Kildare make history with first All-Ireland Pool Title
Kildare 'A' win the All-Ireland Intermediate Championship at the Irish Pool Association's 2026 Festival of Pool in The Gleneagle, Killarney.
Kildare delivered an immense performance last week as they were crowned the Irish Pool Association (IPA) All-Ireland Intermediate Champions – the county’s first ever win in the main event.
Kildare were led to this historic victory by the club’s two international players, captain Dan Dempsey from Monasterevin and vice-captain Jeff Ratledge from Athy.
The IPA’s Festival of Pool 2026 took place over five days at The Gleneagle in Killarney, with games being played on over 40 tables for the first few days at the Kerry venue.
Despite losing to Cork ‘B’ and Westmeath ‘A’, Kildare’s ‘A’ team emerged from a difficult Group C thanks to victories over Cavan, Offaly ‘B’ and Down ‘B’. That saw them into the Intermediate quarter-finals, where they were 14-8 winners over Kerry ‘A’ before moving on to the semis where they dispatched of Down ‘B’ on the same scoreline.
Kildare faced tough competition in the final, but still had four frames to spare as they dispatched of Tyrone ‘B’ 14-10 to get their hands on the coveted All-Ireland trophy.
“We’ve been in semi-finals and finals in previous years but never got over the line. This year the team was determined to do it and played as a unit all through the event,” said Paraic Kelly, Vice Chairman of Kildare Pool Association.
“A big turning point to note in the final was 17-year-old Kyle Connolly subbing in for the last frame of session two. At 9-8 it was a massive game and he duly delivered to put us two frames ahead going into the last session.”
Dan Dempsey (c) (Monasterevin), Jeff Ratledge (vc) (Athy), Aidan Abbott (Celbridge), Dave Kelly (Curragh), Kyle Connolly (Newbridge), Keith O’Reilly (Newbridge), Paddy Greed (Kildare Town), Paraic Kelly (Kill), Ricky Morrissey (Clonmel), Sid Cully (Straffan/Newbridge).
In the Junior Championship, Kildare ‘B’ picked up a 14-6 win over Clare ‘A’ in the opening round of Group B, but lost their next four games on the spin to finish second from bottom.
The Junior ‘B’ Championship was a completely different story, with Kildare ‘C’ beating Carlow ‘B’, Donegal ‘D’ and Cork ‘D’, finishing top of Group E despite an earlier loss to Limerick ‘C’.
But the quarter-finals proved the end of the line for Kildare, losing out 14-8 to Antrim ‘D’.
In the Ladies Championship, Kildare ‘A’ won three of their five games in Group B, getting the better of Antrim ‘A’, Wexford ‘B’ and Carlow ‘A’, but whitewash defeats to both Cavan ‘A’ and Donegal ‘A’ saw Kildare end the round robin in fourth place, level on points with third-place Antrim.
Sponsored by Dave and Maureen O’Sullivan from DMS Ventures, Joe Kenna from Woodstock Engineering, Eoin Day from A2Z Boilers, and Paul and Bernie from Sharkx Pool Hall Newbridge, Kildare Pool Association sent a total of eight teams to this year’s IPA Festival of Pool, with age-grade representatives also competing in Killarney, including teams in the O50, U23, U18 and U15 championships.
