Colin Ryan of Limerick with the Corn Setanta trophy after winning the M. Donnelly GAA All-Ireland Poc Fada finals at Annaverna Mountain in the Cooley Peninsula, Ravensdale, Louth.
By John Harrington
Limerick native, Colin Ryan, is the 2021 M Donnelly GAA All-Ireland Poc Fada men’s champion.
The Pallasgreen native, an All-Ireland SHC champion with Limerick in 2018, won the title on Annaverna Moutnation in the Cooley Peninsula over the weekend for the very first time.
A fourth-place finisher in 2019 when the competition was last held, Ryan held off some very stiff competition from former champions like Cillian Kiely (2018 & 2019) and Tadgh Haran (2017) to win in convincing fashion.
A thick fog meant the competition couldn’t be held over the full course as visibility was so poor higher up the mountain, so instead it took place along a the shorter course normally reserved for the women’s All-Ireland Final.
Ryan was the only player to complete it in 21 pucks, with a chasing pack of five other players taking 22 pucks to get across the finish line.
Offaly’s Cathal Kiely, a younger brother of Cillian, was the best of the rest with his 22nd puck going five yards further than that of Laois goalkeeper Enda Rowland who finished in third place.
The women’s All-Ireland Final was a keenly contested event with Cork’s Molly Lynch finishing just ahead of Galway’s Sarah Healy.
Both players took 28 pucks to complete the course, but Lynch’s 28th puck finished 16 metres ahead of Healy’s.
Winners Colin Ryan of Limerick, left, and Molly Lynch of Cork, right, with event sponsor Martin Donnelly after the M. Donnelly GAA All-Ireland Poc Fada finals at Annaverna Mountain in the Cooley Peninsula, Ravensdale, Louth.
Men’s 2021 M Donnelly GAA All-Ireland Poc Fada Final results
1: Colin Ryan (Limerick) 21 pucks and 61 metres
2: Cathal Kiely (Offaly) 22 pucks and 89 metres
3: Enda Rowland (Laois) 22 pucks and 84 metres
4: Ronan Taaffe (Clare) 22 pucks and 62 metres
5: Tadhg Haran (Galway) 22 pucks and 50 metres
6: Cillian Kiely (Offaly) 22 pucks and 18 metres
7: Callum Quirke (Wexford) 23 pucks and 43 metres
8: Darren Geoghegan (Louth) 23 pucks and 15 metres
9: Gareth Johnson (Down) 24 pucks and 53 metres
10: Paddy McKillian (Tyrone) 24 pucks and 20 metres
11: Alan Nolan (Dublin) 27 pucks and 56 metres
Women’s 2021 M Donnelly GAA All-Ireland Poc Fada Final results
1: Molly Lynch (Cork) 28 pucks 18 metres
2: Sarah Healy (Galway) 28 pucks 2 metres
3: Caitriona Daly (Galway) 30 pucks 65 metres
4: Roisin McCormack (Antrim) 30 pucks 7 metres
5: Martina McMahon (Limerick) 31 pucks 10 metres
6: Aine Slattery (Tipperary) 31 pucks 1 metre
7: Aideen Lyons (Galway) 32 pucks 51 metres
8: Abbey Donnelly (Meath) 34 pucks 36 metres
9: Lynsey Condell (Carlow) 35 pucks 30 metres
