History: National debut for Carlow Pool's Ladies
Jen Ardill, Courtney Perse, Bryana Donnelly, Megan Brennan, Tasha Bolger.
Carlow Pool Association will make history this week when they send an unprecedented four teams to compete at the The Irish Pool Association’s Festival of Pool 2026, taking place from tomorrow (Wednesday, May 20th) until Sunday, May 24th.
The Gleneagle in Killarney will host the festival, with games being played on over 40 tables for the first few days at the Kerry venue.
Carlow will be sending four teams to the event – Men’s Juniors, Men’s Junior ‘B’, an Over-50’s team, and for the first time ever there will be a Carlow Ladies team.
The Carlow Ladies team will make their debut in Group B alongside Wexford ‘B’, Cavan, Antrim, Kildare and Donegal.
Managed by John Kelly, the history-making Carlow team will be comprised of Jen Ardill, Courtney Perse, Bryana Donnelly, Megan Brennan and Tasha Bolger.
“I set up the women's team, which all fed off the leagues I was running in Corcoran’s (Bar in Carlow town) about a year and a half ago, and it's just grown ever since,” John Kelly told The Nationalist.
“Some of the girls were already playing back then, we had about 32 names. And then over the months it increased to over 100 at one stage and more and more girls kept coming into it.” Kelly knows the scale of the task that awaits his team however, saying: “Some of these teams have World Champions, Irish champions, IPA event champions. So, the standard is exceptionally high for the girls to compete against.
“But if they get a few wins under the belt and get into the shield, that's just a major success, to say the least.
“They've got an interesting draw in that sense, because we've got Wexford B, the second team in Wexford, but still be a strong team. And you would always suspect the Ulster teams to be the strongest because they just have better affinity with pool and they play a lot more of it.”
The Carlow Junior team are in Group A alongside Westmeath ‘B’, Wicklow ‘B’, Leitrim ‘B’ and Cork ‘C’.
“2019 was when the first time I went down with Carlow and we won two All-Irelands that year - the junior and the intermediate,” Kelly explained.
“We've lost a number of our players since then, obviously a few of the lads are having families and having babies, so they couldn't commit – you get that in any sport, there's a level of commitment that's extremely difficult to try and balance that with a family.
“But we've lads coming back ow as well as some ads that have gone out to the IPAs events themselves and done quite well there, and a few of our players have gone and represented Ireland. So, the future is very, very bright for Carlow pool.
“But the level has increased in recent years. It's very hard to win any competition because you're competing against professional players that are coming over from Ultimate Pool, and it's quite serious pool up in the Northern Ireland too. So, you're, you're competing against seasoned players who've done it decade in a decade out. That’s the skill level you actually have to compete at.”
Carlow ‘B’ are in Group E alongside Kildare ‘C’, Limerick ‘C’, Donegal ‘D’ and Cork ‘D’.
“The junior Bs will be interesting because half the team has plenty of experience of being there before and the other half are quite new to it,” Kelly said.
“And then we have new tables coming in with the Rasson table, so it's going to be new for everyone to play on. They're not playing on Supremes anymore and there's quite a massive difference between them. So, it's who adapts to them better will really play a big part in it.”
Carlow O50 are in Group C alongside Down, Donegal and Meath.
There is a misconception that these pool tournaments are just glorified drinking sessions, but Kelly insists that nothing could be further from the truth – even for the Over-50 team.
“The reality of it is, it's quite expensive. People are serious about their pool. People enjoy themselves, but you might get out one night and that's it.
“You could be there all day just waiting for games. And you can't leave because you have to be ready for the play. So, it's not a big drinking session, it's very serious.” Carlow Sponsors: Woodford Dolmen Hotel; Kehoe Auctioneers; Swans Electrical; Racey Byrnes; The Dome; MC Beauty; Corcoran’s Bar; Tile n Style.
