Kildare GAA Handball

15/09/2025

100 years ago this year, Bill Aldridge of Athy won the first ever Senior All Ireland Hardball Championship. In a lovely piece of sporting symmetry on Sunday 14th September Niall O’Connor of Leixlip achieved the same feat for the second time in his career.
Having come through the round robin stage of the championship, O’Connor would face off against the very experienced Ciaran Neary from Talbot’s Inch in Kilkenny. The same club as the legendary Michael “Duxie” Walsh.
The final itself was a one sided affair. O’Connor was aggressive from the off and put his opponent under huge pressure. Serving and shooting off both hands he won the first game 21-10. The second game was to follow a similar pattern with the Leixlip man finishing it off 21-5, again showing his dominance from both serving and killing the ball off his favoured left hand.
Having taken some time out of the game O’Connor who has previously won the minor and junior hardball titles paid special tribute to his father Seán after his victory in Croke Park on Sunday, thanking him for the words of encouragement to get him back playing after some time away from the game.
About half the size of a sliotar and made with leather, the hardball version of the game, was once played in parishes all over the country, it would gradually become less popular with the advent of the softball, made from rubber. The last number of years has seen a revival of the old game however. Seán O’Meara of O’Meara sliotars stepped in to get the traditional balls made to a very high standard. Previously hardballs were a kind of a mystical thing made by a handful of people in the country. This led to differences from ball to ball and made the game very difficult to play at a high level. The new ball however is much more uniform and plays in a truer manner leading to players showing a bigger interest in the game.
The game of the day in Handball HQ had another Kildare man involved. Miles Carroll of Ballymore Eustace would take Shane Heraty of Mayo all the way to a tie breaker, losing 11-5 in the deciding game.

18/08/2025

Myles Carroll takes Junior All Ireland 60x30 Singles title
Myles Carroll made history yesterday when he became the first Kildare player to win the men’s Junior 60x30 Singles title. After years of knocking on the door he fought his way through the minefield of Leinster Junior handballers to claim the provincial title. There was a scare then leading up to the All Ireland semi-final when a work related hand injury had his supporters fearing the worst. However, through sheer determination and skill, he adapted his game to beat Patrick Delaney, a tough Tipperary opponent, 21-14, 21-19.
The stage was then set for the Junior All Ireland Final and all roads led to Crinkle in Offaly on Sunday 17th August where he took on Séamus Conneely of Galway. The first game went well for the Kildare player as he played the perfect game taking it convincingly 21-4. However, the big travelling support feared the Galway man hadn’t shown what he was truly capable of and would be a different proposition in the 2nd game. Sure enough the Galway man started to find his range and mixed it up a bit to put Myles under severe pressure. At this stage the quality of play from both players was exceptional with energy sapping rallies and kill shots of the highest standard. They were level throughout the 2nd game up to 18-18 with no player able to dominate. At this point Myles made a burst for the line and killed some great balls to take the 2nd game 21-18 and claim the Junior All Ireland singles title.
Nobody deserves this win more than Myles. The near misses over recent years would have deterred many players but it only made him more determined to work on his game. He travels the length and breadth of the province to practice against some of Leinster’s elite players, fitting it in around his work and young family. A truly exceptional feat and one to be proud of. Comhghairdeas le Myles

11/08/2025

The Leinster Juvenile 60x30 B finals were played on the weekend of 8th-10th August. Ballymore Eustace had players in 6 finals and were up against players from Dublin, Kilkenny & Meath. The action kicked off on Friday night in the U12 girls singles with Áine McGrath taking gold against a solid Kilkenny player (Erica Kehoe). Unfortunately the Kilkenny pairing in the U14 boys doubles were unable to fulfil the fixture on the night but the Kildare duo of John Headon & Jervis Fennell are primed and ready for the refixture. Cara Winder then took to the court in the U14 girls singles taking silver against a top quality Dublin opponent (Sophie Floyd).

The action then continued on Sunday afternoon. First up was Aoife McCaffrey in the U13 girls singles who came up just short against a strong Dublin player (Aoife Tobin) and claimed a silver medal. Next in the court was Oisín McGrath in the U14 boys singles taking a silver medal by beating a tough Kilkenny player (Kian Dowling) in the semi final to then be narrowly beaten in the final by a top player from Meath (Seán Keyes). The day ended on a high with Amelia Rigney & Robyn Winder claiming gold in the U12 girls doubles in a tight contest against Kilkenny (Mollie McCormack & Chloe King).

The traditional big alley game of handball can be difficult, especially for younger players, due to the sheer size of the court but all the players from every county excelled over the weekend and should be very proud of their performances. Big thank you to Leinster Juvenile Handball Committee for organising the competition and to all the parents who made the effort to travel with their children on what was a busy weekend of sport & holidays for everyone. It is really appreciated and hopefully the players will have all benefitted from the experience.

10/08/2025

Well done to Maynooth on a very successful day.

16/07/2025

Kells Handball Blitz
Kells Handball Club held an U12-U15 blitz on Saturday 21st June. Players from Meath, Dublin, Westmeath & Kildare made the journey for what was a fantastic day of handball. Some of the older players got to experience playing competitively in the big alley for the first time. It was great to see the high skill level shown for our traditional game.
Kildare sent 11 players on the day. It was hugely enjoyable with winners and runners up in most grades. The purpose of the day was to promote handball and this was achieved and more. Massive thanks to Joe Keyes and Kells HB Club for the effort they put in to host this tournament. No stone was left unturned. All the players, parents and coaches were very appreciative. Go raibh mile maith agaibh!

26/05/2025

Community Games Handball
The national Community Games Handball U13 & U16 competition was held this year in Drumlish, County Longford on the weekend of 24th & 25th May. Kildare sent up 6 players from Ballymore Eustace Handball Club over the 2 days with the girls taking centre stage on the Saturday. There was a great representation of counties from across Ireland which added to the occasion. We had terrific performances from Amelia Rigney, Cara Winder & Aoife McCaffrey who will benefit from the experience. The highlight of the day was Áine McGrath claiming a Community Games silver medal! She beat opponents from Cavan, Roscommon, Leitrim & Meath to make the Final where she just came up short against a very good Westmeath opponent.
On Sunday Rory McCullough and Oisín McGrath flew the Kildare flag. Both lads played some amazing handball against top class opposition. Oisín won through to the Semi Finals beating Roscommon, Limerick & Offaly players on the way to claiming his 4th place medal.
The club and county are very proud of our players and how they represented us over the weekend. To reinforce how competitive they are, all of them are underage again for at least another year!
A fantastic weekend for the sport of handball. Big thank you to Cairn for their sponsorship, Aoife McCarthy for undertaking the massive task of organising the games and to Drumlish Community Centre for their great venue and hospitality.

14/04/2025

A busy weekend for Kildare juvenile handballers with players from Ballymore and Maynooth representing the county and taking part in the Leinster Juvenile C competition in multiple venues around the province. We had 17 boys and girls compete across ages ranging from U12 up to U15 which is fantastic.
Ballymore had 10 players with Áine McGrath & Amelia Rigney first to take part in the U12 girls on Saturday morning. They were joined by Anna from Maynooth to make the Kildare charge and the 3 girls played some brilliant handball with Áine going on to win the title beating a very tough opponent in Sophie Donohoe from Wicklow in the Final.
John Headon and Rory McCullough were also progressing through their games in the U13 boys competition with John just failing to come out of his group. Rory played some amazing handball and justifiably went on to win the title against a strong Westmeath player. A brilliant achievement for Rory as he has only recently taken up handball and continues to improve.
On Sunday we had 6 players take centre stage. Cara Winder (U14), Aoife McCaffrey (U13) and Oisín McGrath (U14) all made it through to their respective finals to only come up agonisingly short against top class opponents from Kilkenny, Dublin and Wexford. They were ably assisted by Maia Flanagan (U13), Jervis Doolin & Adam Foley (U14) who played some great handball on the day.
A terrific weekend for Kildare handball with 3 Leinster titles and 4 Leinster Finalists. All players will benefit from the experience. There was a great buzz around all the courts with full galleries. Thank you to all the host venues, the parents/supporters and the Leinster Juvenile Handball Committee for running the competition. There was truly only one winner though, Handball!

26/03/2025

Maynooth has not one, but two Leinster B GAA Handball champions!

Congratulations to Noah Comiskey and Henry McDermott who both won their finals today in Ballymore Eustace.

Noah defeated a brilliant young player from Wicklow in an amazing game of skill and determination to become U12 champion.

Henry came back from one game down to beat his strong Wexford opponent in the U13 championships.

Maith sibh lads and thank you to their coaches who’ve helped bring them to this achievement.

Maynooth handball continuing to make its mark on the national stage. Crom Abú!

24/03/2025

Congratulations to Mollie Dagg on her first WPH Pro Stop in Los Angeles.
Mollie finished third in the womens pro division. After losing out to current World and All Ireland championm Ciana Ní Chuarraoin, of Galway, she went on to face Eilise McCrory of Tyrone in the 3rd place playoff. Mollie won it 25-7 and announced herself on the pro tour and turned a lot of heads in what will surely be a great warm up for the upcoming senior championship.

Photo credit WPH

24/03/2025

Commiserations to Paul Moran and Kevin Diggins after their marathon battle in the intermediate doubles final yesterday. The lads played their hearts out and brought the game to a tie breaker which they eventually lost 11-8.
As always with these two lads they represented their club, county, and families with distinction and displayed everything that we would want our juvenile players to aspire to. Hard work, great skill and most importantly tremendous sportsmanship.
Well done lads.

15/03/2025

Kildare Handball sent up 12 players to Croke Park to compete in the Cumann na mBunscol competition this year. We had 6 girls and 6 boys representing Ballymore & Maynooth schools fly the flag for the school and county. We were one of the few counties to have representatives in all grades. For some players this was their first time to participate in competitive action and they all performed brilliantly. They will benefit greatly from this experience. Big thank you to the parents and schools for their continued support. Whilst we didn't come home with any titles we went toe-to-toe with most counties and took some big wins along the way. We hope they all come away with great memories and continue to play and enjoy the sport of handball.

23/02/2025