Welcome to the web site for the Irish Indoor Bowling Association which is the controlling body for the game of short mat bowls across the island of Ireland. The web site is designed to provide up-to-date information about the IIBA. We hope that you will find the site interesting and informative.

National Championships

The nationals will be remembered for two major achievements. Pauline and Joe Beattie became the first husband and wife to contest singles finals in the same year but it was the achievement of Rachel Cochrane in becoming the youngest finalist and the youngest ever winner of the ladies singles. It was an astonishing victory for Rachel who is probably the youngest player to win a national title anywhere. It was arguably the best ladies final seen with both Rachel and Pauline Beattie playing exceptional bowls throughout the 15 ends with Rachel’s last bowl getting the second shot she needed to pull off an historic win. Pauline’s disappointment was to some extent lessened as husband Joe picked up the national singles title with a win over P J Gallagher. The all Oriel final saw a surprisingly comfortable victory for Michael Hand and Jim Fox over Kevin and Sean Conroy. The Triples went to the Stubbs who had a 2 shot win over Kyle Blakely. Colum McHugh picked up his 2nd rinks title with a comfortable win over the Morrison’s. The Ladies triples  saw a comfortable win for Lisa Richardson, Irene Dougles and Michelle Wright over Jean McKee while in the Ladies Pairs, Oriel’s Vera Mohan and Christine McSherry had a 3 shot win over Donegal’s Rachel McDonnell and Vanessa McHugh. The over 55’s title went to Terence Patton and Valerie Witherow defeating Paul Moffett and Lynda Lyttle. The two junior finals were outstanding games. The singles went to Devon Wallace with a last end win over Shane West while Nathan & Zoe Minish who had the narrowist feeler gauge win over Chloe Wilson & Lara Reaney.

World Bowls

Despite contesting 3 finals, success still eludes Ireland's representatives. In the singles Alan Paul  lost to J Payne of Belgium, in the pairs Kevin and Sean Conroy lost to J Hagen Sweden while in the rinks Andy  Leckey, Jonnie Wilson, Eddie Campbell and D J Wilson lost to S Willies England.  G McNabb and G Conroy took 3rd place in the pairs.

Inter Zone Finals

Oriel made it 3 wins in 4 years as they dominate the men's inter zone but it was not without a second half fright. Up 16 shots at the interval, the game looked to be all over but North West came back to within 5 shots thanks largely to Leigh Harrison's rink. The first half saw convincing wins for Gerry McCabe over Brian Rankin and Niall Hand over Adam Rankin with only Jamie Cochrane performong for North West in the 8 all with Sean Trainor. The second hald saw a determined North West putting pressure on the favourites with wins for Marty McNicholl over Kevin Conroy and Leigh Harrison over Paul Duff. Paddy Hanlon drew with Trevor McIntryre.

Winning Oriel Team

Zone Convenor Gerry O'Hare receives Boomer Cup from

IIBA President Mrs Flo McNally

Runners Up North West

Zone Convenor Coleen Cochrane receives runners up Cup from

IIBA President Mrs Flo McNally

LADIES FINAL

Winning Western Ladies

Zone Convenor Harold Nixon receives  Cup from

IIBA President Mrs Flo McNally

Runners Up North West Ladies

Zone Convenor Coleen Cochrane receives runners up Cup from

IIBA President Mrs Flo McNally

Plate Finals

Terry Mulholland with Plate Shield on behalf of Armagh Zone

Armagh team which defeated South Down in Plate Final

BRITISH ISLES CHAMPIONSHIPS

Click link for results (pics in gallery)

GALWAY BAY HOTEL
IRISH CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP

Day 1 of the Galway Bay Hotel Irish Club Championship produced a Cookstown double with Cookstown High being crowned Irish Club Champions and Cookstown Parochial winning the Plate Competition. It was a day of surprising results. Parochial suffered a rare first round defeat against All Saints Tullylish who then fell by the wayside against Latton from Monaghan Zone. St Mark's Armagh Zone, current holders, also game defeat by one shot against Westen Zone's Wellington. Cookstown High came through by a single shot against Donegal's Ballylennon which was followed by a comfortable win over Mid Antrim's 1st Ahoghill. In the semi final they defeated Sydenham from Belfast Zone while Wellington won their semio final against Latton. In the plate semi final, Cookstown Parochial and St Mark's, two clubs who have dominated the competition in recent years, saw Parochial gain a last end win while Ballylennon had a comfortable win over Pickie. Cookstown High played Wellington in the final and it took a 16 - 3 win by Malcolm Cunningham's rink to compensate for the loss of the other two rinks, to give the High their 3rd win in the competition. In the Plate final Parochial were taken to the final end before overcoming Ballylennon by 3 shots.

DAY 2 GALWAY BAY CLUB  8 CHAMPIONSHIP

Day 2 of the Galway Bay Hotel saw the introduction of a new format to encourage smaller clubs to participate and it proved to be a success with bowling of a high quality and many close games. While Day 1 catered for teams of 12 in 3 rinks, Day 2 catered for 8 players in 2 rinks. The main competition saw Magilligan come out on top over with a semi final win over Ardstraw while St Coleman’s accounted for Drummond in their semi final. The final was not as close with Magilligan winning 22 - 13. In the Plate competition Finvoy had a narrow win over Mayne while 2nd Donegore accounted for Strabane Mourne. The final was a disappointing affair with 2nd Donegore taking the Plate.

ZONE NEWS

Zones which wish to publish general information about developments / events in their area can be allocated a specific page on the site and contributions will be credited to those Convenors who forward it.

CHILD PROTECTION

Updated forms and information is in the Child Protection section .

Natalie Merrigan  representing the marketing department of the Galway Bay Hotel  with Seamus Kyne IIBA PRO.

Tournaments

Tournament resutts WILL NOT be published on the web site until the WINNER has returned the Champion of Champions form to the Competition Secretary. If details do not appear on the web site, winners will not have returned the form or if they have returned it and details do not appear on the web site, they MUST contact the Competition Secretary immediately. Only when the results appear on the web site will entry to the appropriate Champion of Champions competition be confirmed. Entries  can only be made for only ONE category.