Multy bowlers take top title at national event
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Celebrating positive ageing at the finals of Active Retirement Ireland’s National Bowls Competition at the Gleneagle INEC, Killarney were the Multy Bowlers. From left, Pat Caffrey, Des Caffrey, Rosemary Maxwell-Eager and Mary Daly. Photo: Don MacMonagle. DON MACMONAGLEImage 2 of 3
Concentration on the face of Mary Daly from Multy Bowls, as she competed at the finals of Active Retirement Ireland’s National Bowls Competition at the Gleneagle INEC, Killarney. Photo: Don MacMonagle. DON MACMONAGLEImage 3 of 3
At the prize-giving ceremony at the finals of Active Retirement Ireland’s National Bowls Competition at the Gleneagle INEC, Killarney were Mai Quaid, President, ARI with Runner up team of the large bowls plate Multy Bowlers from Multyfarnham, County Westmeath Pat Caffrey, Des Caffrey, Rosemary Maxwell-Eager and Mary Daly and Bill McConnell. Photo: Don MacMonagle. DON MACMONAGLEMembers of the Multy Bowlers Active Retirement bowls team from Multyfarnham took home one of the top prizes at the 2025 Active Retirement Ireland National Bowls Competition, at the Gleneagle INEC Arena in Killarney, in November.
Mary Daly, Des Caffrey, Rosemary Eager and team skip Pat Caffrey were presented with the 2025 large bowls plate runner-up prize by ARI national president Mai Quaid and CEO Fran Brennan.
Over three days, 64 four-person Active Retirement bowls teams representing 15 counties competed across the large and small bowls competitions. 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.
“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 Active Retirement Associations (ARAs) across Ireland, including in Westmeath, 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 Westmeath, see www.activeirl.ie.