County Clare hosted the most important festival of the sport since the before the millennium last weekend, the GAA Handball Irish Nationals.
Tuamgraney Handball alley might just be the only one in the world that sits in the shadow of an ancient Castle and it certainly felt like something of a fortress on Sunday afternoon.
Shortly before 6pm, it was such for sure as the biggest star of the game in the county since the great Pat Kirby, who also honed his skills beneath the same ancient walls, closed out the biggest festival of handball in the Clare in almost quarter of a century.
Diarmaid Nash crowned the Irish Nationals Men’s Open champion to a delighted home crowd.
It was much more sweet than bitter but the victory had a tinge of the latter as Nash’s long term rival for the throne of Irish handball, Westmeath’s ‘royal’ Robbie McCarthy left the stage through injury, with the game match tied 1-1 but Nash very much in the ascendency.
Nothing, however, could take from the outcome for the local hero, who adds the Irish Nationals to the Irish Singles Championship won in 2022.
His final opponent was based at the Tuamgraney Handball club all weekend and made it very much his own through the earlier rounds on Saturday, putting on a masterclass for the appreciative crowd as he pulled the full stock of shots from his bag.
On Sunday morning he put Clogh, Kilkenny’s Shane Dunne, who’d impressed in his path to the penultimate stage, to the sword with a near whitewash in the first game, 15-01. It was Dunne’s first time in the court with the mighty Mullingar man and it told in the first but he showed much more of his worth in the second game, stretching McCarthy on every point before eventually succumbing 15-07.
Nash, meanwhile, made it to Tuamgraney following Saturday victories in Clooney Quinn, defeating Brendan Fleming 15-07, 15-04 in the semi-final.
Much anticipation so as the home fans filled the 40×20 gallery on Sunday morning but Nash had them catching breath and slipping to the edges of their tightly squeeze seats in his semi when he lost the first game 7-15 to Peter Funchion from the Kells club in Kilkenny.
Whether it was adapting to the change of courts or even his ice cool veins being thawed by the warmth of the home crowd, it was but a blip. The Scarriff man is made of stern stuff and used the break to refocus, turning up the heat on Funchion and the temperature in the hall even further as he took the next 15-8 and then the tie-break 11-4.
It was showdown time; the game everyone wanted to see from the very first strike of a ball on Friday evening in this brilliant festival of 150 male and female handballers. The 40×20 alley packed again but, thankfully, the big-screen next door in the ‘fanzone’ converted 60×30 court took the overflow.
McCarthy, a five time 40×20 national champion, cites Nash on the gaahandball.ie website as his toughest opponent and it was quickly evident why. He took the first game 15-9 but Nash stretched every sinew of his own and his opponent’s as they emptied out their repertoire across riveting rally after rally. The ball fizzing around the court at supersonic speed, both playing to the extremities of their games.
Despite the first game loss, Nash was clearly gathering momentum; a different player from what we saw as he opened the semi-final hours earlier. It was now equals on court and the first time over the weekend McCarthy had that to contend with. The only thing surpassing the skill was the respect as time and again each acknowledged the other’s winning shots.
Nash went up the gears for the start of the second game, however, racing into a brilliant 10-0 lead, grabbing absolute control, turning the table and the tempo.
McCarthy looked visibly tired in those early exchanges and, at 10-0, the pressure told on the body as Nash stretched the game to the corners, eventually too much so far as McCarthy jarred his strapped left-knee as he lunged unsuccessfully at 01-10, trying to retain his serve as Nash reasserted his hand.
A time-out called but to no avail for McCarthy, though he battled on bravely, managing to take four points from instinct alone. But there was really only one winner as Nash pressed home the advantage he forged at the opening of the game to win the second game 15-5.
With Nash in the ascendancy, the tie-breaker hill would have been steep for McCarthy to climb with two good legs. But with one at half-tilt, he wisely raised the hand to signal the end. Diarmaid Nash, Irish Nationals champion on home turf.
As GAA Handball President Conor McDonnell said as he presented the trophy to Nash, it was a festival of handball across the weekend. The two games served up by the finalists took it to another level.
There were many other highlights across the three spectacular days of action, not least Catriona Casey from Ballydesmond, Cork showing why she is such a class act to win the Women’s Open, defeating Ciana Nà Churraoin from Galway.
From a Clare perspective, there were other notable performances and great promise, with Leah Minogue (19), Tuamgraney debuting in the Adult Nationals and only pipped at the post in Ladies A Final in a tie break by Amy Brennan from Clogh, Kilkenny as they renewed their brilliant see-saw rivalry.
Amber Nolan from Tuamgraney overcame Aine Lenihan, Kilkishen for a great win in the Ladies B Plate. Glenn Murray, Newmarket-on-Fergus made it to the Men’s B Final, while Kevin O’Callaghan made a bold dash in the Men’s C final but, likewise, had to settle for a very credible second. Young Matthew Coughlan from Clooney, in his first year in the adult grade, also caught the eye as he made it to the semi-final stage in the Men’s C grade, with Daniel Vaughan (Tulla) also making it to the final in the Men’s C Plate.
Mike Kelly from Newmarket-on-Fergus put up a great performance before bowing out in the 60+ Final, while the action rounded off appropriately with a cracking all-Care clash in Tulla on Tuesday night of Shane Walsh, Tuamgraney and Mike Baker, Kilkishen in the Men’s 40+B final, which was won by Walsh in a tie-break 07-15, 15-03, 11-07.
Ultimately, there were winners everywhere, even where there were gut-wrenching losses. But the biggest of all, Nash aside, was Clare handball.
Nine venues, immaculately turned out, visiting players given the red carpet at each and the final in Tuamgraney not alone delivering the right result but a super show of hospitality by the local club.