2019 marks the introduction of the Racquetball Ireland Hall of Fame and the first Hall of Fame inductees. The introduction of the Racquetball Ireland Hall of Fame intends to preserve the history of Irish racquetball and celebrate its champions both on and off the court.

The Hall of Fame aims to recognize and honor athletes and contributors of the sport who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in competition, or in the development, leadership, and advancement of the sport. The award is based upon years of consistent excellence within the categories of Athlete and/or Contributor to the sport of racquetball in Ireland.

The selection & eligibility criteria can be found here.
If you wish to nominate a candidate for either of our Hall of Fame categories or both, please complete this short form.

2024

2023

2020

2019

2024 Inductees

 

​Oliver Gibney
Contributor 
(Moylagh)

​Oliver Gibney was no stranger in Irish Racquetball during the 1990s and 2000 era. He served on the Executive Committee of the Racquetball Association of Ireland for a number of yearsand was deeply involved with Irish international teams both junior and adult.

He was assistant manager of the Irish teams who competed at the 1998 World Championships in Bolivia,2000 Championships in Mexico and the 2002 Championships in Puerto Rico. He was also assistant coach to the Irish junior team to World Junior Championships in Los Angeles in 1999.

Oliver also was a great sponsor to Irish Racquetball through his company Gibney Steel Products. For many years he was associated the Northeast Racquetball League involving clubs in that region. As well as his involvement with Irish National teams both adult and junior, Oliver also helped to run Moylagh Racquetball Club and a successful Moylagh Open for many years, often accommodating travelling athletes in his home for the weekend.

As well as an administrator, Oliver played our sport and frequently teamed up with his great friend, the late Paddy Traynor to play doubles.

The Racquetball Association of Ireland welcomes Oliver to the Association’s Hall of Fame.​
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  Michael Murphy
Contributor & Athlete
(Arklow)

Michael Murphy served the Association both as an administrator and as an athlete. Michael served as President of the Association from 1993 to 1997. Before that he served as Tournament Secretary and was manager of the Irish National Team at 4 world championships, 1996 in Phoenix, USA, 1998 in
Cocobamba, Bolivia, 2000 in San Luis Potosi Mexico and 2002 in San Jaun, Puerto Rico. He was also the team manager for the European Championships in Castlebar in 2001.

As an athlete, Michael represented Ireland at 3 World Championships, 1986 in Orlando USA, 1990 in Caracas Venezuela and 1992 in Montreal Canada.
Michael also won a host of national titles to include 1 National Singles, 2 National Doubles, 4 Overage National Singles and 8 Overage National Doubles.

As well as winning National titles, Michael competed successfully at Open Tournaments nationwide for many years. At local level, Michael served on the Committee of Arklow Racquetball Club for nine years and held the positions of Secretary.
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For his contribution to Irish racquetball, we welcome Michael to the Racquetball Association of Ireland’s Hall of Fame as a deserving member.

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​Sheila Neary
Contributor 
(Arklow)

​Sheila Neary and the Arklow Open and later the Arklow Irish Open have been synonymous for many years. The Arklow Open has been held 38 times and for many of those tournaments Sheila Neary and her great friend the late Michael Barnes were at the tournament desk.

When Arklow was asked to take over the running of the Irish Open in the late 90s without hesitation Sheila took on the task with great enthusiasm. Such was the success of the Arklow Irish Open, players from the USA, Mexico, South America and Europe frequently competed and returned in the following years to compete.

Sheila held the positions of Chairperson and Secretary of Arklow Racquetball club over her 30 years, on the committee and raised over 50, 000 euros in sponsorship towards the running of the Arklow and Irish Opens.

Sheila also played racquetball on the Irish circuit and won gold in doubles at the 1995 Europeans in Arklow with her lifelong friend Ann-Marie O’Sullivan. Members of Sheila’s family have represented Ireland at International, European and National tournaments and have won several European and National titles.

For her contribution to the Irish Open and Arklow Open, we welcome Sheila in the Association’s Hall of Fame.

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2023 Inductee

 

Gary Lynch
Contributor & Athlete
(Belfast)

 As an athlete, Gary Lynch competed at the highest level in Ireland and represented Ireland at international championships. Internationally he represented Ireland at the 2012 World Championships in the Dominican Republic and played in total of six European Championships.  Gary won the 35+ Mixed Doubles with his wife Carol at the Seniors World Doubles Championships in Kingscourt in 2010.
Equally as an administrator, Gary played a leading role in the Racquetball Association of Ireland. He was President of the association from 2003-2006. His involvement in administration also saw him successfully fulfill the roles of General Secretary and Treasurer of the Association. Gary played a leading role in Ulster racquetball and also with his club Queens University in Belfast.
Gary’s participation as an athlete and as an administrator in Irish racquetball stretched to over 25 years. 

2020 Inductees

 

Mick Barnes
Contributor & Athlete
(Arklow)

Mick Barnes has been associated with our sport for many years and played prominent roles not only in competing as an athlete but also as an administrator.
 
Mick competed in the sport since the Racquetball Association was founded in 1979 and was a prominent player in tournaments across Ireland until a few years ago. In this playing career Mick was 4X All Ireland Intermediate Doubles Champion alongside 4 Overage All Ireland Single Titles in the late 80s and early 90s.  Internationally, Barnes competed at European Championships and the US Open where was successful doubles with partner Ken Foster of the USA.
 
Contributing to the sport at both club Arklow and National level, leading in the Association as President in 1985/86. With his club Arklow, for many years held the realm as Chariman and served as tournament director for the Arklow Open and later the Irish Open in conjunction with the Arklow Open. During his time as Tournament Director with the Irish Open, Mick welcomed many International racquetball athletes to compete to compete in Ireland.

John Comerford
Contributor & Athlete
(Kilkenny)

John Comerford has been associated the sport of racquetball for over 40 years both nationally and in his home city and county of Kilkenny.
 
In his playing career, John competed with distinction in National Championships and Open Tournaments nationwide. He was champion in many grades over a span of 35 years and achieved 20 All Ireland winning medals in both singles and doubles. Most notably 2x Open Doubles champion and 5X 50+ Singles Champion.
He also competed regularly on the international stage; World Seniors Championships in Albuquerque, USA, the Huntsman's Games (USA) and in European Championships.
 
John is a former President of the Association having served in the role in 1984/85. He also served in a number of other positions on the board of the Association and was Tournament Director and the Association's first Anti-Doping officer. At local level, he served as Tournament Director for the Kilkenny Open for many years, which is now the longest running Open Tournament in Ireland.

2019 Inductees

 

JJ Jennings
Contributor
(Dublin)

The Late JJ Jennings was the first president of our Association and he introduced the sport into Ireland in the late seventies. The story goes that JJ on a visit to the USA to play handball, he saw racquetball being played. Taking a huge interest in the sport, JJ gathered up some racquets and balls and brought them home to Ireland where he established the sport for the first time. Without his intervention the sport may have never come to Ireland.

Philip Duignan
Contributor & Athlete
(Dublin)

Philip Duignan served as both General Secretary  and President of the Association and his work on developing the Association in the early years was invaluable. He represented Ireland at the first World Championships in the USA in 1981 and at many European & World Championships after that. He was a founder member of the European Racquetball Federation and as an athlete won 2 Open Singles  All Irelands and won four All Ireland Open Doubles Championships.

Liam McCarney
Contributor
(Belfast)

Liam McCarney served two terms as President of the Racquetball Association of Ireland, the second term lasted for 6 years. In Liam's tenure as President the sport grew enormously with a large number of athletes competing in tournaments across the country. He also developed racquetball in Ulster and played a big part in organising the Ulster Council, in which he was President of from it's formation in 1979 to 1996, a total of 17 years.

Marie Duignan
Athlete
(Dublin)

Winning a massive nine All Ireland Open Singles Championships Marie Duignan also represented Ireland at World Championships and European Championships, winning a silver medal at the first World Championships in the USA in 1981 and the first Irish player to win a European Open Singles title. Marie was a superb athlete of her generation and dominated women's game for many years. She was involved in coaching, setting up the first coaching course for the sport in Ireland.

Christy Slattery
Contributor & Athlete
(Templederry)

Christy Slattery a Hall of Award recipient as an athlete and a junior coach. Christy competed at the highest level in  our sport winning the All Ireland Open Doubles Championship on six occasions. Slattery also represented Ireland internationally at World & European Championships. As National Junior Coach, Christy brought the  first junior team  to represent Ireland to the World Junior Championships. He managed & coached the first team to compete in the Championships in 1999 in the USA and also subsequent World Junior Championships.

Anthony Butler
Athlete
(Arklow)

As an athlete Anthony Butler played at the highest level for many years, winning 2 All Ireland Open Singles Championships and represented Ireland at World & European Championships on 14 occasions. Anthony holds the record for the most capped Irish racquetball athlete competing at 8 World Championships spanning 14 years from 1986 to 2000. As well as competing at the highest level , Anthony was one of the fairest athletes to grace a racquetball court and his sportsmanship was second to none.