Two Carlow Bowling teams took home top prizes at the 2023 National Competition

Two Carlow Active Retirement bowls teams took home top prizes at the 2023 Active Retirement Ireland National Indoor Mats Bowling Competition. The annual competition took place at the Gleneagle INEC Arena in Killarney, Co Kerry this week.

Defending small bowls tournament cup champions Tullow Rollers came in second place this year in the small bowls cup final. The Tullow Rollers’ team members are John Farrell, Seamie Doyle, Kathleen Flannagan and skip Liam Lyons.

The Bennekerry Green bowls team were runners up in the small bowls plate final. The Bennekerry Green team members are Martin Byrne, George Nolan, John Dalton and skip Michael Doyle.

On Thursday 30th November, both teams were presented with the 2023 small bowls tournament runners-up prizes by Active Retirement Ireland National President Kevin Monaghan and Mayor of Killarney Cllr Brendan Cronin.

Co Waterford Active Retirement team Cnoc Buí (A) were the overall cup winners in the small bowls tournament, with Co Wicklow team Baltinglass taking home the overall small bowls plate.

Over three days, sixty-three Active Retirement teams from across the country competed for the 2023 Active Retirement Ireland Cup in indoor mat bowls at the organisation’s 11th annual flagship event.

Speaking at the awards presentation, Active Retirement Ireland CEO Maureen Kavanagh said: “Congratulations to both the Tullow Rollers and Bennekerry Green bowls teams on their fantastic achievements at this year’s National Bowls Competition. The 252 bowlers who have competed for the cup this week, alongside our volunteers who helped deliver the event, confirm the drive and desire of older people to do things for themselves, maintain social connections and be a part of life. Social events like the National Bowls Competition, where older people can get together, be active and enjoy a little healthy competition and camaraderie, are vital for positive ageing. We are grateful for the generous support of our event host the Gleneagle for making this event possible for so many of our members and for their recognition of the contribution that older people make.

“Older people don’t want things done for them; they want to be active in their own lives. It’s time the Government instituted and implemented a comprehensive, whole-of-government positive ageing framework in Ireland, including an adequate state pension benchmarked against average earnings, so that they can.”