Rebel Óg awards: Handballers honoured for All-Ireland success

Three All-Ireland winning handballers are the July winners of the Rebel Óg monthly award.

Tadgh O’Connor, Boherbue Handball Club, won U14 All-Ireland 60 x 30 handball final. Jack Hennessy and Seán Dee, Liscarroll Handball Club, recently won their second All-Ireland title in 2024, claiming the U15 60 x 30 doubles title with a tiebreaker win over Wexford. They also won the U14 40 x 20 doubles title with a win over Kilkenny.

Tadgh defeated Shane Delaney, Tipperary, in a closely fought contest losing the first game 14-15 and winning the next two games 15-8, 15-13 to secure the Munster U14 singles title. He then went on to face Owen Kelly, Tyrone, in the All-Ireland semi-final winning 15-3, 15-4.

Tadgh met Bertie O’ Donohoe, Galway, in the All-Ireland final. Bertie is an accomplished player after winning a number of competitions in different codes but Tadgh showed his class to defeat him by 15-1, 15-12 in the final. Tadgh would like to acknowledge the support he received from his coaches and club mates while training for his title.

Fresh from winning the U14 doubles All-Ireland in the 40 x 20 code earlier in the year, Jack and Sean turned their attention to the traditional 60 x 30 competition, where they played in the U15 grade.

This allowed them train with their older clubmates who really pushed them on, under the guidance of John Hedigan and John Bosco Hurley. Loyalties were tested started early in their season as they faced two of their club mates to emerge as the Cork representatives in Munster. However, an exciting and sporting game emerged with Jack and Sean winning in two games by only a few aces.

They enjoyed more serene progress in Munster overcoming Tipperary and Clare to progress to the All-Ireland series. They were due to face Mayo in the semi-final but unfortunately it was an injury that saw them advance to the All-Ireland final against the Cash cousin’s from Wexford.

Wexford won the opening game as Jack and Sean took a while to settle, but the boys responded in style, some great serves from Jack and powerful returns from Sean took the game to a tie break.

The Cork boys experience kicked in, and they secured a memorable victory, to the delight of the many supporters who travelled to watch them.

Chairman of Rebel Óg, Michael O’Mahony, congratulated the three awards winners on their success in the finals and said he hoped they continued to play handball for many years to come.

If you want to nominate a club, team or an individual for a monthly award you can send details to: probng.cork@gaa.ie.