K-K stay on top of hurling pile as Birr and Lusmagh make strides

Another year passes into the history books, and while there were no huge shocks on the Offaly club hurling scene and no Leinster success stories either, 2025 will still go down as an enjoyable season where the majority of championships were very competitive. Standards across the board appeared to creep up that little bit higher in local games, influenced in no small part by the continued influx of younger hurlers who have come up through improved coaching and development structures. But enough of that logical, neutral assessment of the local landscape. You came here for controversy and stirring, so here we go without further ado.

(1) Kilcormac-Killoughey (no change)

Any year where a club collects the senior, U-20, minor and U14 hurling championships can hardly be considered a poor year, and that’s before three adult league titles are thrown into the mix. Nonetheless, a first round exit in Leinster to a Ballyhale side that subsequently proved itself to be not good enough to win a provincial title will feel like something of a disappointment for a club that has lofty ambitions. A couple of mediocre performances in the SHC group stages can be forgiven and their demolition of Ballinamere was as good a performance by any club as we’ve seen in Offaly for some years. But the pressure to put a second Leinster title on the mantelpiece is growing.

(2) Birr (up 4)

Birr had a lot of near misses this year across the grades but another strong showing at minor level and a very impressive intermediate campaign will give the club a lot of hope that they can build on their heroic showing against Kilcormac-Killoughey in the county semi-final. They’ve started to score a little bit more and not leave it all on the shoulders of Eoghan Cahill. Meanwhile along the spine of the team, players like Jimmy Irwin, Brendan Murphy, Colm Mulrooney and Luke Nolan all hurled with a nice mix of style and substance over the course of the year. It’ll be another few years yet before the likes of James Carroll, Barry Bennett and Edward Carty are ready to step up to senior level and give the club the extra push but the fact that players like that are coming down the pipeline will give everyone a huge lift.

(3) Shinrone (no change)

From a neutral perspective, it was encouraging to see Shinrone fight back after being over-run in the second quarter of the county final. They forced Kilcormac-Killoughey to go to the well again and effectively win that game a second time, though unfortunately from Shinrone’s point of view, the champions were able to do exactly that. Mark Morkan has put together a balanced and capable management team full of local hurling stalwarts and there is no doubt that the players have put their faith and conviction behind that effort. The challenge for several players now is to look into the mirror and push on to the next level.

(4) Belmont (up 3)

It should have been a difficult year for the club considering all the players that were unavailable, but after a poor league they burst out of the blocks with a draw against K-Ki and a win over St Rynagh’s, keeping the pressure on from there. The semi-final was disappointing and that was the game where the absence of Leon Fox from the heart of the defence told a tale. However a handful of younger hurlers such as Adam Egan and Darragh Flynn had very good years to back up David Nally, who was hurling like he had a point to prove. Raising the ceiling from here won’t be easy.

(5) Ballinamere (down 3)

The chemistry just wasn’t right in the club this year and while there were noises that things were coming together in advance of the quarter-final with Kilcormac-Killoughey, those noises reverberated south to the home of the champions. K-K showed up ready for that game and what resulted was a crushing defeat for Ballinamere. For a group where the first 12 names on the teamsheet are as good as you’ll find anywhere but the lack of depth lets them down, ongoing tension between them and Durrow simply has to be resolved. The stars in the club are almost all ‘hurling first’ players but they need the support that comes from having everyone available.

(6) Coolderry (down 2)

There are clubs in Offaly where there is a 15 or 20-point difference between the ceiling and the floor when it comes to that team’s performance. For Coolderry, there’s perhaps only five or six points between those two watermarks, such is their consistency. Raising that ceiling is the challenge. Eoin Burke continues to develop into a consistent threat up front, Cian Burke and Eoin Ryan are an outstanding midfield partnership, as good as there is in the county, and the defence is dependable and balanced. If anything, that makes the road ahead even tougher, since there is no low hanging fruit to pick off.

(7) St Rynagh’s (down 2)

It wasn’t just that results weren’t good for the Banagher men. Put them out against a decent, well-organised senior team and it’s hard to visualise where the scores are going to come from. This is against the backdrop of a club that will have to move on more and more of the stalwarts that backboned their run of success at the end of the last decade. Given the size of their catchment area, playing numbers is not an issue, while there is certainly no shortage of hurling expertise around the club. St Rynagh’s underage results are also underwhelming when seen in that context.

(8) Tullamore (up 2)

This year could have very easily been so, so different for Tullamore. They were competitive in every championship game and looked much better than we’ve seen in recent years, particularly in the middle third of the pitch – they just didn’t get that breakthrough win against a championship contender. A very good showing at U-16 level is a good sign for the years ahead too, while the collaboration between football and hurling in the club is encouraging. Had they got a tilt at Rynagh’s in the championship this year, they could have climbed another spot.

(9) Lusmagh (up 4)

Lusmagh started the year as one of five clubs for which the senior B championship was a realistic target, but as the year progressed they put distance between themselves and the chasing pack. They ended the year as a team that looks ready to make a meaningful impact in the Seán Robbins Cup race next year. The standard of competition will get a lot hotter straight away but they’ll go into 2026 believing that they can take a scalp or two, rather than just eying up survival as their only goal from the start.

(10) Carrig & Riverstown (up 2)

Their tendency to leak goals probably held them back a little in 2025 but overall they still look a team that is moving in the right direction. The experience of hurling in a Senior B final will stand to them and probably marks them out as the marginal favourites for next year’s championship at this grade. Conor Freeman moving out to Dubai is a blow to a side that could really use his consistent scoring and his experience, but unlike a lot of teams that are dependent on younger players, they have a bit of physical size to work with and a few tweaks to their defensive structure could go a long way, and they will bring one or two more capable young hurlers into the fold in 2026.

(11) Kinnitty (down 2)

The Slieve Bloom men put a lot of eggs in the Belmont basket in this year’s championship and came agonisingly close to getting a big result in a game where the break of the ball went the way of the West Offaly side. They put that defeat behind them and delivered their best performance of the year when it mattered most against Seir Kieran to secure senior status, but it’s hard to predict anything other than another relegation battle on the horizon in 2026.

At senior level there’s no denying that it’s still a lot of their elder statesmen that are carrying the team. That said, their U-20 side (combined with Lusmagh) had a bit about them and they will be particularly encouraged by what was a decent U-16 campaign this year, the vast majority of the players coming from the Kinnitty club.

(12) Seir Kieran (down 4)

The Clareen side are turning into what could reasonably be described as a yo-yo team but there is a job of work to be done if they’re to bounce back up out of senior B in the next year or two. Up front, they’re not too badly off. Luke Carey continues to develop, Oisín and Darragh Guinan have the potential to be good scoring forwards and Kevin Dunne offers both graft and craft on the 45m line. It’s at the back that the problems run deep however. Any team that concedes 26 points or more in four out of their five championship games has a lot of work to do to shore things up.

(13) Clara (up 1)

It remains to be seen how their promotion back to senior A football affects a club that has made huge strides on the hurling front in recent years. It would be a shame if the Magpies don’t continue to fight on all fronts as they offer something very different to the local hurling scene. Clara have a cohort of players, particularly up front, that can win their own ball and are quite athletic with it and that combination nearly tripped up Carrig and Riverstown. That’s not to say that Clara don’t have weaknesses. On paper, they will start 2026 as more obvious relegation candidates than potential senior B winners, and that’s assuming that they still have equal access to all dual players.

(14) Drumcullen (up 1)

It could very well have been another county final horror story for the Sash men but once they got out of Banagher alive and with a second hour’s hurling against Birr secured, they settled about their business and there could be no arguing with the result of that replay. Fifteen years is a long time without winning a championship with your first team so putting that drought to bed will be a huge boost to a club that is starting to see more and more talented youngsters come through the grades. They will need them – there are a lot of older hurlers who will struggle with the faster pace of Senior B hurling – but the outlook around Rath and Fivealley is brighter than it has been for some time.

(15) Clodiagh Gaels (down 4)

Who knows how their season would have gone if Conor Doyle hadn’t sucker-punched them with that late free all the way back in July? If ever there was a sliding doors moment in a game and in a championship as a whole, that goal was it Liam Langton got a red card early in that game and that proved heavily consequential as he also missed the next game against K-K. Coincidentally or not, another narrow defeat was the result. The Killeigh/Killurin combination are probably a bit too good to be ranked this low and our expectation is that they will climb up the list in 12 months’ time, but when the measure employed is collective performances as opposed to individual ability, they have to drop to here.

(16) Shamrocks (no change)

This year was one that got away for Shamrocks. They came into the championship on the back of a decent league, they started the summer with a good local derby win over Ballinamere and then beat Drumcullen by four points in a game that lots of people would have said was a dress rehearsal for the final. It wasn’t, because they finished poorly against Birr and so crashed out at the semi-final stage. Expect a few players from what was a good minor team to progress sooner rather than later so they will be the overwhelming favourites to finally put their name on the Michael Keary Cup in 2026. How they handle that expectation is another matter.

(17) Brosna Gaels (no change)

It might feel a little harsh for Brosna Gaels to stay static in these rankings when they won their championship, but not even the most optimistic of supporters around the Leamonaghan area would say that they would be favourites to beat Shamrocks in a game just yet. However it was still a very good year, all the more impressive as county star Donal Shirley was unavailable for the big games that defined their year in the autumn.

(18) Ballyskenach-Killavilla (no change)

Groundhog Day for Ballyskenach-Killavilla. Mirroring 2024, they got back to a Division Four league final but lost out at that stage; they looked decent during the group stages of the JHC but then collapsed in a semi-final where they were the overwhelming favourites to advance, this time against Tullamore. This club badly needs to climb out of the junior ranks. Every year spent hurling in the fourth tier is a lost opportunity to build an identity around a club that still hasn’t reaped the benefits of amalgamation.

(19) Edenderry (up 1)

Hurling in Division 3 of the league was always likely to pose a tough test and their poor group form in that competition can be forgiven; though conceding the final is not as easy to absolve. They found a run of form in the summer, however, winning three games in a row to reach a championship semi-final. There’s something to build on there.

(20) Crinkill (down 1)

Won just two games all year, but if you’re going to win two matches, then a relegation final and a parish derby against Carrig & Riverstown are probably the ones to win. That first round defeat to Brosna Gaels will leave scars, however, as it’s hard to believe that a gap like that can be closed. Seasons like this are hardship for any player with a competitive instinct about them.

(21) Gracefield (no change)

Gracefield remain bottom of these rankings but their season contained a fair sprinkling of highlights and encouraging signs. The league went a bit sideways on the Blackthorns after a promising start but it turned into another solid summer, culminating in an extra-time defeat to eventual winners St Rynagh’s in the junior B championship, not to mention the fielding of a second team in the junior C grade. In difficult circumstances, Gracefield continue to keep their proud dual tradition alive and well.