The first 'Major' of the handball season serves off this evening with the 2025 Irish Adult 4-Wall Nationals down for decision at Kilkenny, Carlow and Laois venues.
A total of 194 players will take their chance, with the finals slated for O’Loughlin’s in Kilkenny City on Sunday.
In the Men's Open, the sense of a shifting landscape is unmistakable. Top seed David Walsh of Mallow, still only 26, has already shown he belongs at the summit with a World semi-final appearance in 2024, an All-Ireland Senior Singles final in 2025 and two ranking titles last year.
Number two seed Daniel Relihan, from Liscarroll, arrives on the back of a Golden Gloves final in Belfast, where only Diarmaid Nash – the 35-year-old Clare citeog who is also absent this weekend - stopped him.
For the first time in probably two decades, the bracket feels wide open. Paul Brady and Robbie McCarthy, the defining figures of the previous era, currently have no plans to return to the full competitive circuit in the short term.
Martin Mulkerrins is based in America, as is Killian Carroll. With the old guard either absent or winding down, this Nationals has all the ingredients of a breakthrough moment for the new wave.
That cohort is deep. Kyle Jordan, Jack Doyle, Cormac Finn, Eoghan McGinnity, Rory Grace, Sean Coughlan, Joe Devereux and Gearoid Healy, all in their early 20s, represent the most promising cluster of rising talent in years. For many of them, this weekend offers a clear path to move up the rankings and stake a claim in a division that has rarely looked so open.
Peter Funchion, who won the Senior Doubles title with his brother Paddy last year after a 27-year year for Kilkenny, is seeded third, with Monaghan right-hander Gavin Coyle at four.
There is no shortage of compelling pairings in the last 16. Finn’s clash with Kildare left-hander Niall O'Connor stands out, as does spin specialist McGinnity’s meeting with former world Over-40s champion Brendan Fleming, one of the smartest players around. The showdown of UL college team-mates Rory Grace and Sean Coughlan, the Tipp-Clare combination who have been piling up collegiate wins, adds further intrigue.
The Men’s A field is headed by Cork native and Armagh resident Cian O'Driscoll, with Monaghan hurler Oran Kiernan seeded second.
The Ladies Open, meanwhile, will run without three of the dominant forces of the last 15 years: Limerick's Martina McMahon, Galway world champion Ciana Ní Churraoin and Cork's Catriona Casey, who remains sidelined after the ACL injury she suffered at the 2024 World Wallball Championships in Limerick.
Even so, the standard remains exceptionally high. Roscommon's Fiona Tully (above), Golden Gloves finalist and beaten only by an in-form McMahon, leads the field and will meet either Tyrone youngster Caislin Tracey or Cork’s experienced Aishling O'Keeffe in the quarter final.
Tyrone’s Eilise McCrory, who pushed McMahon to a tiebreaker in the Golden Gloves semi final, is the number two seed. Claregalway woman Niamh Heffernan, buoyed by recent success in the United States, faces Clare’s Leah Minogue in the quarter final for the chance to play McCrory or Kilkenny’s Noelle Dowling.
Caitriona Millane of Clare and Amy Brennan of Kilkenny are also firmly in contention.
Twelve venues will host matches: Tinryland, Garryhill, Borris, Cullohill, Monavea, Lisdowney, Galmoy, Clogh, Kilfane, Windgap, Kells and O'Loughlins.
