Kildare team runners up in 2025 Active Retirement Ireland National Bowls Competition

Members of the Balyna 1 Active Retirement bowls team from Co Kildare have taken home one of the top prizes at the 2025 Active Retirement Ireland National Bowls Competition, which took place at the Gleneagle INEC Arena in Killarney, Co Kerry last week.

Balyna 1 bowls team members Margaret Colgan, Kathleen Marsh, Eamonn Leonard and team skip Christy Colgan were presented with the 2025 small bowls cup runners up prize by Active Retirement Ireland National President Mai Quaid and CEO Fran Brennan at a special gala ball held to close the competition on Thursday (20th November).

Finalists from counties Carlow, Cork, Kerry, Waterford, Westmeath and Wexford were also presented with awards.

Over three days, 64 four-person Active Retirement bowls teams, including five from Co Kildare, competed across the large and small bowls competitions. The other teams from Co Kildare were the NARA 1 and 2 teams, and the Balyna 2 and 3 teams.

Speaking at the awards presentation, Active Retirement Ireland CEO Fran Brennan said: “Well done to all teams who participated in this year’s National Bowls Competition and special congratulations to our finalists across the large and small bowls tournaments. 

“This tournament is a celebration of older people and their right to live independent, full lives in which they can stay socially connected and be active participants in their communities. The more than 450 competitors, volunteer officials and spectators who have joined us in Killarney this week exemplify the drive and self-determination of older people to live their best life in later life. 

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“We are all ageing, and it cannot be too much to ask that people in Ireland be supported to age well — with dignity, independence and equality. It is time the government took meaningful steps to develop and implement whole-of-government strategies and frameworks to ensure we can.

“Thank you to Hidden Hearing for their generous support of the 2025 National Bowls Competition, and to our wonderful hosts the Gleneagle Hotel and staff for their steadfast recognition of the value and contribution of older people in Irish society and for their ongoing support in making this event possible each year.”

There are 516 local Active Retirement Associations (ARAs) in local communities across Ireland, including in Co Kildare — groups of older people who come together to organise social events and activities to reinforce social connectedness and reduce loneliness — supported by the national body Active Retirement Ireland, Ireland’s largest membership organisation for older people in the country.

For more information about Active Retirement Ireland and to find your local group in Co Kildare, see www.activeirl.ie.