn Aodh Rua will be headed in September 2027?

For Eagles, the stars on the day were multiple – the statistics reflect that every player except one contributed to an out or a run. That is something that the Cavan men should be very proud of and the very definition of how a team should work. A special mention to the amazing pitcher/catcher duo of Darryl Dolan and Damien McArdle who make that level of skill, talent and game knowledge look easy. We all know that’s not always the case and their performances yesterday were phenomenal when weather conditions and the pressure of an All-Ireland final are taken into account.

Referee Danielle Keane (The Heath) took control of a very well-run and amicable game. Her umpires were Philip Keane, Serena Lewis and Grace Salmon of The Heath. Their pick for Player of the Match was Damien McArdle, who had some outstanding catches at Back Catcher as well as assisting outs on base and getting home four times. The final anthem of the day was sung by Niamh Duffy.

Special Guests & Thanks

In the stand were supporters of all six finals teams. It was lovely to see the St. Clare’s lads stick around to support their fellow County team, Erne Eagles. We were also joined by future stars from both Carrickmacross Emmets and Erne Eagles as well as Clontuskert in Galway who took part in Go Games demonstration games before the Senior game started. We hope they enjoyed their time in Kilcormac and we’re very grateful to them and their parents for making the journey to be with us.

We were delighted to welcome GAA Handball President Kevin Cooke and we hope he had an enjoyable day watching Rounders.

GAA Rounders President Paula Doherty with GAA Handball President Kevin Cooke

All three games were live streamed on TG4 Sport’s YouTube Channel by Click Zoom with commentary from Aidan Carr and Shirley Lennon. Brady Sound & Lighting supplied the excellent background music as well as the PA system to allow our Referees to be heard and our MC – the always excellent Craig Davis – to introduce our teams and keep spectators updated on the score. Karl Gormley was on hand to photograph the day and none of it would have been possible without the assistance of the Offaly GAA Centre of Excellence manager Christy Todd.

Huge thanks to the following who made sure the day went off without a hitch; Ana Carr, Craig Davis, Gretta Davis, Paula Doherty, Michael Dowling, Mag Doyle, Mark Jennings, Séamus Keegan, and Shirley Lennon.

Up Next: Mixed Finals Day!

We have one more amazing Sunday of Rounders Finals to come and it will take place on Sunday 13 September in Mallow GAA, Cork.

Schedule for Sunday:

  • 11am (Junior Mixed Final): Galway City Rapparees vs Kilmore (Roscommon)
  • 1pm (Intermediate Mixed Final): Emo (Laois) vs Galway City Rapparees
  • 3.30pm (Senior Mixed Final): Breaffy (Mayo) vs Glynn Barntown (Wexford)

Previews for all three matches will be on our website later in the week.

Two spectacular weekends done but is the best yet to come? One thing is certain – we’ll all be suffering from Rounders Withdrawal Symptoms on Monday 14 September so the advice is to get yourselves to Mallow to make the most of the last day of our 2026 Championship!

Link to buy tickets for Mixed Finals Day GAA Rounders Mixed All-Ireland Finals 2026 – Universe

For anyone unable to make it to Mallow, all three games will be live streamed on TG4 Sport’s YouTube channel at the following links

Junior Cluiche Corr | Cluiche Ceannais Measctha Sóisir – Galway City Rapparees v Kilmore

Intermediate Cluiche Corr | Cluiche Ceannais Measctha Idirmheánach – Emo v Galway City Rapparees

Senior Cluiche Corr | Cluiche Ceannais Measctha Sinsir – Breaffy v Glynn Barntown

 

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 Women’s All-Ireland Finals Preview

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Well that break didn’t last too long!! The support for the articles, the idea that we should be promoting our teams and our games, the fact that players and managers read them, discuss them and look forward to them – and the huge number of supportive comments on Facebook, texts, emails and calls to ask for them to come back just can’t be argued with (and are very much appreciated – thank you to everyone who took the time to contact me or comment, it was lovely to read them all!)! So the previews are back – I couldn’t be happier and I couldn’t have asked for them to return on a more exciting weekend – GAA Rounders first ever Women’s All-Ireland Finals Day.

The only thing that I’m changing for these three weeks is that I’m not going to predict a winner – not because of anything that anyone said, but because I can’t, for any of the nine Finals. Margins are so, so tight between teams that it would be just sticking a pin in a name to suggest who’ll take the title. And that’s not fair – every team is in their final because of hard work, determination, grit and ability. As we know, this is Rounders, and on the day, anything can happen – so let’s go into all nine games with that knowledge and one of my favourite mantras “she believed she could do it…and she did”!

Junior Women

Starting the day at 11am will be our Junior Women’s Final, contested by two Limerick teams – St. Kieran’s of Ardagh and St. Senan’s of Foynes.

St. Kieran’s Junior Women

St. Kieran’s had a great season at league stages. Winning their first four games with at least one – and twice with three – bats in hand, they cruised comfortably to their final group game against St. Senan’s. Losing that game 17(5)-5(5) meant that St. Kieran’s finished the group in second place, leading to a quarter-final game against Carrickmacross Emmets of Monaghan. That decider in Tymon Park at the end of July saw St. Kieran’s take the win comprehensively with the final score being 18(2)-10(5). Their next meeting was a semi-final against Group B toppers Kilmore of Roscommon and took place in Edenderry on 9 August. Once again, against the odds, St. Kieran’s won, with a bat in hand, 33(4)–18(5).

St. Senan’s Junior Women

St. Senan’s also had a relatively easy journey to quarter-finals with five wins from five games, none of them going to five innings until their final clash with St. Kieran’s. As group winners, they faced Myshall in Tymon Park and, while predicted to have a more difficult game, the final score of 15(5)–2(5) showed their ability to perform under pressure. Their semi-final, against another Carlow side, Leighlinbridge, was the tighter of the two games that day but determination and hard work saw them take the win 15(5)-11(5).

And now these two neighbouring teams and group opponents will meet again to decide which of these sides will be crowned All-Ireland Champions 2026.

GAA Rounders president Paula Doherty with Junior Women’s finalists Linda Clifford of St Kieran’s, Limerick, left, and Kyra Hogan of St Senan’s, Limerick

Both sides have excellent pitchers and catchers. Louise Kelly, 2025 Junior All-Star, is used to pitching for St. Senan’s Intermediate Mixed team from 12m and her accuracy and speed from 10m makes pitches hard to hit. Deirdre Ambrose for St. Kieran’s is similarly accurate and rarely throws bad balls. Walk ons in this game are unlikely to be an issue. Both Back Catchers had great semi-finals but St. Senan’s Dorothy Cullagh had an excellent game with catches, throws to assist and outs on home base. St. Kieran’s Siobhán Halligan impressed with her ability to throw to base fast and accurately.

Baseminders on both teams are strong, with St. Kieran’s Caitríona Hough responsible for multiple semi-final outs while Eimear O’Malley on First for St. Senan’s had the majority of their on-base outs that day.

St. Kieran’s outfielders were highly effective during the semi-final with Ellie Bucke and Sandra Walsh responsible for catches and outs on base. Shortstop, and Captain, Emma Galvin supported her teammates excellently that day covering bases, throwing for outs and tagging players on the running line. While less of Leighlinbridge’s hits went outfield, both Gráinne Noonan and Captain Kyra Hogan had outs on clean catches. St. Senan’s Shortstop Dympna O’Brien covered infield effectively and had two catches of her own.

From analysing the statistics over the season it’s clear that both teams are well matched. While St. Senan’s can rely on the accuracy of bowling, throwing and catching from their pitcher/catcher/First Base trio for outs, St. Kieran’s are stronger outfield and at bat. Both teams are managed by members of GAA Rounders Committees – St. Kieran’s by Ard Chomhairle’s Munster Representative Michael Sheahan and St. Senan’s by Munster Juvenile Committee Representative Ian Sheehy, a man well used to All-Ireland Finals, having won two last year with St. Senan’s and playing in the Intermediate Men’s final next week as well.

Many of the St. Senan’s ladies played in the 2025 Junior Mixed final and have that experience to help them, while this is St. Kieran’s first time to make it through to knock-out games. While they will undoubtedly be nervous, hopefully those jitters will be gone once the game starts and the action begins.

Our Junior Women’s final will be refereed by Galway City Rapparees’ Jay Hall and his umpires will be Justin Perrin (Erne Eagles) and Limekiln’s Áine McLaughlin and Ciarán Weldon.

St. Kieran’s player Máire Dinneen will sing the National Anthem before the final commences.

This is a landmark game in so many ways – two Limerick teams, our first live streamed All-Ireland Junior final, our first ever Women’s Finals Day and the first time a GAA Rounders All-Ireland Championship cup will be presented by a female President – and our hope is that both teams, and their supporters, managers and families can enjoy the entire experience, the historic nature of the occasion and the first of our three All-Ireland Women’s finals.

Ádh mór oraibh go léir

Intermediate Women

At 1pm, our two Intermediate teams will start their final and while the first game is an all-Munster affair, this game is an all-Connacht clash between Roscommon’s Elphin and Galway City Rapparees.

No strangers to finals, both teams have had their share of All-Ireland Sundays over the past few years with Elphin narrowly losing out to Inniskeen Grattans in last year’s Junior Women’s final. Rapparees shared the same fate, to Emo, in the 2024 Junior Women’s final but many of their women who play Intermediate Mixed were part of their Junior Mixed team which won the 2024 All-Ireland, and all Rapparees women will form part of either their Junior or Intermediate Mixed teams who will both contest All-Ireland finals in Mallow GAA on Sunday 13 September….that’s an awful lot of All-Ireland medals between two squads!!

Elphin ladies after their win.

Elphin ladies after their win.

Starting with Elphin, who would have thought this time last year that this group of women who were so disappointed to have missed out on winning their final in Dunganny, would regroup, turn things around and prove just how strong and committed they are by making their way through the group stages with only one defeat? Their first match at Intermediate level, a tough ask for any team, was away to Galway City Rapparees and I don’t think they will mind me saying that they struggled that day, losing 28(3)-6(5). But it is testament to the entire squad that they didn’t let that affect the rest of their season, beating Michael Glavey’s, Kilmeena and St. Clare’s with excellent displays of tactical rounders, showing their skill at bat and fielding. The two month wait between their final league game and their semi-final against Wexford’s Castletown Liam Mellows was well spent preparing and, in a rematch of their 2025 Junior Semi-final on the same pitch against the same opposition, they took the game 15(4)-3(5), sending them marching on to an All-Ireland final for the second time in two years.

Galway Rapparees women’s team

Galway Rapparees women’s team

Their opponents, Galway City Rapparees, are in their second year at Intermediate and while their first year was difficult and didn’t go as they would have liked, girl power and inner belief kicked in this season, and they smashed their second year at the grade. Undefeated all year they have fielded strongly, batted well and ran the bases smartly. Their semi-final, a home match as their club hosted this year’s Intermediate Semi-finals on 15 August, against Inniskeen Grattans was a masterclass in how to take a tight game and turn it on its head, with 16 players home in the final two innings. They took the win 22(5)-8(5) and set up an All-Ireland final against fellow Connacht side Elphin.

As with Junior Women, both finalists met in the group stages so they will be aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses but, let’s be honest, neither side really has a lot of weaknesses! One of Rapparees’ difficulties in 2025 was finding a pitcher with Edel Brennan unavailable and that has been resolved, and how!, this year with the discovery of Katie Jessop and her left-handed pitching skill. Responsible for ten outs in their semi-final against Inniskeen, Katie’s accurate pitching and amazing calmness at catching pop-ups is a huge asset for the Galway side. And it should be noted that this is a side with multiple skilled and talented players – Hazel Kilduff with her powerful throw, super catches and excellent batting, 2024 All-Star, lightening fast Clodagh Naughton, and cool under pressure Mel Mannion, Jenna O’Brien, Eimear Cuddy and Sorcha Dowd. Managed by Rory McGarvey, who understands both Intermediate and Senior level rounders, their ability to work together as a team should not be underrated – communication and their support for one another are visible in every game.

Elphin also have many talented players who can be relied upon to step up when the pressure is applied. Former Breaffy player Avril Coyne has given the team a level of tactical skill which helped them in their transition from Junior to intermediate. New signing for 2026, Gretta Davis has been consistently strong infield and her direction and guidance, along with that of Avril Coyne, has helped Elphin negotiate this year as well as they have. Pitcher Áine McDermott and Back Catcher Ciara Butler have been making a great team since Junior and continue to do so while Georgina McDermott on Second Base, responsible for five outs in Elphin’s semi-final against Castletown Liam Mellows, is dangerous when a ball comes her way. Kirstin Cronin outfield has a great catch and throw and both she, and twin Katie, are very fast around the bases. Pauline Tansey Brady must be credited with a lot of the success of this Elphin team – her dedication and hard work has brought them a long way in three years and her love of the game and her club are evident in all she does for Elphin.

On a similar point, Club Secretaries for all six club in this year’s Women’s Finals have been excellent all year and their professionalism and organisational skills have made my job so much easier. So go raibh míle maith agaibh Majella, Ian, Caitriona, Joe, Ciara and Eileen!

GAA Rounders president Paula Doherty with Intermediate Women’s finalists Georgina McDermott of Elphin, Roscommon, left, and Clodagh Naughton of Galway City Rapparees, Galway

Having had the pleasure of refereeing both Elphin and Galway City Rapparees this season, I can honestly say that both teams are two of the most sports(wo)manlike sides you can meet. Games are played competitively but fairly, with humour and good grace, appreciation for the opposition’s skill and good play but with a desire to win – and really could we look for more in an All-Ireland final? While only one team can claim the title on Sunday, both sides can be very proud of all they have achieved in the 2026 season, how far they have come since this time last year and what they have brought to the Intermediate Women’s competition and GAA rounders over their time playing our sport. Míle buíochas cailiní…agus go n-eirí an tádh libh go léir!

Our Intermediate Women’s final will be refereed by Erne Eagles’ Darryl Dolan and his umpires will be fellow Eagles Gerard Clerkin, Paul Mollaghan and Shane Sheridan.

The National Anthem will be performed by Galway City Rapparees’ Jay Hall.

Senior Women

Two exciting games over, our Senior Women will take to the pitch for a 3.30pm start and while, for one side this is familiar territory, having been in the same position for the past four years, for the other it’s been a while since they featured in a Senior Women’s Final. Enter Breaffy of Mayo, going for five in a row, and Limekiln of Dublin.

Unbeaten all year, Breaffy are heading into this match looking to win their fifth Senior All-Ireland Women’s Championship in a row. Both teams met already this year, in Athlone in May, and Breaffy took the win 11(5)-5(5) but a lot has changed for Limekiln in those three months. With new signings this year – Serena Costelloe, Erica Meslin, Marilin Neiland and Katarina Prazakova from Kevin’s and Colette McCaul from St. Clare’s – their team was just working out the dynamics of where the new additions would fit in. As the season progressed that became very clear and the newer and established players began to work together seamlessly and became stronger with every game.

Breaffy Senior Women

Breaffy’s team saw some new additions this year and they have also settled into the team well over the course of the season. GAA Rounders President Paula Doherty’s Third Base position was taken over in various games by Mikaela Foy, Treasa Fitzgibbon, Laura Williams and Moreblessing Ndlovu while Paula Lenehan returned to cover First Base at various times this year. Consistently excellent Michelle Hopkins, Katie Groonell, Helen Gallagher and the Gavin sisters – Gráinne and Aileen – continue to impress in every game.

Topping the group Breaffy played fourth place Erne Eagles in their semi-final on a wet day with challenging conditions in Monaghan GAA’s Centre of Excellence. Although Breaffy were expected to win comfortably, the Cavan ladies had other ideas and pushed the defending champions to the very last bat of the last innings, just narrowly missing out on bringing the game to extra innings with a 15(7)-13(7) result.

Screenshot

Limekiln had an easier semi-final, beating Carrickmacross Emmets 11(7)-5(7) to secure their spot in the final. Pitcher Serena Costelloe has played a blinder all year with excellent pitching, catching and throwing for outs on base. Assisted by Erica Meslin at Short Stop, Kate O’Reilly behind the batter and experienced and composed Base Minders like Amanda Kealy, Marion Hughes and Eileen Goggins, infield is well covered. Outfield Yvonne Healy, Captain Emma Hudson, Colette McCaul and Ellen Maguire are reliable and skilled at both catching and throwing back to home to prevent runs being scored.

GAA Rounders president Paula Doherty with Senior Women’s finalists Emma Hudson of Limekiln, Dublin, left, and Michelle Hopkins of Breaffy, Mayo

With a bit of history on the line here – if Breaffy win, they will match the five in a row record held by Castlebar and Rathdowney while Limekiln’s last Senior Women’s All-Ireland title was in 2005 and it has been 10 years since they appeared in a Women’s All-Ireland final – the winner of this game will add something to the statistic book. Whatever the result, we look forward to enjoying a closely contested, fast-paced game which will showcase our talented players and our exciting sport.

Beirigí bua!

The honour of refereeing this Senior Final will go to Cúchulainn’s AnnMarie Brennan and her umpires will be PJ Lalor (Myshall), Leah Mullins (Cúchulainn) and Justin Perrin (Erne Eagles).

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.

Cluiche Corr – Cluichí Ceannais na mBan | St Kieran’s v St Senan’s

Cluiche Corr – Cluichí Ceannais na mBan | Galway City Rapparees v Elphin

Cluiche Corr – Cluichí Ceannais na mBan | Breaffy v Limekiln

For anyone who can attend, tickets are required and can be purchased at the following link

GAA Rounders Women’s All-Ireland Finals 2026 – Universe

Finally, the very best of luck to all players involved in Sunday’s finals. Be proud of your achievement and enjoy the experience – we know that you will all do yourselves, your clubs and GAA Rounders proud and we are all looking forward to a fantastic day of top quality Rounders in Abbotstown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Historic First for GAA Rounders – Croke Park Championship Launch

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GAA Rounders Championship Launch – 26 August 2026

In a historic first, GAA Rounders launched our All-Ireland Championship at Croke Park on Wednesday 26 August 2026. After a successful season which commenced on 19 April and has run all summer, the 103 teams who entered the Championship have been whittled down to the final 18 who will contest All-Ireland finals over the next three Sundays.

 

Players from all 18 finalist clubs were in attendance as were Uachtarán CLG Jarlath Burns and Uachtarán GAA Rounders Paula Doherty.

This marks the start of another first where we will have three weekends of finals starting on Sunday 30 August in NGDC Abbotstown with our three Women’s finals – Junior, Intermediate and Senior – followed on Sunday 6 September by our three Men’s finals in Offaly GAA Centre of Excellence, Kilcormac and finishing on 13 September with our three Mixed finals in Mallow GAA, Cork

In another landmark event for our organisation, all nine finals will be live streamed on TG4 Sport’s YouTube channel, with live commentary. All finals will be available on GAA Rounders YouTube channel after the matches.

 

Key Fixtures Include:

Sunday 30 August, NGDC Abbotstown, Dublin 15

  • Junior Women’s Final (11am): St. Kieran’s (Limerick) vs St. Senan’s (Limerick)
  • Intermediate Women’s Final (1pm): Elphin (Roscommon) vs Galway City Rapparees (Galway)
  • Senior Women’s Final (3.30pm): Breaffy (Mayo) vs Limekiln (Dublin)

    • GAA Rounders president Paula Doherty with Senior Women’s finalists Emma Hudson of Limekiln, Dublin, left, and Michelle Hopkins of Breaffy, Mayo

     

    Sunday 6 September, Offaly GAA Centre of Excellence, Offaly

  • Junior Men’s Final (11am): Gusserane (Wexford) vs Myshall (Carlow)
  • Intermediate Men’s Final (1pm): St. Clare’s (Cavan) vs St. Senan’s (Limerick)
  • Senior Men’s Final (3.30pm): Carrickmacross Emmets (Monaghan) vs Erne Eagles (Cavan)

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

Sunday 13 September, Mallow GAA, Cork

  • Junior Mixed Final (11am): Galway City Rapparees (Galway) vs Kilmore (Roscommon)
  • Intermediate Mixed Final (1pm): Emo (Laois) vs Galway City Rapparees (Galway)
  • Senior Mixed Final (3.30pm): Breaffy (Mayo) vs Glynn Barntown (Wexford)

GAA Rounders president Paula Doherty with Senior Mixed finalists, from left, Victor del Rosal of Breaffy, Mayo, Aileen Kelly of Glynn Barntown, Wexford, and Michelle Hopkins of Breaffy, Mayo

“Today’s launch in Croke Park marks the beginning of one of the most exciting periods in the GAA Rounders calendar said Paula Doherty, Uachtarán GAA Rounders. It is a wonderful opportunity to bring together players, volunteers, officials and the wider Gaelic Games family as we look ahead to three exciting weekends of All-Ireland Finals competition.

Reaching an All-Ireland Final is a significant achievement, and I want to congratulate every club, team and volunteer who has helped make this stage of the season possible. We look forward to welcoming supporters to what promises to be three outstanding weekends of competition and celebration.”

GAA Rounders president Paula Doherty and Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael Jarlath Burns with Women finalists, back row, from left, Emma Hudson of Limekiln, Dublin, Linda Clifford of St Kieran’s, Limerick, and front row, from, left, Clodagh Naughton of Galway City Rapparees, Galway, Georgina McDermott of Elphin, Roscommon, and Kyra Hogan of St Senan’s, Limerick.

Uachtarán CLG Jarlath Burns said: “The growth in the numbers playing GAA Rounders is a really exciting development for the sport. It is not only a brilliant, skilful game to play and watch, but an opportunity for our clubs to really embrace the manifesto of a GAA Where We All Belong and champion inclusivity. For more than 25 years TG4 have done so much for the development of Gaelic games through their exceptional coverage, and I am delighted that they will add these 2026 Rounders All-Ireland Finals to their schedule and look forward to the enhanced promotion this will bring. Go n-eirí an tadh libh go leir.”

GAA Rounders president Paula Doherty with players from Galway City Rapparees, Galway, back row, Tomás Kenny, left, and Alex Stewart, right and front row, from left, Ajay Kumar, Mel Mannion, and Clodagh Naughton

Tickets for all finals days are available now via Universe

Women’s Finals – 30 August 2026

https://www.universe.com/events/gaa-rounders-womens-all-ireland-finals-2026-tickets-GP4DRF

Men’s Finals – 6 September 2026

https://www.universe.com/events/gaa-rounders-mens-all-ireland-finals-2026-tickets-3KJS9B

Mixed Finals – 13 September 2026

https://www.universe.com/events/gaa-rounders-mixed-all-ireland-finals-2026-tickets-9S8MP1

Broadcast coverage begins at 10.50am on all three dates.

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

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With our three Women’s Finals Referees revealed on Tuesday, today focus turns to Kilcormac, Co. Offaly where our Men’s Finals will take place on Sunday 6 September. With matches at 11am, 1pm and 3.30pm, this will be an action-packed day of Rounders in the midlands.

Junior Men

Our Junior Men’s final is a south Leinster clash between Wexford’s Gusserane and Carlow’s Myshall and will be refereed by Mayo man and Breaffy stalwart Mark Jennings.

Mark Jennings

After taking a break from refereeing in 2025, Mark has taken back up his Ref Book this year and covered games in Connacht and Limerick. No stranger to All-Ireland Finals -with two wins in Mixed Finals over the past two years – Mark will take on refereeing his first All-Ireland final this year.

Fun Fact: Mark is the creative talent behind our GAA Rounders branded batting, pitching and base mats. Thanks to Mark and his stencil and spray paint can, Rounders mats have never looked so uniform and fancy!

Intermediate Men

In the clash of the Saints, our Intermediate Men’s final is between Cavan’s St. Clare’s and Limerick’s St. Senan’s and the man in charge of this decider will be The Heath’s Philip Keane.

Philip Keane

One of our most experienced and Senior Referees, Philip has taken charge of numerous finals at all grades and competitions. Not playing this year, but training underage players in his Laois club, Philip has travelled all over this season to referee Rounders games.

Fun Fact: Currently Chairperson of GAA Rounders Hearings Committee, Philip knows our Rule Book better than most, so any teams hoping to get away with breaking a rule or sneaking through on a technicality might want to think twice 😉

Senior Men

A rematch of the 2025 All-Ireland Senior Men’s Final between Carrickmacross Emmets and Erne Eagles, this senior game deserves a Senior Referee and will get one in the form of Danielle Keane.

Danielle Keane

Having most recently won her own All-Ireland medal in the 2025 Intermediate Women’s Final, playing for The Heath, Danielle has balanced refereeing with playing Senior Women this year. With no end of refereeing experience, and an excellent knowledge of our rules and our sport, Danielle will manage this game with skill and control…and multi-coloured pens!

Fun Fact: Not many sports can boast having two consecutive All-Ireland finals refereed by siblings but that is just what we will have on 6 September when Danielle follows her brother Philip onto the pitch after his Intermediate final finishes.

With top-tier officiating locked in across Junior, Intermediate, and Senior grades, Kilcormac is set for an unforgettable day of championship deciders. Our final article on Thursday will reveal the three Referees who have been appointed for our Mixed games in Mallow GAA on 13 September.

GAA Rounders Championship Semi-Final Preview – 15 & 16 August 2026

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GAA ROUNDERS • 2026

ALL-IRELAND
SEMI-FINAL WEEKEND

10
ALL-IRELAND
SEMI-FINALS

2
MASSIVE
DAYS

20
TOP
TEAMS

2
HOST
VENUES

With the exception of our three Finals Sundays in August and September,this weekend coming is the highlight of our calendar.

Ten All-Ireland Semi-finals over two days.

Twenty of our top Intermediate and Senior teams will take to a pitch in
Galway or Monaghan
and for anyone lucky enough to be in either venue, or both, this will be a weekend of Rounders to remember!

●
GALWAY		 INTERMEDIATE
& SENIOR		 MONAGHAN
●

ALL-IRELAND SEMI-FINAL WEEKEND • AUGUST 2026

Intermediate Women

Interesting statistic number 1 – three of the four semi-finalists were playing Junior Rounders in 2025

That’s impressive – 2025 All-Ireland winners, Inniskeen Grattans, Runners-up, Elphin, and semi-finalists, Castletown Liam Mellows, join 2024 All-Ireland Runners-up Galway City Rapparees as the top four Intermediate Women’s teams for this year. No matter the results on Saturday, or Sunday 30 August in Abbotstown on Women’s Finals day, those are facts to be proud of ladies!

Our year started with two geographical groups, where all teams played each other, and the top two teams from each group qualified to Semi-finals. Group A was topped by Castletown Liam Mellows (Wexford) with Inniskeen Grattans (Monaghan) in second place while Group B winners were Galway City Rapparees, followed by Elphin (Roscommon).

Galway Rapparees women’s team

Galway Rapparees women’s team

First up, at 12pm, will be Galway City Rapparees vs Inniskeen Grattans

Both teams can boast a Junior All-Star (Clodagh Naughton in 2024, Julianne Smith in 2025). Both teams have strong pitchers (Katie Jessop and Julianne Smith).

Both teams can bat (96 and 69 runs scored over the season) but the stand-out statistic in Rapparees’ favour is that their fielding is far sharper (17 runs conceded over four games, to Inniskeen’s 49).

Rapparees pitcher/catcher/first base out rate is very strong with over half of their outs from their past two games involving Foul outs, third good ball outs or throws from Sorcha Dowd or Hazel Kilduff behind the batter to Mel Mannion on First.

While Inniskeen’s Back Catcher, Catherine Deery, gets her share of outs, and Julianne Smith’s pitching leads to foul outs in every game, their rate of outs on First Base is low. Siobhán Cunningham and Carol McKeown are both accurate with catches to outfield and infield, but most of Inniskeen’s outs come from catches or foul outs and this likely explains their high rate of runs scored against them.

To contain the Rapparees they will need to ensure that outs on bases are improved as fast runners like Clodagh Naughton, Hazel Kilduff and Eimear Cuddy will punish an inability to do that. For their part, the Galway women will have to watch Julianne Smith’s excellent fast pitching, and minimise the number of foul outs.

Prediction: Galway City Rapparees

Referee: Shirley Lennon

Our second Women’s game will be at 2pm and will be Castletown Liam Mellows vs Elphin

Interesting statistic number 2 – this is a rematch of last year’s Junior Semi-final, in the same venue and on the same pitch

While Castletown will be aiming to shake off the bad memories of that loss, Elphin will be hoping for a repeat performance. Strong all season, Castletown only lost to Emo but took every other game comprehensively. Their pitcher, Mandy Callanan, has been consistently strong and accurate, while Sarah Kavanagh on Second Base is a powerhouse to catch and ensure outs on her base. Short Stop Edel Coade Morris has had a great season with multiple outs in several games and any ball hit high and infield is likely to land in her hands. Back Catcher Sandra Nugent has similarly had great success this year punishing clips and back hits.

Elphin’s first year in Intermediate didn’t start as they would have liked with a comprehensive defeat to Galway City Rapparees but they regrouped and won the rest of their games well, defeating established Intermediate sides Michael Glavey’s, Kilmeena and St. Clare’s.  Pitcher Áine McDermott, Catcher Ciara Butler and Second Base Georgina McDermott are consistently reliable, while the experience of Avril Coyne and Gretta Davis, and their excellent communication on the pitch making sure everyone knows where every ball should go, have contributed immensely to Elphin’s confidence and strength this year. Twins Katie and Kirsten Cronin are both strong fielders, and even stronger batters and base runners, and should be watched for their ability to clear bases and, on occasion, score home runs!

From a statistics viewpoint, Castletown have been the stronger batters this season, scoring 86 runs to Elphin’s 63 (although they have batted more innings), but both teams have similar numbers of runs conceded (Elphin – 57; Castletown – 54, with two more innings fielded) and the winner on Saturday is likely to be the team that manages to get the outs on base and contain base running as much as possible.

Prediction: Elphin

Referee: Jay Hall

Intermediate Men

The last four standing in Intermediate Men are Emo, Kilmore, St. Senan’s and St. Clare’s – two brand new to Inter teams and two teams seasoned at the grade.

One of each will play in each semi-final, Kilmore vs St. Clare’s at 2pm and Emo vs St. Senan’s at 4pm

Interesting statistic number three – both of these games are rematches of league games that took place during the first two weeks of July

Kilmore Intermediate Men

 

Kilmore and St. Clare’s met when both played away from home in Mullahoran. That day the victory was Kilmore’s and they won 21-14 with a bat in hand. Seven of the 15 outs that day involved pitcher Aidan Carr who is integral to Kilmore’s success. His fast and accurate pitches – with a few wayward ones thrown in to keep batters on their toes! – are hard to hit and lead to multiple foul outs or pop ups which he or Third Base Kevin White mopped up in that game.

Catcher James Jamieson was pinpoint accurate with catches and throws that day too and was involved in three outs, while the last out of that day was an unbelievable catch from Centre Outfielder Oisín Boland. St. Clare’s top fielder that day was Back Catcher PJ Kelly who proved that playing with a broken finger was no obstacle and nothing got past him, with six clean catches for outs.

For their part, the Cavan side had a few spectacular catches from Bryan Dolan outfield and Jason Cawley at Short Stop. Darragh Johnston pitched well and, while Kilmore managed to hit balls into the outfield for their runs, there were no walk-ons from either side. Looking at both teams’ statistics over the season, Kilmore have scored 80 runs to St. Clare’s’ 67, with one less inning batted. Runs conceded is much closer, with four less for St. Clare’s who fielded one more innings.

Both sides will have learned from their July encounter, and both will know the key players to contain, where to strike and, hopefully, how to make the most of the opportunities that come their way on the day.

Prediction: Kilmore

Referee: Michael Slevin

St. Senan’s Intermediate Men

 

The 4pm match will be between Limerick’s St. Senan’s and Laois’ Emo who, although they came bottom and top of the table respectively, are only sitting two points apart.

St. Senan’s lost their first game at Intermediate to Dublin Metropolitans and lost a subsequent game to Mayo’s Kilmeena but beat St. Clare’s and Kilmore while Emo only lost one game to St. Clare’s. Most interesting, when these teams met in July in Emo, the result was a 14-14 draw.

From a statistics point of view, Emo scored eight more runs, over three less innings, than St. Senan’s but conceded 86 runs to Emo’s 58, which points to the skilled fielding for which the Laois men are renowned.

Emo’s 2026 Intermediate Men’s team is made up of several of last year’s All-Ireland winning Minor team and particularly strong this year have been pitching and catching duo Liam Horgan and Dan White, both only 16 years old, and impressing all season with their in-sync pitching, catching and throws for outs on base. Also habitually strong for Emo are JP Tynan and Barry Ryan who, no matter what position they line out in, are likely to catch anything that comes their way. St. Senan’s pitcher, John Paul Mulvihill has had a great year with multiple foul outs and, together with Back Catcher, Niall Sheehy, has been responsible for outs in every game. John Hanlon on First and Ian Sheehy on either Second or Third are clinical with catches for outs on base and Kevin Doody outfield rarely misses a high ball sent his direction.

This has the makings of a very close contest and is likely to be won, and lost, on the teams’ ability to bat smartly and field fast.

Prediction: St. Senan’s

Referee: Shirley Lennon

 

Intermediate Mixed

Contested by two clubs playing in other Intermediate Semi-finals – Galway City Rapparees and Emo along with a club who has involvement in three of the Senior Semi-finals over the next two Sundays – Erne Eagles; and one with no other involvement in any other qualifier – Dublin Metropolitans – our Mixed semi-finals will take place at 12pm and 4pm.

Interesting statistic number four is that Intermediate Mixed Semi-final Number 1 is a replay of the 2025 Intermediate Mixed Final in Dunganny which was won, by a single run, by Erne Eagles

As Eagles already have a Senior Mixed side, this team did not move up to Senior but have continued their Intermediate journey for another year.

Back in Galway only two weeks after they lost to Rapparees, Erne Eagles will be hoping that this journey into the west will lead to a better result for the Cavan side.  Captained by Emma Perrin and Damien McArdle, they have had a mixed season with two losses – to Galway City Rapparees and St. Senan’s – and two wins – over Michael Glavey’s and St. Clare’s.

Pitcher Karl Dolan is consistently accurate and reliable and while Back Catching duties have been shared by David Dolan, Ronan Halton and Damien McArdle, all three have been successful in getting outs from catches and throws to base. Rachel Reilly on First Base is cool and collected and Gerard Clerkin at Short Stop is a powerhouse, that very few balls pass. Owen Roe O’Reilly is a phenomenon – his catches this season have been nothing short of amazing and the other mainstays of the team – Emma Perrin, Maggie Brady and Geraldine Goldrick – have performed well all year, while newcomers Ayeisha Lonergan, Amy Lynch and Dylan McKeever have slotted seamlessly into the existing lineup.

Emo’s Intermediate team is a perfect mix of youth and experience with the Men’s pitcher/catcher duo of Liam Horgan and Dan White controlling home base while the experienced JP Tynan, Barry Ryan, Claire Suda, Catherine O’Keeffe and Gillian Keenan manage the game both infield and outfield.

The signing of The Heath’s Austin O’Meara has been a great asset to Emo this year and his contribution cannot be underestimated. Recent transfer Aaron Keane, also formerly of The Heath, is rumoured to make his first appearance in the red and white this weekend and will also add significantly to Emo’s outfield strength. Statistically, Emo are the superior batting team having scored 71 runs from 14 innings batted to Eagles’ 57 runs from 17 innings.

Eagles have conceded 45 runs from 20 innings fielded to Emo’s 31 from 15 and Emo’s Run Rate of 3, to Eagles’ 1.1, would suggest superiority in both ends of an innings. What cannot be overlooked from an Erne Eagles point of view is their experience and knowledge of what an All-Ireland semi-final feels like.

Nerves are less likely to bother these players, and this may give them the all-important edge on Saturday.

Prediction: Emo

Referee: Seán Bailey

Intermediate mixed team

Galway Rapparees Intermediate mixed team

Our final Galway Semi-final will be played between hosts Galway City Rapparees and Dublin Metropolitans at 4pm

Rapparees topped their group with four wins from four while Dublin Metropolitans were runners-up in theirs with two wins and two losses.

Rapparees are a well-trained, disciplined side who can bat and field. Their women play Intermediate while their men come from both their Senior and Junior sides and this depth of experience shows in their ability to read the game, leave the bad balls, steal bases and field expertly.

The Rapparees have so many high class combinations, it’s impossible to predict who starts. Pitches from both Ryan Dennis and Vishal Pathare are accurate and difficult to hit and fielding from talents like Cathal Creavan, Pakie Killilea, Rory McGarvey, Clodagh Naughton and Tomás Kenny is smart and fast.

Back Catchers Jay Hall and Ili Tuimauga miss nothing, and third good balls not hit are punished with accurate, strong throws to First Base.

Dublin Metropolitans’ Men were promoted to Intermediate in 2025 following their All-Ireland win and their Mixed and Women’s teams followed them up in 2026. Beating Glynn Barntown and Gusserane they lost to Emo and Raheen and their Run Rate of 0.1, to Rapparees’ 2.5, shows their less impressive performances both at batting and fielding. Always strong are the Carley brothers – Beau at Short Stop and Asa outfield – Gráinne Martin, Laura Cuddihy and Jessica Maddock but the overall team performances this year have been hit and miss in places, and they don’t impress in the same way as the Galway side always does.

Prediction: Galway City Rapparees

Referee: Seán Bailey

By Saturday evening, the names of all six Intermediate All-Ireland finalists will be known, and we can add their details to those of the Junior All-Ireland finalists who will take to pitches in Dublin, Offaly and Cork this month and next. GAA Rounders is very grateful to Galway City Rapparees who are hosting our Intermediate Semi-finals, and we very much appreciate the chance to have such an important day in our annual calendar in their venue.

GAA ROUNDERS • 2026
SENIOR
SEMI-FINALS

DATE
SUNDAY 16 AUG
FROM
1PM
LOCATION
MONAGHAN

With no time for a rest, all eyes will be on Monaghan GAA’s Centre of Excellence in Cloghan, Co. Monaghan from 1pm on Sunday for our Senior Men’s and Women’s Semi-finals.
For the first time, this year Ard Chomhairle decided to separate our Men’s and Women’s semi-finals from our Mixed semi-finals, to prevent any player from having to play two seven innings games on the same day.

7
INNINGS
All Senior Semi-finals & Finals
According to our Constitution, all Senior Semi-finals and Finals are decided over seven innings games. Men’s and Women’s deciders will be this Sunday, 16 August, while Mixed Semi-finals will be held on Sunday 23 August, in the same venue.

SUNDAY 16 AUGUST
MEN & WOMEN
SENIOR SEMI-FINALS
SUNDAY 23 AUGUST
MIXED
SENIOR SEMI-FINALS

VENUE
MONAGHAN GAA CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE
CLOGHAN • CO. MONAGHAN

Senior Women

Semi-finalists from Mayo, Dublin, Cavan and Monaghan will all arrive in Monaghan to do battle in our two Women’s semi-finals at 1pm.

Breaffy Senior Women

Group toppers, and reigning (and four in a row) All-Ireland Champions Breaffy come from the group unbeaten and with an impressive Run Rate of 3 from their seven league games.

They will meet fourth place Erne Eagles, whose Run Rate of 1.3 is second best in the group. Both of these sides can rack up scores, but while Eagles have conceded 78 runs all season, Breaffy have only allowed in 2.5 times less than that, with 31 runs home in their games.

Much of this can be attributed to Breaffy pitcher and catcher duo Michelle Hopkins and Katie Groonell who are experienced professionals at home base. However, the entire Breaffy squad is a well-oiled machine that knows how to field, bat and run and it’s no accident that they are chasing their fifth All-Ireland in a row.

Erne Eagles are no strangers to All-Ireland finals and their Women’s team are a slick outfit who can hit and catch with the best of teams. Lisa Flood outfield has a powerful catch and throw, while Eagles’ baseminders are all skilled fielders. Some of Eagles’ women will have played in Galway on Saturday but don’t expect that, whatever the result of that game, to affect their performance on Sunday.

Prediction: Breaffy

Referee: Philip Keane

Semi-final two features local ladies Carrickmacross Emmets and “not seen for a few years in Senior Women knockouts”, Limekiln from Dublin. Newly promoted to Senior this year, Carrickmacross Emmets found their first game tough, losing to Breaffy. They bounced back and beat The Heath – who defeated them in last year’s Intermediate Women’s All-Ireland final – and Erne Eagles, before losing to Limekiln but then winning their remaining games against Cúchulainn, Raheen and Glynn Barntown. The confidence gained from beating five experienced Senior sides cannot be underestimated and it is to the Carrickmacross Women’s credit that they stayed strong and qualified to semi-finals in their first year at the grade.

Having lost to Limekiln already this year, they will be aware of what they need to avoid. Limekiln pitcher Serena Costelloe was responsible for eight outs, mostly foul-outs and her excellent, calm and controlled pitching will be Carrickmacross’ challenge again on Sunday.

A Limekiln recruit from Kevin’s, who failed to field a team in 2025 or 2026, Serena and her Kevin’s teammates, Erica Meslin and Merilin Neiland, as well as Colette McCaul who moved from Cavan team St. Clare’s to join the Dublin side this year, have helped Limekiln to back where they belong at the top level of Senior Women’s rounders.

Short stop Erica was responsible for two outs against Carrickmacross while Left Outfield Colette got home an unmatched four times.

If Carrickmacross can steady their nerves and put the June defeat behind them, they can give Limekiln a good run but expect the more experienced and Senior match tested side to produce the goods and win.

Prediction: Limekiln

Referee: Danielle Keane

 

Senior Men

Erne Eagles Senior Men

Our four Senior Men’s teams take to the pitches at 3pm and while three – Breaffy, Erne Eagles and Carrickmacross Emmets – are tried and tested Senior sides with multiple senior All-Ireland titles to their names, our fourth Semi-finalists – Galway City Rapparees – are making history as the first team from their club to contest a Senior semi-final, in only their first year playing Senior Rounders.

Galway City Rapparees Senior Men

Having qualified fourth in the group, Rapparees will face league toppers Erne Eagles. On a mission after narrowly losing last year’s All-Ireland final to Carrickmacross Emmets, Eagles have only conceded 28 runs all season and their Run Rate of 2.8 is almost double that of their nearest competition. Rapparees lost to Breaffy, Carrickmacross and Erne Eagles, but won well against Limekiln, Glynn Barntown and Cúchulainn showing that their promotion to Senior has been well deserved and breaking the streak of recently promoted to Senior teams who lost most of their first year games.

Erne Eagles have had Darryl Dolan back pitching for most of this season and that has made a great difference to their performance. While other established players like Shane Sheridan, Paul Mollaghan, Karl Dolan and Gerard Clerkin contribute in every game they play, the one to watch from almost every game this season has been Owen Roe O’Reilly at Left Outfield. Responsible for the majority of outs in most games, any ball sent out between Second and Third base is likely to land in his hands and Rapparees will need to ensure that they avoid that where possible.

The Galway side have some powerful fielders of their own – Pakie Killilea, Cathal Creavan, Rory McGarvey and Ajay Kumar have all performed well outfield, while Tomás Kenny on Third Base, Cathal Creavan on Second and Ili Tuimauga on First are a super experienced infield crew. Similar to Carrickmacross Women, if Rapparees can contain the inevitable nerves of being in their first Senior semi-final, facing the legendary Erne Eagles, and play their best, they have the ability to make Eagles work hard and, who knows, maybe even steal a win.

Prediction: Erne Eagles

Referee: Philip Keane

Our second Men’s Semi-final is between reigning All-Ireland Champions, Carrickmacross Emmets and Mayo’s Breaffy. Starting the year strong and winning all around, Breaffy lost their last two games played to Glynn Barntown and Erne Eagles.

They haven’t played a Championship game since June – is there a fear they might be a bit rusty and out of practice?! With Breaffy, the answer is probably no, but certainly Carrickmacross’ win last Sunday in Wexford over Glynn Barntown will have their confidence high that they can retain their title this year. Well matched on paper, statistically there’s very little in it between both sides’ runs conceded and won. Carrick’s pitcher/catcher duo of Barry Lambe and Colm Kiernan are highly experienced and well able for any batter and between foul outs, catches and throws to base are generally responsible for multiple outs per game. Justin Burns on Third, Ronan Kiernan on Second and Frank Duffy on First are all excellent Base Minders who can be relied upon in any tense situation to get the out. Paddy Birmingham at Short Stop is another ever reliable fielder.

Breaffy’s pitcher/catcher Colin Cannon and Jamie Murphy are also ever ready and are powerful at home base while Breaffy’s fielders like Mark Jennings, Colm Jordan and Victor del Rosal can always be relied on to catch and gather. With depth of squad on both sides, this might just come down to who wants it more!

Prediction: Carrickmacross Emmets

Referee: Danielle Keane

Wow, even writing all that was so exciting that we just know it’s going to be some weekend of Rounders! By Sunday evening we’ll be one step closer to our All-Ireland line ups and ten more teams will have taken one more step towards their All-Ireland dreams for 2026 coming true.

Just a reminder that, although these are very high stakes games and everyone wants to win, respect is paramount. Our Referees and Match Officials are giving up their time to officiate at these games, and their decisions should be respected. While courteous queries are welcome, nobody should have to tolerate abuse or being shouted at and Referees will issue cards to anyone – players, managers or spectators – who breach the GAA Code of Conduct.

Best of luck to all of you lining out on Saturday or Sunday – reaching an All-Ireland semi-final is some achievement, enjoy the experience and the weekend!