Carrickmacross Emmets aim to retain All-Ireland Rounders title
The Monaghan side eye back-to-back All-Ireland Rounders titles
Carrickmacross Emmets will look to retain their Senior Men’s All-Ireland Rounders title when they face Erne Eagles in Offaly this Sunday.
The Monaghan club take on their Cavan opponents in the Senior Men's final at the Offaly GAA Centre of Excellence in Kilcormac at 3.30pm.
It is a repeat of last year’s All-Ireland decider, when Carrickmacross edged Erne Eagles by a single run to take the title.
The Emmets booked their place in this year’s final with a 12–4 win over Breaffy at the Monaghan GAA Centre of Excellence on August 16.
Carrickmacross had lost to both Breaffy and Erne Eagles during the league stages, but finished their league campaign with a 25–12 victory over Glynn Barntown before turning the tables on Breaffy in the championship semi-final.
Sunday’s final is another big occasion for a rounders section which has grown steadily in Carrickmacross over the past decade, although the town’s connection with the sport goes back much further.
Rounders was introduced to St Joseph’s Primary School in Carrickmacross by teacher Brother Gregory Fox in 1990, and teams from the town went on to win five Community Games gold medals.
The sport later faded locally, but some of those who had played it in their younger years helped bring it back at adult level in 2015.
Just a year later, Carrickmacross reached the Senior Men’s All-Ireland final and since then, the rounders section has continued to grow.
What started with one team has developed into six teams competing across the Senior Men’s, Senior Women’s, Senior Mixed, Junior Men’s and Junior Women’s divisions.
Club founder Ronan Kiernan told the GAA this week that around 80 to 90 adults are now involved in rounders in Carrickmacross. The club enjoyed one of its biggest years in 2023, becoming the first to win three GAA Rounders All-Ireland titles in the same season.
Carrickmacross took the Senior Men’s, Intermediate Mixed and Junior Women’s titles that year. Further recognition followed when the Emmets were named Club of the Year at the 2025 GAA Rounders All-Stars.
The Carrickmacross/Corduff Under-15 boys won their Community Games All-Ireland, while the Under-13 girls reached the national finals.
It continues a long association between rounders and the Community Games in Carrickmacross, more than 30 years after the sport was first introduced to youngsters in the town.
The club has also been in contention across the adult grades this season, with the Senior Mixed team reaching the All-Ireland semi-final before losing 16–6 to Breaffy at the Monaghan GAA Centre of Excellence.
The Emmets will be hoping for another big performance this Sunday as they look to retain the title they won in such dramatic fashion last year.
Carrickmacross Emmets and Erne Eagles then meet in the Senior Men’s final at 3.30pm and the final will be streamed live with commentary on TG4 Sport’s YouTube channel.