Munster revel in Wheelchair Hurling & Camogie five-in-a-row
Munster players and staff celebrate with the cup after their victory in the M. Donnelly GAA Wheelchair Hurling & Camogie All-Ireland Finals 2025 final match between Munster and Leinster at SETU Carlow Campus Sports Hall in Carlow. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile.
By John Harrington
Munster completed a five-in-row of M Donnelly Wheelchair Hurling & Camogie All-Ireland titles on Saturday at SETU Carlow in some style.
Victories over Ulster in Round 1 (4-0 to 2-0), Leinster in Round 2 (4-0 to 0-0), and Connacht in Round 3 (3-1 to 2-0) were followed by a victory in the final itself over Leinster (5-1 to 2-1).
Team captain, Maurice Noonan, was Munster’s hero in the Final, scoring four goals.
Like many of his team-mates he’s been part of each and every winning Munster team of the past five years.
“We're thrilled,” Noonan told GAA.ie “Five All-Irelands in a row now, so that's a good shift put in by everyone. Nearly all of the team have been there for at least the last five years and there's been great commitment over the years from everyone.
“We train every Thursday night for two hours from seven to nine for nine or ten months of the year in the Millennium Centre in Caherconlish so a lot of work has gone into it over the years to get to where we are today.
“People think that wheelchair hurling is a tippy-tappy sport but when you're playing the game it's full of passion and determination, the same as the able-bodied game. Everyone is fighting for a jersey and everyone is fighting to win the ball.
“All the players have put in a great shift and so have our coaches David (Fitzgerald) and John (Carey) who've been with the team for all of the All-Irelands as well. The two boys are great, in fairness to them.”
Maurice Noonan of Munster celebrates after scoring their side's first goal during the M. Donnelly GAA Wheelchair Hurling & Camogie All-Ireland Finals 2025 final match between Munster and Leinster at SETU Carlow Campus Sports Hall in Carlow. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile.
Noonan been in a wheelchair all his life due to Spina Bifida, and first took up the wheelchair hurling in 2010 at the age of 10.
The Granagh-Ballingarry club-man comes from a hurling family, and took to the sport like a duck to water.
In recent years he believes the standard of the inter-provincial game has risen significantly.
“It definitely has,” said Noonan. “Teams are getting better and the game is getting faster and the skill level has increased. It's fantastic.
“It was great that the matches at the weekend were live-streamed on Clubber TV. That was a huge positive for the sport, that people at home in their own living room could tune in and watch the games.
“A lot of people previously wouldn't have even realised that the game even exists. It's great to have gotten that sort of exposure and we'd be hoping that will promote it further and help to really grow the game. My long-term goal would be to see not just provincial teams, but maybe three or four clubs in each province.
“So you'd have clubs playing the game, not just provincial teams. There's plenty of people out there of all different ages we could be getting involved in the game. It would be fantastic if that could happen in the future.”
