The lineup for the forthcoming weekend’s Gaelic football interprovincial series at Croke Park has been officially confirmed, with participants from 11 different counties, including those from London and New York. Designed to act as a demonstration for rule changes proposed by the Football Review Committee, the series includes four games to be played over Friday and Saturday.
Each province is represented by a 30-man squad, drawn from intercounty players across the respective regions, with both Connacht and Ulster adding a small contingent of reserve players to their teams.
The Leinster team is managed by Dessie Dolan and encompasses eight Dublin players, including well-known names like Stephen Cluxton, Brian Howard, Ciarán Kilkenny and James McCarthy. There are also players from Carlow, Westmeath, Offaly, Meath, Wicklow, with representatives from Laois, Kildare, Louth and individuals Darren Gallagher from Longford, and Eoin Porter from Wexford.
In charge of Connacht is Pádraic Joyce who brings along eight county squad members. These include Connor Gleeson, Cillian McDaid and Matthew Tierney, who will be teaming up with players from Roscommon, Mayo, London, Sligo, Leitrim, and the New York duo, Shane Brosnan and Joey Grace.
Ulster’s team flaunts several winners of the 2024 All-Ireland championship, including Armagh’s Rían O’Neill and Aidan Forker. The team will also include Tyrone’s goalkeeper Niall Morgan as well as seven of his county mates. Additionally, Antrim, Derry, Down, Fermanagh and Cavan are each contributing three players, while Monaghan and Donegal are both pitching in with two each.
In the Munster team, Cork takes a lead, boasting nine players on the squad. Hot on their heels are Clare and Kerry, both represented by five players. Waterford and Limerick field four players each whereas Tipperary contributes three players.
The interprovincial series is set to kick off with an intriguing clash between Leinster and Connacht at 6pm on Friday, followed by a keenly anticipated encounter between Munster and Ulster at 8pm. Notably, both games will be broadcast live on TG4.
Saturday also promises some exciting showdowns. The teams who lose on Friday will lock horns at 5.30pm, with live coverage available on the RTÉ news channel. The day will close with a final match for the much-coveted Railway Cup, the throw-in marked for 7.30pm. This key contest will be aired live on RTÉ2.
Rosters
Leinster: They have in their ranks players like Stephen Cluxton and Seán Bugler from Dublin, Michael Bambrick from Carlow, Mark Barry from Laois, and Ciarán Byrne from Louth. The team also features Ray Connellan from Westmeath, Peter Cunningham from Offaly, Ciarán Downey from Louth, Ross Dunphy from Carlow, and Kevin Feely from Kildare. Other notable names include Daniel Flynn (Kildare), Darren Gallagher (Longford), Dean Healy (Wicklow), Ryan Houlihan (Kildare), Brian Howard (Dublin), and notable others.
The Connacht team is comprised of numerous talented players, led by Connor Gleeson and Johnny McGrath, both hailing from Galway, along with Brian Stack from Roscommon. Also in the roster are Seán Mulkerrin, Cillian McDaid, John Daly, John Maher, and Matthew Tierney, representing Galway. Eoghan McLoughlin and Jack Carney are carrying Mayo’s banner, with Bob Touhy also on board. Enda Smith, Diarmuid Murtagh, Daire Cregg, Conor Carrol, Ruaidhrí Fallon, Ultan Harney, Conor Cox, Donie Smith and Ciarán Murtagh are embodying Roscommon’s spirit. Mark Diffley and Barry McNulty are present from Leitrim. Johnny Heaney represents Galway, with Shane Brosnan all the way from New York. Diarmuid Duffy and Fergal Boland are rounding out the Mayo contingent. Pat Spillane from Sligo, along with Aidan McLoughlin and Liam Gallagher from London, complete the team.
Waiting in the wings are Paul Towey and Keith Byrne of Mayo and Leitrim respectively, partnered with Shay Rafter, Daire Rooney from London, Eddie McGinness and Cian Lally from Sligo, and Joey Grace from New York.
Ulster’s team comprises players such as Niall Morgan and Mark Bradley from Tyrone; Diarmuid Baker from Derry; Paddy Burns, Oisín Conaty, Aidan Forker, Niall Grimley, Joe McElroy, Peter McGrane, and Ross McQuillan from Armagh; Pádraig Faulkner and Gerry Smith from Cavan; Daniel Guinness and Pat Havern from Down; Marc Jordan from Antrim; Barry McBennett from Monaghan; Ronan McCaffrey and Seán McNally from Fermanagh; Eoin McEvoy and Niall Toner from Derry; and from Donegal, Daire Ó Baoill and Ciarán Thompson. The team also includes standby players like Frank Burns from Tyrone, Mick Byrne and Joe Finnegan from Antrim, Jason Irwin from Monaghan, Jason McLoughlin from Cavan, and Fionan O’Brien from Fermanagh.
The Munster team features a stellar lineup of players. This includes Josh Ryan of Limerick, Darragh Brennan from Tipperary, and Kerry’s own Damien Bourke. Incorporating Darragh Cashman of Cork alongside Eoin Cleary hailing from Clare. Jimmy Feehan represents Tipperary, with Aran Griffin and Emmet McMahon both coming from Clare. Brian McNamara, also from Clare, plays with Seán Meehan of Cork and Tadhg Morley from Kerry. Limerick contributes with James Naughton and Danny Neville. Colm O’Callaghan, Chris Kelly and the Walsh trio of Tommy, Paul and Caoimhín represent Cork. Diarmuid O’Connor from Kerry, Conor O’Currin of Waterford, Seán O’Dea from Limerick, Donal O’Sullivan of Kerry, Chris Óg Jones from Cork, Dermot Ryan of Waterford and Maurice Shanley from Cork fortifies the team roster. Finally, we have Killian Spillane of Kerry, Mark Stokes from Tipperary, Alan Sweeney representing Clare, and lastly, Matty Taylor of Cork.