The Annual Garda Coiste Siamsa 60x30 Championships were hosted at The National Handball Centre in Croke Park on Friday 23rd May 2025.
Handball players both serving and retired travelled from all over Ireland to participate in the event. The Uachtaran of GAA Handball Conor McDonnell was also in attendance to make the presentations at the end of the event. There were a number of categories played but the main titles that were on the line was Junior Singles, Senior Singles and the Senior Doubles.
The Junior Singles final for the Paddy Perry cup was between Aiden Whelan (Arklow) and Bernard Heaney (Delvin). The game started at a frantic pace with both players racking up points once they got a serve going. However in the end the extra experience the Aiden had helped him to come out on top of an exciting game.
The Senior Doubles saw Mick O Neill (ASU Enniscorthy) and Ned Whelan up against Conor McDonnell (Retired) and Niall Maher (Enniscorthy). This was a titanic battle in the court and on the scoreboard with skill and shot placement to the fore by both sets of players. At the end of the battle O Neill and Whelan ended up the winners. The Senior Singles Final was between two of the most skilful players that have played in the Garda Championships Bob Byrne (IRCTU Wexford) and Michael O Neill. As befitting for a senior singles final this game was the most skilful and competitive game of the day. Neither player yielded an inch in a game full of long competitive rallies. Byrne managed to get a good serve going and this helped him to lift the Tom Langan cup and the end of the day.
It was a fantastic experience for all players to be able to play in the National GAA Handball Centre and we would like to thank all the officials in Croke Park for hosting us.
If any new or returning players would like to attend the next event they can contact Gda Jason Hannon 086 8890677
