It was another busy weekend of bridge. We had the CBAI’s National Confined Pairs and Teams Championships (for the Lambert Cup and Cooper Cup respectively) and the National Novice Pairs Championship (for the JJ Murphy Trophy) in the Loughrea Hotel and Spa. Well done in particular to the novices who played; many of them were taking part in their first external competition. Thanks also to our TDs Huey Daly and John Phelan for making sure everything went smoothly. The prizewinners were:
- Lambert Cup (National Confined Pairs Championship) – 1st Kyrle Allen & Paul Hogan; 2nd Breda Scanlan & Phil Harnett; 3rd Declan Byrne & Nicola O’Dowd; 4th Lillian Swaine & Siobhan McCarthy; Best Intermediate Pair Maeve Pelly & Dorothy Nolan; First Session Patsy Hanbury & Patsy Donoghue; Second Session Mary Greene & Mary Lyons Full results
- Cooper Cup (National Confined Teams Championship) – 1st Giles Murnin, David Connolly, Mia Delaney, Jeremy James; 2nd Kyrle Allen, Paul Hogan, Hugh Twomey, Brian O’Sullivan; 3rd Emer O’Flaherty, Russell Down, Tom Flood, Tom Craig; 4th Patricia Quigley, Anne M Duffy, Grainne Courtney, Dan O’Mahony; Best Intermediate Team Joan Peppard, Tom Roche, Dillon Murtagh, Jonathan Williams; First Session Blanaid Morris, Kerri Nolan, David King, Eleanor Greene; Second Session Gerry McCague, James Ward, Patsy Donoghue, Clive Robinson Full results
- JJ Murphy Trophy (National Novice Pairs Championship) – 1st Manus Cannon & Anne McGettigan; 2nd John & Catherine Kinane; =3rd Helen Moore & Cora McDermottroe; Laetitia MacMahon & Mary Brennan Full results
JJ Murphy Trophy Winners 2026
Lambert Cup Winners 2026
Cooper Cup Winners 2026
And in Cambridge, our Teltscher Trophy (Senior Camrose) team was out of luck, finishing third in a tournament won by the hosts, England. Kudos to the Irish pair of Donal Garvey & Pat Quinn, who topped the Butler rankings. Donal is pictured below with current Irish junior international Phedra Kingston (currently resident in Cambridge, where she is studying medicine), probably comparing notes on how much junior bridge has changed since Donal made his first appearance in 1973!
Donal Garvey & Phedra Kingston