Westmeath GAA club receives award at Bloom '25

The Westmeath garden that captured the judges attention at Bord Bia Bloom 2025 was presented by a local GAA club. It was the only medal awarded to a Westmeath exhibitor at the annual floral competition.

Athlone GAA club received a high commendation from judges in the 'Postcard Garden' category at Bord Bia Bloom 2025.

The club's entry marks the first time a GAA club entered a garden at the event, which concludes today Monday, June 2.

The Athlone GAA garden for the event that takes place in the Phoenix Park, Dublin is a community-based postcard garden, measuring approximately 2.5m by 3m.

With over 2,000 GAA clubs across Ireland, Athlone GAA's entry honours the collective sustainability efforts being made nationwide and serves as a tribute to the positive environmental impact that GAA communities can make when working together toward a greener future.

Prior to the staging of Ireland's largest gardening festival, Blaithin Fleming, Athlone GAA’s Green Officer, expressed the club's excitement about being selected.

"We are delighted to be part of the GAA Green Club Programme. Athlone GAA is on a journey towards sustainability, and this initiative gives us the perfect opportunity to build on the work already being done in our community," she added.

The Athlone GAA entry was created by Sheila Plunkett. Sheila, a Green Officer with the club, put a great deal of work into the award winning entry.

The overall large garden category award went to the Repak Most Sorted Garden, designed by James Purdy and the overall medium garden category award was presented to The European Commission’s ‘Renewed Blooms’ Garden, designed by David Negus. All 21 show gardens showcased at this year's festival are designed with sustainability in mind and incorporate environmental measures; however, these two gardens particularly convey strong sustainability messages for visitors to take home.

A total of 19 medals, including eight gold medals, were awarded to show gardens in advance of the show opening to the public this morning. The overall small garden winner was The Pot Gallery Garden, designed by Alan Rudden, which demonstrates how freestanding and vertical pots can create green spaces on terraces, roofs or balconies.

The overall concept garden winner was The Rainbow Brick Balcony Garden designed by Limerick artist, Gary Kirwan, as a tribute to LEGO. Playful and unique, this garden is constructed from over 800,000 pieces over eight weeks and will be reused at family-oriented events run by Brick Shows Ireland around the country.