Offaly Club Hurling Championship 2025

[Superhans75]

Great second half performance from shinrone
Mind you not too many shots on goal
Going to haunt them at some stage
Coolderry just ran out of legs
Mind you some serious amount of wides from shinrone in the first half bad one
Coolderry Were as guilty in the second half .
To be honest I have sneaking suspicion birr are going to get over the line
There the most compact of the final 4 teams .

[FullForward waster]

Rumour around Michael Duignan confirmed Durrow will be splitting from Ballinamere next year, feel like they have enough to go by themselves, will be interesting to see how they fair out

When was this confirmed? This is a big move. I would imagine with such high ability of hurlers from Durrow in with the county, the county board would have to look at what grade they will hurl at?

As far as i am aware from being involved in underage in a different club Ballinamere/Durrow is a separate club to the two senior clubs. Would be something similar to Na Fianna underage then the brake away to they senior clubs? maybe i am wrong.

[Lone Shark]

Just to clarify, there are only two clubs - Ballinamere and Durrow. Ballinamere/Durrow is the name given to what are defined as independent teams, which in this instance are teams made up of players from both clubs at each level (u-14, U-16 etc). But to be clear, Ballinamere/Durrow is not a club in its own right.

If either club chose to field underage teams as a standalone entity for 2026, they would be entirely within their rights to make that decision unilaterally, they wouldn't need permission from anywhere. It would then be up to the other club to either also field as a standalone entity, or for their players to seek permission to play elsewhere - potentially with Tullamore.

Likewise at adult level, they are two separate clubs and it's not a case of either club choosing to separate from the other. If Durrow chose to enter a hurling team or hurling teams for 2026, they are fully entitled to do so, and then it would be up to Ballinamere if they wanted to do the same in football. Again, any Ballinamere members who wanted to play football could seek permission to play with Durrow or with Tullamore - I'm assuming it would be trickier to go elsewhere due to parish rule, barring the existence of an "other relevant connection" as defined by Rule 6.3.

If Durrow were to enter a hurling team for 2026, it would then be for the Offaly CCC to decide at what level they go in, subject to the approval of the management committee of course. It's not just assumed that they would start at the bottom of the ladder. How that would work with Ballinamere I'm not so sure, I presume the CCC could decide to regrade them downwards if the club requested that, but it would take a better rules guru than me to say that with any certainty.


For the avoidance of doubt, I have no inside knowledge of what officials and players in Ballinamere, in Durrow, or anywhere else are thinking about this matter. I only post this message to give a little bit more clarity as to how things might play out if there is any truth to these rumours - which my gut feeling tells me, there isn't.

[brosna]

I don’t post here often but as a Durrow club man (supporter) I feel compelled to come on and defend our lads as no one else seems to be sticking up for them. I’m an equal fan of Ballinamere hurlers as I am of Durrow footballers and have taken great joy in the progress of the hurlers over the last few years.

We have a tiny pick of footballers in the Ballinamere / Durrow area and only for the county hurlers playing with the Durrow footballers we’d probably be intermediate level at best.

The reality is these lads are hurlers first caught between a rock and a hard place by being obligated to tog out with Durrow due to the precarious arrangement in place.

Is it right that our lads would’ve been playing a dead rubber against Rhode last weekend while KK were off playing a hurling challenge match against Oylegate?

And this is the core of my anger about this whole thing. Our tiny clubs are doing their best to compete at Senior A in both codes and getting nothing but grief for it.

K/K, a club with traditional football areas, have completely given up on football as part of their efforts to dominate hurling in Offaly / Leinster. They’d an all-Ireland u20 winner midfielder from 2021 who had to transfer clubs to get an adequate standard of football.

Maybe instead of articles about Durrow, our local journalists could investigate why a massive club like KK who provided all Ireland winners to Offaly minors in 64, seniors in 82, u21 in 88 and u20 in 2021 have been allowed to burst all the big balls in the parish. And maybe take a look at Rynaghs and Birr too.

L

[Sally treats]

Last time I looked there were plenty of big balls in K/K parish...all being put to good use at all age levels. I am reliably informed also that they put their other balls to great use as well....but, like many clubs in South Offaly, they save their small balls for those really special occasions!!

How ludicrous that anyone should point the finger at K/K (and other clubs in South Offaly) when discussing the issues in Durrow (or should that be Ballinamere, or maybe even Ballunamere/Durrow).

We will mind all our balls down here....fear not!

[Lone Shark]

I don’t post here often but as a Durrow club man (supporter) I feel compelled to come on and defend our lads as no one else seems to be sticking up for them. I’m an equal fan of Ballinamere hurlers as I am of Durrow footballers and have taken great joy in the progress of the hurlers over the last few years.

We have a tiny pick of footballers in the Ballinamere / Durrow area and only for the county hurlers playing with the Durrow footballers we’d probably be intermediate level at best.

The reality is these lads are hurlers first caught between a rock and a hard place by being obligated to tog out with Durrow due to the precarious arrangement in place.

Is it right that our lads would’ve been playing a dead rubber against Rhode last weekend while KK were off playing a hurling challenge match against Oylegate?

And this is the core of my anger about this whole thing. Our tiny clubs are doing their best to compete at Senior A in both codes and getting nothing but grief for it.

K/K, a club with traditional football areas, have completely given up on football as part of their efforts to dominate hurling in Offaly / Leinster. They’d an all-Ireland u20 winner midfielder from 2021 who had to transfer clubs to get an adequate standard of football.

Maybe instead of articles about Durrow, our local journalists could investigate why a massive club like KK who provided all Ireland winners to Offaly minors in 64, seniors in 82, u21 in 88 and u20 in 2021 have been allowed to burst all the big balls in the parish. And maybe take a look at Rynaghs and Birr too.

L

I do appreciate the genuine sentiment behind this post, so please don't take this as picking a fight, but just an alternative point of view.

(1) In any given club, there is at least one code that could be going a lot better, if more energy and resources were diverted from the other. What you say of Kilcormac-Killoughey is no less true of Birr, of Kinnitty, and plenty more clubs besides. If they really knuckled down and put a huge focus on being as good as they can be at football, they'd probably be a lot better than they are. The same could well be said of somewhere like Edenderry, except the other way around. And even in somewhere like my home town of Ferbane, where the two sports have parity of esteem, there are still those who think that Belmont would have won a hurling title by now if they were allowed go all in and not make allowances for football, and there are people who think that Belmont won't ever win the Seán Robbins, so lads would be as well off to commit entirely to football. (Just to be clear, those people are wrong - the way things operate now is the only way either club has a chance of winning the big prizes they covet).

(2) You cannot force players to commit to something they don't want to commit to. Kilcormac-Killoughey put a team on the field, and if it was the case that Conor Mahon, James Gorman, Adam Screeney, Cillian Kiely and four or five more very talented footballers all wanted to commit to playing football and weren't being allowed to do so by management, then that would be a problem. But I don't believe there's any such desire there. Some hurlers are happy to tog out for occasional games when it suits them, but their primary commitment is hurling, and it's an amateur game, that's their call to make.

In time, if there was a core group of players who wanted to take football seriously and the club was blocking their efforts by not giving them training time on the pitch or what have you, again that would be a problem in that it would be going against the GAA ethos completely. But I've never heard one person say that.

(3) St. Rynagh's certainly can't be castigated for this. The club is not as high up the pecking order as it was in the big ball world, but there is a St. Rynagh's football club whose sole function is to promote gaelic football. There's no way there are lads going to club executive meetings in Cloghan telling everyone to pull the breaks because it's a hurling parish. Moreover, for all their struggles at adult level in recent years, the Cloghan team that won an U-15 A title three years ago was largely St. Rynagh's players, albeit with a few players from other clubs. There are plenty of football-only clubs that haven't won an underage "A" title in a long time, so there's no "investigation" to be done there either.

(4) I'm sorry, but I can only cringe at the description of either Ballinamere or Durrow as "tiny" clubs. Even if the two clubs fielded their own teams in football and hurling so Durrow were picking from Durrow only and Ballinamere picked from Ballinamere only, they still wouldn't qualify as "tiny", in fact they'd probably be somewhere around the middle in terms of population to pick from in the list of Offaly's 41 clubs. And given that right now, every Durrow football team, every Ballinamere hurling team and every Ballinamere/Durrow team picks from both those territories, my guess is they're absolutely in the top ten and probably in the top six or seven, behind the Tullamores and Edenderrys of this world but not too many others.

The likes of Seir Kieran, Lusmagh, Doon, Clonmore Harps and a few others might have cause to use the descriptor "tiny" if they wanted to, but they'd have more about themselves than to do that. Look at the renovation plans in Shannonbridge, a club that could well describe themselves that way but to their credit, they're thinking big.

There are some clubs that are genuinely small clubs in relative terms, absolutely, but using words like "tiny" about yourself is a surefire way to develop an inferiority complex, and I really hope that nobody in a position of influence in either Ballinamere or Durrow thinks that way.

(5) Finally, this line:

Our tiny clubs are doing their best to compete at Senior A in both codes and getting nothing but grief for it.

Park the bit about the adjective for now. What grief are either Ballinamere or Durrow getting for trying to compete at Senior A in both? Anyone can find an odd begrudger or whinger hiding behind a username on social media or even on here, and you'll certainly get an odd stray sitting on a barstool somewhere that thinks he knows it all because he was a handy U-14 before his knee injury 30 years ago, but the only commentary giving out about either club is related to Durrow conceding the walkover, and there's mixed views on that. I haven't read a single word of criticism from anyone about how the clubs compete at the top table, albeit I haven't spent my time looking for "Johnny59274524" talking muck to his 11 followers on twitter. Where have you seen anything in the local media, or from people willing to put their names to what they say?

And when I say I'm not bringing this up to be harsh, I mean it. Spare yourself the victim complex, stop making straw man arguments, and instead of looking at a 50/50 ethos in your parish as some sort of handicap and bemoaning the fact that other clubs don't have the same obligations weighing them down, respect and appreciate that both sports have a strong tradition in your community.

That's a good thing. Instead, look around the place to find the countless examples of clubs that prove that it's perfectly possible to do both, and to be successful in doing so. And I'm not talking about city clubs like Monaleen, Cuala, St. Finbarr's or Na Fianna that are irrelevant to anyone here in Offaly, I'm talking about how Ferbane and Belmont have made it work for both. I'm talking about Slaughtneil, Cratloe, Shelmaliers, Loughmore-Castleiney, and there's plenty more smaller communities too that consistently punch above their weight in at least one code while making a decent fist at the other.

[brosna]

Kilcormac played in a Senior football final in 1988. They won intermediate titals in 1998 and 2013 when intermediate was the true second tier of Offaly football.

They’re basically a junior B football team now.

A massive club like KK, with a tradition of football, should be doing more to promote football.

My point is we’ve local journalists talking about the importance of the Durrow lads preserving the football tradition in Durrow.

Why’s no asking why KK have basically given up on football? And spare me the nonsense about big balls being promoted in KK. Football is dead out there.

[FullForward waster]

I don’t post here often but as a Durrow club man (supporter) I feel compelled to come on and defend our lads as no one else seems to be sticking up for them. I’m an equal fan of Ballinamere hurlers as I am of Durrow footballers and have taken great joy in the progress of the hurlers over the last few years.

We have a tiny pick of footballers in the Ballinamere / Durrow area and only for the county hurlers playing with the Durrow footballers we’d probably be intermediate level at best.

The reality is these lads are hurlers first caught between a rock and a hard place by being obligated to tog out with Durrow due to the precarious arrangement in place.

Is it right that our lads would’ve been playing a dead rubber against Rhode last weekend while KK were off playing a hurling challenge match against Oylegate?

And this is the core of my anger about this whole thing. Our tiny clubs are doing their best to compete at Senior A in both codes and getting nothing but grief for it.

K/K, a club with traditional football areas, have completely given up on football as part of their efforts to dominate hurling in Offaly / Leinster. They’d an all-Ireland u20 winner midfielder from 2021 who had to transfer clubs to get an adequate standard of football.

Maybe instead of articles about Durrow, our local journalists could investigate why a massive club like KK who provided all Ireland winners to Offaly minors in 64, seniors in 82, u21 in 88 and u20 in 2021 have been allowed to burst all the big balls in the parish. And maybe take a look at Rynaghs and Birr too.

L

I do appreciate the genuine sentiment behind this post, so please don't take this as picking a fight, but just an alternative point of view.

(1) In any given club, there is at least one code that could be going a lot better, if more energy and resources were diverted from the other. What you say of Kilcormac-Killoughey is no less true of Birr, of Kinnitty, and plenty more clubs besides. If they really knuckled down and put a huge focus on being as good as they can be at football, they'd probably be a lot better than they are. The same could well be said of somewhere like Edenderry, except the other way around. And even in somewhere like my home town of Ferbane, where the two sports have parity of esteem, there are still those who think that Belmont would have won a hurling title by now if they were allowed go all in and not make allowances for football, and there are people who think that Belmont won't ever win the Seán Robbins, so lads would be as well off to commit entirely to football. (Just to be clear, those people are wrong - the way things operate now is the only way either club has a chance of winning the big prizes they covet).

(2) You cannot force players to commit to something they don't want to commit to. Kilcormac-Killoughey put a team on the field, and if it was the case that Conor Mahon, James Gorman, Adam Screeney, Cillian Kiely and four or five more very talented footballers all wanted to commit to playing football and weren't being allowed to do so by management, then that would be a problem. But I don't believe there's any such desire there. Some hurlers are happy to tog out for occasional games when it suits them, but their primary commitment is hurling, and it's an amateur game, that's their call to make.

In time, if there was a core group of players who wanted to take football seriously and the club was blocking their efforts by not giving them training time on the pitch or what have you, again that would be a problem in that it would be going against the GAA ethos completely. But I've never heard one person say that.

(3) St. Rynagh's certainly can't be castigated for this. The club is not as high up the pecking order as it was in the big ball world, but there is a St. Rynagh's football club whose sole function is to promote gaelic football. There's no way there are lads going to club executive meetings in Cloghan telling everyone to pull the breaks because it's a hurling parish. Moreover, for all their struggles at adult level in recent years, the Cloghan team that won an U-15 A title three years ago was largely St. Rynagh's players, albeit with a few players from other clubs. There are plenty of football-only clubs that haven't won an underage "A" title in a long time, so there's no "investigation" to be done there either.

(4) I'm sorry, but I can only cringe at the description of either Ballinamere or Durrow as "tiny" clubs. Even if the two clubs fielded their own teams in football and hurling so Durrow were picking from Durrow only and Ballinamere picked from Ballinamere only, they still wouldn't qualify as "tiny", in fact they'd probably be somewhere around the middle in terms of population to pick from in the list of Offaly's 41 clubs. And given that right now, every Durrow football team, every Ballinamere hurling team and every Ballinamere/Durrow team picks from both those territories, my guess is they're absolutely in the top ten and probably in the top six or seven, behind the Tullamores and Edenderrys of this world but not too many others.

The likes of Seir Kieran, Lusmagh, Doon, Clonmore Harps and a few others might have cause to use the descriptor "tiny" if they wanted to, but they'd have more about themselves than to do that. Look at the renovation plans in Shannonbridge, a club that could well describe themselves that way but to their credit, they're thinking big.

There are some clubs that are genuinely small clubs in relative terms, absolutely, but using words like "tiny" about yourself is a surefire way to develop an inferiority complex, and I really hope that nobody in a position of influence in either Ballinamere or Durrow thinks that way.

(5) Finally, this line:

Our tiny clubs are doing their best to compete at Senior A in both codes and getting nothing but grief for it.

Park the bit about the adjective for now. What grief are either Ballinamere or Durrow getting for trying to compete at Senior A in both? Anyone can find an odd begrudger or whinger hiding behind a username on social media or even on here, and you'll certainly get an odd stray sitting on a barstool somewhere that thinks he knows it all because he was a handy U-14 before his knee injury 30 years ago, but the only commentary giving out about either club is related to Durrow conceding the walkover, and there's mixed views on that. I haven't read a single word of criticism from anyone about how the clubs compete at the top table, albeit I haven't spent my time looking for "Johnny59274524" talking muck to his 11 followers on twitter. Where have you seen anything in the local media, or from people willing to put their names to what they say?

And when I say I'm not bringing this up to be harsh, I mean it. Spare yourself the victim complex, stop making straw man arguments, and instead of looking at a 50/50 ethos in your parish as some sort of handicap and bemoaning the fact that other clubs don't have the same obligations weighing them down, respect and appreciate that both sports have a strong tradition in your community.

That's a good thing. Instead, look around the place to find the countless examples of clubs that prove that it's perfectly possible to do both, and to be successful in doing so. And I'm not talking about city clubs like Monaleen, Cuala, St. Finbarr's or Na Fianna that are irrelevant to anyone here in Offaly, I'm talking about how Ferbane and Belmont have made it work for both. I'm talking about Slaughtneil, Cratloe, Shelmaliers, Loughmore-Castleiney, and there's plenty more smaller communities too that consistently punch above their weight in at least one code while making a decent fist at the other.

I do have to agree with a lot of your points. I don't think anyone here is targeting Ballinamere or Durrow but just given there opinion on it. After all this is a discussion form. In relation to Ferbane and Belmont what they are achieving in both code is admirable but it looks like the two clubs want to make it work. (I am not so sure this is the case with Ballinamere/Durrow) from reading on this forum it looks like there has been issues for a number of years now. Don't get me wrong I am not targeting how the two clubs are run before that pops up.

In regards to your point made about about the 4/5 talented footballers in KK i have to agree. These fellas seem to pick hurling which is fine but as you said if they were to play football and were stopped by management then that would be the issue. I have read somewhere on the forum that this seems to be the case with Ballinamere management. I'm not saying its entirely true but the saying goes their is no smoke without fire. Going back to Durrow wining last years Jr B they seemed to pull a number of players back after Ballinamere had finished their championship campaign, and then failed to field a team in a number of Jr A games this year. Questions have to be asked where were these players for 2025.

As outsiders we will never know the full story of what the ins and outs are of the two clubs but one things for sure it does not look good at present.

If you were to go off team sheets and which player is from which club Durrow seem to have the pick of the crop. Would they hold their own in Snr A football and possible hurling who knows?? How would Ballinamere get on is the same question I would ask.

[FullForward waster]

Kilcormac played in a Senior football final in 1988. They won intermediate titals in 1998 and 2013 when intermediate was the true second tier of Offaly football.

They’re basically a junior B football team now.

A massive club like KK, with a tradition of football, should be doing more to promote football.

My point is we’ve local journalists talking about the importance of the Durrow lads preserving the football tradition in Durrow.

Why’s no asking why KK have basically given up on football? And spare me the nonsense about big balls being promoted in KK. Football is dead out there.

"My point is we’ve local journalists talking about the importance of the Durrow lads preserving the football tradition in Durrow."

Just a question as you stated you are a Durrow Member and supporter would you not think it is imported to keep the football tradition in Durrow?? instead of giving walkovers?

KK have competed at Intermediate level in football and have fielded a team every time, I perception on this is that the local journalists are highlighting the fat that Durrow have given a number of walkovers this year starting with Jr A and now senior.

[brosna]

[quote=brosna post_id=76565 time=<a href="tel:1758555725">1758555725</a> user_id=13158]
Kilcormac played in a Senior football final in 1988. They won intermediate titals in 1998 and 2013 when intermediate was the true second tier of Offaly football.

They’re basically a junior B football team now.

A massive club like KK, with a tradition of football, should be doing more to promote football.

My point is we’ve local journalists talking about the importance of the Durrow lads preserving the football tradition in Durrow.

Why’s no asking why KK have basically given up on football? And spare me the nonsense about big balls being promoted in KK. Football is dead out there.

"My point is we’ve local journalists talking about the importance of the Durrow lads preserving the football tradition in Durrow."

Just a question as you stated you are a Durrow Member and supporter would you not think it is imported to keep the football tradition in Durrow?? instead of giving walkovers?

KK have competed at Intermediate level in football and have fielded a team every time, I perception on this is that the local journalists are highlighting the fat that Durrow have given a number of walkovers this year starting with Jr A and now senior.
[/quote]

I absolutely think it’s important to keep football going but can also see how our lads are at a disadvantage playing senior football when their main competitors, KK, are off playing hurling challenge matches at the same time

[chimbonda]

[quote=brosna post_id=76565 time=<a href="tel:1758555725">1758555725</a> user_id=13158]
Kilcormac played in a Senior football final in 1988. They won intermediate titals in 1998 and 2013 when intermediate was the true second tier of Offaly football.

They’re basically a junior B football team now.

A massive club like KK, with a tradition of football, should be doing more to promote football.

My point is we’ve local journalists talking about the importance of the Durrow lads preserving the football tradition in Durrow.

Why’s no asking why KK have basically given up on football? And spare me the nonsense about big balls being promoted in KK. Football is dead out there.

"My point is we’ve local journalists talking about the importance of the Durrow lads preserving the football tradition in Durrow."

Just a question as you stated you are a Durrow Member and supporter would you not think it is imported to keep the football tradition in Durrow?? instead of giving walkovers?

KK have competed at Intermediate level in football and have fielded a team every time, I perception on this is that the local journalists are highlighting the fat that Durrow have given a number of walkovers this year starting with Jr A and now senior.

I absolutely think it’s important to keep football going but can also see how our lads are at a disadvantage playing senior football when their main competitors, KK, are off playing hurling challenge matches at the same time
[/quote]


KK are their main competitors?? What about birr and Coolderry who beat them? Or Belmont and shinrone who are in semi finals? Are these not seen as competitors?

[brosna]

[/quote]


KK are their main competitors?? What about birr and Coolderry who beat them? Or Belmont and shinrone who are in semi finals? Are these not seen as competitors?
[/quote]

They are competitors but KK are at a diff level to every other hurling team. They’re the benchmark. I can understand why the lads gave a walkover to rhode to allow them more preparation time for the KK match.

And let’s have as equally a rigorous debate about why KK have essentially abandoned football as there was over the walkover.

Just want to clarify that all these points are my opinion. I don’t speak on behalf of players or mgmt.

[chimbonda]

KK are their main competitors?? What about birr and Coolderry who beat them? Or Belmont and shinrone who are in semi finals? Are these not seen as competitors?
[/quote]

They are competitors but KK are at a diff level to every other hurling team. They’re the benchmark. I can understand why the lads gave a walkover to rhode to allow them more preparation time for the KK match.

And let’s have as equally a rigorous debate about why KK have essentially abandoned football as there was over the walkover.

Just want to clarify that all these points are my opinion. I don’t speak on behalf of players or mgmt.
[/quote]

KK drew with Belmont and Shinrone

[brosna]

[quote=brosna post_id=76570 time=<a href="tel:1758560795">1758560795</a> user_id=13158]

KK are their main competitors?? What about birr and Coolderry who beat them? Or Belmont and shinrone who are in semi finals? Are these not seen as competitors?
[/quote]

They are competitors but KK are at a diff level to every other hurling team. They’re the benchmark. I can understand why the lads gave a walkover to rhode to allow them more preparation time for the KK match.

And let’s have as equally a rigorous debate about why KK have essentially abandoned football as there was over the walkover.

Just want to clarify that all these points are my opinion. I don’t speak on behalf of players or mgmt.
[/quote]

KK drew with Belmont and Shinrone
[/quote]

Kk are 1/7 to win the championship

[Sally treats]

KK are your main competitors???

I am not so sure KK would see Ballinamere/Durrow as their main competitors. I would imagine they would view all other clubs equally and respectfully and see everyone of them as a threat to their status as county champions. On any given day the likes of Shinrone, Coolderry, Birr, Belmont, Tullamore and others could put KK on their arse

Sounds to me like someone is living rent free in your head. Essentially, from a B/D perspective the issue is internal and can only be sorted internally no matter what the papers, or anyone else, says.