The weekend saw the final IBU and CBAI championships of the season, for the IBU the Egan Trophy (invitational All-Ireland teams) in Belfast, and for the CBAI the 4Fun Teams (a unique event with teams organised so that a Master plays with Novice and and Intermediate A with an Intermediate B, in, as the name suggests, and fun and relaxing format), held in Westmanstown Sports Complex.
In the Egan, the result was a triumph for youth AND experience, as current junior international Matthew O’Farrell teamed up with recent junior Wayne Somerville, and Northern Ireland’s most experienced international pair, Rex Anderson and David Greenwood, to win all nine of their matches and win comfortably from Tom Hanlon, Conor Boland, Adam Mesbur, and Nick FitzGibbon. Thanks to Alan Hill for directing with his usual aplomb.
Egan Winners 2026
Entries for the 4Fun Teams were up by 25% on the previous year, and numbers continue to climb steadily, though they are not yet back to their pre-covid peak, and some counties remain unrepresented. If yours is among them, please press your Regional Secretary to enter a team next season. This really is an excellent event, the brainchild of Frank & Brenda Kelly of Offaly, who normally attend, but unfortunately were away on holidays this year; in particular it gives Novices and Intermediate Bs a taste of external competition in a very comfortable environment. TDs Fearghal O’Boyle and Mairead Basquille contributed greatly to that environment, as ever, ably assisted on this occasion by CBAI President John Phelan.
The prizewinners were:
- 1st Place: Cork (Noel Bradfield, Donie Cahill, Rosaleen Fitzgerald, Breeda Cahill)
- 2nd Place: Louth 2 (Frank Davey, Fiona Kelly, Kathleen Healy, Marie Savage)
- 3rd Place: Leitrim: (Maria Lynch, Noreen Montgomery, Mary Gannon, Catherine Cryan)
- 4th Place: Wexford 2: (Trevor Murphy, Ciaran Allen, Marguerite Sweetman, Michael Lennon)
- 5th Place: Offaly (Doreen McInerney, Jo Feely, Pattie Ryan, Patrick Martin)
- Session Prizes: Louth 1: (Phil Geoghegan, Laetitia MacMahon, Pamela MacMahon, Madeleine Heeney) and Wexford 1: (Pawel Turczynowicz, Christine Clarke, Clare Doyle, Mary Power)
4Fun Teams Winners 2026
Although the major championships are over, the season is not, as we still have the Yeats Country (Sligo) Congress from 5-7 June in the Clayton Hotel, Killarney Congress from 12-14 June in the Castlerosse Park Hotel, and another fundraiser run by Peter Pigot and the Junior Committee next Sunday (31 May) in Templeogue Bridge Centre – two standalone sessions of bridge at 10:30 and 14:45. All members are welcome to all three events. Entries for the junior fundraiser and Sligo can be made here; for Killarney, entries are via Marie Moloney 086-3049422.