Damien McArdle still flying high with Erne Eagles

By John Harrington

He might blush at the comparison, but Erne Eagles legend Damien McArdle is the Henry Shefflin of GAA Rounders.

With 15 Senior Men’s All-Ireland titles, three Senior Mixed All-Ireland titles, and nine All-Star awards, the Mullahoran man is out on his own in terms of honours won.

That haul would likely be a lot more impressive still had he not taken an eight-year break from the game and won his first four All-Ireland titles before the All-Stars scheme for Rounders was introduced.

He remains one of the best catchers in the game and will be a key figure for Erne Eagles when they play Carrickmacross Emmets in Sunday’s Senior Men’s GAA Rounders All-Ireland Final.

Part of the great generation Erne Eagles players that won 10 All-Irelands in a row from 1998 to 2007, McArdle and many of his team-mates retired after winning their 11^th in 2009.

That looked like the final chapter in their rounders story, but then tragedy inspired McArdle and others to don the club jersey again.

“One of the girls in the club, Dympna Reilly, she kept at us every year to come back and play, come back and play, but we wouldn't,” says McArdle.

“And then she suddenly passed away in 2017. She was only a young woman. We were all at the funeral and we said we had to go back for Dympna so we did in 2018.

“The Heath were after winning three in a row at that stage and we ended up meeting them in the final that year and beating them.

“2018 meant more than any of the others because obviously you were doing it for Dympna and you'd also have question marks over yourself because you hadn't played in so long and you'd wonder could you still do it.

“The Senior Mixed Cup was named in honour of Dympna in 2018 and we also won it that year which was very special as well, it really meant a lot to everyone in the community.”

McArdle won three more All-Ireland titles in 2019, 2021, and 2022 before stepping away from the game again. His retirement didn’t last long.

After Erne Eagles failed to complete a three-in-a-row in 2023 his team-mates persuaded him to give it another go and he was a key cog in the team that won back the All-Ireland title in 2024.

His passion for the game still endures now 28 years after he won his first All-Ireland senior title.

“I think what I love most about rounders is the fact that it's accessible to all,” he says.

“You don't have to be in peak physical condition to play it. If you can run 50 metres then really you can get through a game okay.

“Rounders doesn't require the same level of training and time that you need for football.

"I finished playing football a few years back but I can continue playing rounders. Maybe the reactions aren't the same, but as long as you're mobile and you can run a bit, you can play rounders.

“I also enjoy the aspect that it's all on you. When you're going to catch a ball or you're batting, every time you step up the best way I can describe it is that it's like you're taking a penalty and it's all on you.

“There's lots of different circumstances that come into it in other team sports like the fact that there's a guy marking you, whereas in rounders it's all on you whether you can hit or catch the ball or not and I definitely like that aspect of it.

“I've loved to see how the game has grown in the last couple of years. When we would have started there were only seven or eight clubs dotted throughout the country whereas I think it's around 60 now.

“It was only the one senior grade for years whereas now we have three with Intermediate and Junior as well and that's brought in a lot of new clubs. It just shows the growth of the game which is great.”

There are probably a lot of hurlers on the ditch out there who think rounders would be easy for them because they can hit a ball, catch it, and run well too.

All of those abilities certainly help in rounders, but it’s the teams with the most game-intelligence rather than physical ability that consistently win All-Ireland titles.

Knowing when to run is more important than how fast you can run and knowing where best to hit the ball in certain situations is much more crucial than simply being able to launch it long.

“Yeah, there's a lot more to it than being able to hit the ball,” says McArdle. “We see especially with the teams from the traditional hurling counties that they can all hit the ball, but where you hit the ball rather than how well you hit it is the most important thing.

“A lot of softball players are now getting into it, especially in the cities like Dublin or Galway. A lot of them could be Americans who have played softball who are coming into the rounders and they can really hit the ball too, but it's all about where you hit it.”

That’s a fact their opponents in Sunday’s All-Ireland Final, Carrickmacross Emmets, know well themselves.

The reason they’re the only team to really challenge Erne Eagles since McArdle returned to the game in 2018 is because they play rounders with a similar level of game-intelligence as they showed when pipping the Cavan club by a single run in last year’s Final.

Sunday’s rematch is likely to be another really tight affair between the two best teams in the country.

“Certainly,” says McArdle. “Look, we know that Carrickmacross are a class team. They've been going neck and neck with us since I came back in 2018 basically.

“We're the only two winners of it since so we've gotten to know them really well. They're really good lads and it is a great rivalry with them.

“They know where we hit it and we know where they hit it. It's basically who's going to perform the best on the day. If it was any other team you could say that nerves or a lack of experience might affect them, but you can't say that about Carrick.

“We certainly won't be taking anything for granted. If we don't peform then Carrick will beat us. They just have too many good players, they know how to win, and they don't fear us either.

“It should make for a great final.”

Sunday, September 6

GAA Rounders Senior Men’s Final

Carrickmacross Emmets (Monaghan) vs Erne Eagles (Cavan), Offaly GAA Centre of Excellence, Kilcormac, 3.30pm