Road Bowling: 'Super bowl' Sunday in Munster and Ulster

The Munster and Ulster senior men’s finals are down for decision

Road Bowling 5/8/2000 A competitor decides which ball to use Mandatory Credit �INPHO/Tom Honan

Next Sunday is a super-bowl Sunday with both the Munster and Ulster senior men’s finals down for decision ahead of the All-Ireland final at Keady-Tassagh on the August weekend.

Ulster has a stranglehold on the senior men’s All-Ireland stretching back to October 2021, when Arthur McDonagh beat Thomas Mackle in what was technically the 2020 final. Mackle won the next two, his first-cousin Colm Rafferty won in 2024 and Ethan Rafferty kept it in the family by beating McDonagh last year.

The last final, before Covid-19, was won by Aidan Murphy at Tullysaran in 2019. So in next Sunday’s finals only one of the most recent five champions will be missing from the table. McDonagh and Murphy face off in the Munster final at Baile Bhuirne and Mackle and Colm Rafferty contest the Ulster final at Keady-Tassagh.

Each of the four is on a road to redemption of one sort or the other. Better that than having to sit on the bank watching on, like Ethan Rafferty will have to endure.

McDonagh wants to atone for his defeat in last year’s All-Ireland final, especially his below par opening quarter. Murphy wants the seat among the elites he had in 2019 after giving Cathal Toal a lesson in the All-Ireland.

Mackle was sidelined by injury last season, but before that he was like Elvis in the lyrics of American Pie, “and while the king was looking down, the jester stole his thorny crown’. Except it was not just one but two and both his first-cousins. Up to 2024 Mackle was the anointed one, the inheritor of the mantle worn by his uncle Michael Toal.

In 2024 Rafferty blew everyone off the stage. He beat Mackle in Ulster, he beat Martin Coppinger in the All-Ireland, he beat McDonagh and both the Dutch and German national champions at King of the Roads. He was undisputed king of Ulster, but by the end of 2025 his larder was bare.

Sunday won’t wipe the slate clean for any of them, but it brings the two winners a step closer to the place of redemption.

Baile Bhuirne is the dream venue for McDonagh. He was inspired there when he won his first Munster final in 2021. His bowling was perfect. The world was emerging from Covid. McDonagh was emerging from the shadow of the previous generation. He followed up with a solid win there over Mackle in the All-Ireland.

Murphy’s engagement with the venue will be to commit every hump and hollow, twist and turn to his inner map. He will be prepped and fired from line to line. He got an ideal win against James O’Donovan in last Sunday’s semi-final in Skibbereen. He led at all but one tip, was well clear in the middle, lost the lead and bounced back for a confidence boosting last shot win.

In tight spots few are better than Murphy. Whether he is leading or trailing, he is focused on delivering the next bowl. He has a tight team. He has a wealth of experience and a highly impressive CV, counting European, All-Ireland and King of the Roads titles in his war chest.

McDonagh, like Murphy, extricated himself from a tight spot in his semi-final win over Gary Daly at Grenagh. He looked beaten at Boula Lane, but was a clear winner in the end. A troubling factor for him is an ankle injury that has curtailed his season. No one is better than Murphy at spotting a weakness, so if McDonagh is a fraction off, he won’t do.

The Ulster final is over the All-Ireland final course at Keady-Tassagh, the same road that hosts Ból-Fada. Every pebble on that road is familiar to both Mackle and Rafferty, so there is no advantage for either bowler. In terms of the tests it will present, both players have demonstrated that they can deal with them.

The peculiar nature of the paring though may be an advantage to Rafferty. It is hard to recreate the intensity of an All-Ireland final when two cousins are in opposition. More especially when they share the same backroom team.

Mackle is at his absolute best when the stakes are at their highest. He proved that against Páidín Stokes a few weeks ago in Ballinagree. You can rely on Mackle to get his best shot off just when the mercury is hitting 100. Sunday will feel like performing in an empty Croke Park, there will be noise, but it will be no cauldron.

Rafferty is no shrinking violet, he too delivers when the chips are down. However, he may not need the same adrenaline rush to play all the intermediary bowls. If it comes to a last shot, Mackle has the intangible advantage. He still possesses the aura of Mickey Toal.

Sunday July 26

Munster Senior Men’s Final, Baile Bhuirne: Aidan Murphy v Arthur McDonagh (11:30 am)

Ulster Senior Men’s Final, Keady-Tassagh: Thomas Mackle v Colm Rafferty (12 noon)