Brendan Devlin our Billiards Secretary for many years has written a little piece about Irish Billiards. SBI hope everyone enjoys it and it brings back many memories of rolling back the years with all the great Irish Champions we have had the pleasure to watch down the years to the present day.
If anyone has details of missing results down the years please email info@sbireland.ie or ring PJ Nolan 086 8634507.
Irish Billiards Roll of Honour
The game of Billiards has been played in Ireland since the nineteenth century, even beyond. The first recorded Championship, in pre-Republic days was held in 1902, the winner is recorded as Maurice Fitzgerald. A notable example of the standard of play at the time was the (in those days, All-Ireland) 1902 Championship held in Strabane, when local player J. Duncan defeated J. Brady in the final, making breaks of 167, 123, 123.
The first Championship after Partition was held in1928 and from then to the start of the more modern era, the game was dominated by no more than about a dozen players, most notably multiple winners Seamus Fenning (7 times Champion), Mick Nolan (5 times), Larry Codd (4 times), Jack Ayres and Tommy O’Brien (3 times each), K. Smith and Jack Bates (twice each). From about 1970 onwards, multiple winners, some are still active in the game today, include Eugene Hughes (8 times Champion), Larry Drennan (6 times), Victor O’Gorman (4 times), Dick Brennan (3 times), Rodney Goggins (3 times) James Moore (4 times), Aidan Murray (5 times) and Wayne Doyle (4 times).
It is notable also that in the early days, most players played competitively in both Billiards and Snooker and a check through the archives will reveal a number of names that have achieved top honours in both games. Only three players however, are in the records as having achieved both Billiards and Snooker Championship titles in the same year. They were Jack Ayres (1931), Seamus Fenning (1935, 1949) and Eugene Hughes (1978).
The National Billiards Championship, in keeping with the World Championships, is now contested in two formats, the Long-up game, now 750-up, and the short format game, being the best of 9 games of 150-up. We have also introduced an Intermediate Level Championships in both long and short format.
Today, there is a small core of players competing in the Senior Billiards series and a further 20 or so contesting the Intermediate. Efforts have been made from time to time to introduce a Junior Billiards section, but with limited success.
Of late, the games of Billiards and Snooker have tended to drift away from each other, with the top proponents concentrating their efforts on their chosen game. This is understandable, given the very full calendar of events, particularly in the more popular game of Snooker. This is something of a pity. Bearing in mind the skill levels achieved by our top Snooker players, there is no doubt that with their cue skills, they would quite certainly excel at the three-ball game.
REP OF IRELAND NATIONAL BILLIARDS LONG UP CHAMPIONS
Winner R/Up
1928 No Results
1929 No Results
1930 No Results
1931 Jack Ayres
1932 No Results
1933 Jack Ayres Seamus Fenning
1934 Seamus Fenning
1935 Seamus Fenning
1936 Seamus Fenning
1937 Tommy O Brien
1938 No Results
1939 No Results
1940 No Results
1941 No Results
1942 No Results
1943 No Results
1944 No Results
1945 No Results
1946 Jack Bates
1947 Jack Bates
1948 W. Brown
1949 Seamus Fenning
1950 No Results
1951 No Results
1952 Mick Nolan T. McCucker
1953 D. Turley Mick Nolan
1954 Mick Nolan D. Barry
1956 Mick Nolan Seamus Fenning
1957 Mick Nolan E. Morrissey
1958 W. Dennison K. Smith
1959 No Results
1960 No Results
1961 K. Smyth J. Hanlon
1962 K. Smyth F. Murphy
1963 Jack Bates P. Fenleon
1964 Jack Bates Larry Codd
1965 Larry Codd J. Shortt
1966 Larry Codd G. Connell
1967 Paddy Morgan Larry Codd
1968 Paddy Morgan Tommy Doyle
1969 Jack Rogers Larry Codd
1970 Larry Drennan Tommy Doyle
1971 Larry Codd P. Fenleon
1972 Larry Codd
1973 Tommy Martin
1974 Tommy Doyle A. Roche
1975 P. Fenelon Tommy Martin
1976 Jack Rogers P. Fenelon
1977 Eugene Hughes Tommy Martin
1978 Eugene Hughes Dick Brennan
1979 No Results
1980 Paschal Burke
1981 Paschal Burke
1982 Larry Drennan
1983 No Championship Held ?
1984 Aidan Murray Larry Codd
1985 Alex Roche
1986 Larry Drennan
1987 Tommy Martin
1988 Toss Reilly
1989 Victor O’Gorman
1990 Aidan Murray Joe Delaney
1991 Larry Drennan Tommy Martin
1992 Victor O’Gorman Toss Reilly
1993 Dick Brennan
1994 Dick Brennan
1995 Aidan Murray Timmy Murphy
1996 Victor O’Gorman Aidan Murray
1997 Victor O’Gorman
1998 Phil Martin
1999 Phil Martin
2000 Dick Brennan Victor O Gorman
2001 Eugene Hughes Phil Martin
2002 Eugene Hughes Phil Martin
2003 James Moore Eugene Hughes
2004 James Moore Eugene Hughes
2005 Eugene Hughes James Moore
2006 James Moore Eugene Hughes
2007 James Moore Larry Drennan
2008 Eugene Hughes Philip Martin
2009 Eugene Hughes Aidan Murray
2010 Aidan Murray Philip Martin
2011 Larry Drennan Eugene Hughes
2012 Rodney Goggins Aidan Murray
2013 Rodney Goggins Wayne Doyle
2014 Rodney Goggins Wayne Doyle
2015 Wayne Doyle Aidan Murray
2016 Wayne Doyle Aidan Murray
2017 Wayne Doyle Larry Drennan
2018 Wayne Doyle Aidan Murray
2019 Aidan Murray Wayne Doyle
2020 No Championship Held (Covid-19)
2021 Aidan Murray Larry Drennan
2022 Aidan Murray Wayne Doyle
When you look through the roll of honour you will see many members who have unfortunately passed away throughout the years, but they will remain in our hearts, and will always be part of our journey. SBI would like to pass on their condolences to their friends and families.
If anyone has details of missing results down the years please email info@sbireland.ie or ring PJ Nolan 086 8634507.
