Irish Amateur Championship (snooker)

Irish Amateur Championship

Tournament information
Venue	Ivy Room
Location	Carlow
Country	Ireland
Established	1927; 98 years ago (1927)
Organisation(s)	Snooker & Billiards Ireland (formerly RIBSA)
Format	Amateur event
Recent edition	2024
Current champion	Brendan O'Donoghue

The Irish Amateur Championship (occasionally known as the Irish National Championship) is an annual snooker competition played in Ireland and is the highest ranking amateur event in Ireland.

History

The competition was first established back in 1927 which was won by T.H. Fayrey. The title is currently held by Brendan O'Donoghue, who has won the competition a record seven times in the modern era.[1]

Many former champions have gone on to play on the world tour such as Colm Gilcreest, David Morris, Vincent Muldoon, Brendan O'Donoghue, Rodney Goggins and, most notably, twice winner Ken Doherty. He went on to become the only former Irish champion to win the World Snooker Championship in 1997, when he ended Stephen Hendry's run of five consecutive wins.

Winners

[2][3]

Year	Winner	Runner-up	Final score
Amateur event
1931	J. Ayres[4]
1932: Not contested[4]
1933	Seumas Fenning[4]
1934: Not contested[4]
1935	Seumas Fenning[4]
1936: Not contested[4]
1937	P. J. O'Connor[4]
1938–1939: Not contested[4]
1940	Pete Merrigan[4]
1941: Not contested[4]
1942	P. J. O'Connor[4]
1943: Not contested[4]
1944	Seumas Fenning[4]
1945–1946: Not contested[4]
1947	Charlie Downey[4]
1948	Pete Merrigan[4]
1949	Seumas Fenning[4]
1950–1951: Not contested[4]
1952	W. Brown[4]
1953	S. Brooks[4]
1954	Seumas Fenning[4]
1955	Seumas Fenning[4]
1956	W. Brown[4]
1957	J. Connolly[4]
1958	G. Gibson[4]
1959–1960: Not contested[4]
1961	W. Brown[4]
1962	J. Weber[4]
1963	J. Rogers[4]
1964	J. Rogers[4]
1965	W. Fields[4]
1966	G. Hanway[4]
1967	Paddy Morgan[4]	Billy Kelly
1968	G. Hanway[4]
1969	D. Dally[4]
1970	Dessie Sheehan[4]
1971	Dessie Sheehan[4]
1972	J. Rogers[4]
1973	F. Murphy[4]
1974	P. Burke[4]
1975	F. Nathan[4]
1976	P. Burke[4]
1977	J. Clusker[4]
1978	Eugene Hughes[4]
1979	Eugene Hughes[4]
1980	Dessie Sheehan[4]
1981	A. Kearney[4]
1982	Paddy Browne[4]
1983	J. Long[4]
1984	Paul Ennis[4]
1985	Gay Burns	Ken Doherty	11–6
1986	Gay Burns	Damien McKiernan	8–3
1987	Ken Doherty	Richard Nolan	8–7
1988	John Buckley	Stephen Murphy	8–7
1989	Ken Doherty	Anthony O'Connor	8–5
1990	Stephen O'Connor	Richie McHugh	8–7
1991	Jason Watson	Joe Canny	8–5
1992	Jason Watson	Douglas Hogan	8–3
1993	Colm Gilcreest	Jason Watson	8–7
1994	Mick Kane	Tom Gleeson	8–4
1995	Tom Gleeson	Paul Ennis	8–5
1996	Joe Canny	Shay Clinton	8–1
1997	TJ Dowling	Garry Hardiman	8–6
1998	TJ Dowling	Douglas Hogan	8–3
1999	Joe Canny	Stanley Murphy	8–3
2000	Rodney Goggins	Garry Hardiman	8–7
2001[5]	Martin McCrudden	Brendan O'Donoghue	8–5
2002	Jason Watson	Tom Gleeson	8–2
2003	Brendan O'Donoghue	Martin McCrudden	8–5
2004	David Morris	Rodney Goggins	8–4
2005	David Morris	Brendan O'Donoghue	8–2
2006	David Morris	Brendan O'Donoghue	8–2
2007	Vincent Muldoon	John Torpey	8–2
2008	Vincent Muldoon	Garry Hardiman	8–4
2009	Martin McCrudden	David Hogan	8–6
2010	Martin McCrudden	Vincent Muldoon	8–6
2011[6]	Jason Devaney	David Hogan	8–6
2012[7]	Vincent Muldoon	Martin McCrudden	10–5
2013[8]	Michael Judge	Robert Redmond	8–5
2014[9]	Martin McCrudden	Michael Judge	7–3
2015[10]	Brendan O'Donoghue	Robert Murphy	7–2
2016[11]	TJ Dowling	Jonathan Williams	7–3
2017[12]	Brendan O'Donoghue	Rodney Goggins	6–3
2018	Michael Judge	Rodney Goggins	6–5
2019	David Morris	Josh Boileau	7–3
2020	Tournament Not Held
2021	Brendan O'Donoghue	David Morris	6–5
2022	Brendan O'Donoghue	Ryan Cronin	7–4
2023	Brendan O'Donoghue	Ross Bulman	7–5
2024	Brendan O'Donoghue	Ross Bulman	7–5

References

1. "WPBSA International Round-Up May 2024". WPBSA. 24 May 2024. Archived from the original on 26 May 2024. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
2. "Irish Amateur Championship History". ribsa.ie. Republic Of Ireland Billiards & Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
3. "Rep. of Irl. Snooker C/Ship" (PDF). Cork Billiards & Snooker. May 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2014.^[permanent dead link‍]
4. Hale, Janice (1987). Rothmans Snooker Yearbook 1987-88. Aylesbury: Queen Anne Press. p. 313. ISBN 0356146901.
5. "McCrudden takes snooker championship title". RTÉ. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2007.
6. "Devaney creates Irish snooker history". RTÉ. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
7. "Muldoon Wraps up Season with Irish Championship". snookerhq.com. Archived from the original on 5 June 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
8. "Irish Scene: Judge Wins National Championship". snookerhq.com. Archived from the original on 18 June 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
9. "McCrudden Lands Fourth National Title". snookerhq.com. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
10. "O'Donoghue Wins Senior Championships". ribsa.ie. Archived from the original on 25 May 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
11. "TJ Dowling claims National Snooker Championship". RTÉ. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
12. "Brendan O'Donoghue claims National Snooker Championship". RTÉ. Retrieved 7 May 2017.