Rosscarbery Rowing Club may be based in one small corner of West Cork, but during 2026 its purple colours seemed to turn up just about everywhere.
The club's rowers have raced on rowing machines, in traditional coastal boats, and in offshore singles, doubles and quads. They have competed in beach sprints and endurance events, raced for county, South West and national honours and, by September, represented Ireland on the international stage.
It has been a season notable not only for the medal count, but for the depth behind it. From under-12 crews beginning to make their mark to established adult competitors, coaches, coxes and volunteers, Rosscarbery's results have come from right across the club.
And it all started indoors.
Winter work pays off
The competitive season opened at the Irish Indoor Rowing Championships at the University of Limerick in January, where Rosscarbery came home with seven medals: one gold, four silver and two bronze. Gabrielle O'Donoghue led the way with gold in the junior women's 500 m and silver over 2,000 m, while more podium finishes across the club were an early sign that the winter training was paying off.
By March, the action had moved onto the water. Rosscarbery recorded three wins at the Muckross Head of the River, in the junior 18 women's single and the junior 16 women's and men's quads, before travelling to Courtmacsherry for the Swift Racing Coastal Senior Championships. There, Gabrielle O'Donoghue took bronze in the women's open single before joining Wicklow's Katie Dunne to take another bronze in the women's open double. Jack Hehir also represented Rosscarbery in the men's open single.
It was an early sign of something that would become a feature of the season: Rosscarbery was no longer restricting itself to one discipline. Traditional fixed-seat coastal rowing remains the heart and soul of the club, but offshore sculling, endurance racing and beach sprints were becoming an increasingly important part of the programme.
The traditional season got under way in April at Kilmacsimon, where Rosscarbery finished joint Club of the Day. Wins came in the under-12 beginners mixed, under-14 mixed and under-18 mixed races, backed up by a series of second places. The strength emerging through the younger crews was already clear.
Bringing rowing to the next generation
One of the most significant events of the year came away from championship racing. On 1 May, the Lagoon in Rosscarbery welcomed around 200 children from more than 30 national schools for the Southern Star South West Rowing Schools Regatta. Sixty-one crews took part, with ten children's races followed by an adult race for teachers, SNAs and a Southern Star crew.
For many of the children, the lead-up to the day was their first time in a rowing boat. Hundreds of spectators gathered around the Lagoon and, for a club whose success in 2026 would become so closely tied to its underage programme, there was something particularly fitting about giving another generation its introduction to the sport.
Rosscarbery then swapped organising a schools event for running a championship regatta. The opening round of the Celtic Ross Hotel South West Rowing Championship was hosted by Rosscarbery in Glandore. Running a championship regatta while also trying to compete in it is never straightforward, but Rosscarbery still delivered on the water: victory in the under-16 race, second places in under-12 and under-18, and six more third places across under-12 women, under-14 women, under-16 women, under-18 women, senior mixed and novice men.
Meanwhile, other Rosscarbery crews were widening the club's racing programme. The club was represented at Castleconnell, and at the end of May a Rosscarbery quad took on Ocean to City, rowing the 14 km course in 1 hour, 22 minutes and 30 seconds. If the first few months of 2026 had shown anything, it was that Rosscarbery rowers were willing to race almost anything that floated.
Beach sprint breakthrough
June brought a completely different challenge. The first Rowing Ireland Beach Sprint League event was held at Courtmacsherry on 13 June, and Rosscarbery enjoyed an outstanding day:
- Dáithí O'Driscoll won the men's J14 single
- Niamh Hehir won both the women's J14 and J16 singles
- Gabrielle O'Donoghue won the women's J18 single
- Nicolas O'Donoghue and Meadhbh Ní Dhonnabháin won the mixed J16 double
- Luke Crowley was second in the men's J16 single
Five victories from one beach sprint meeting was a considerable return for the club. They were excellent results in their own right, and by September their significance would become even clearer.
Building a championship challenge
Just a week later, it was back into the traditional coastal boats at Union Hall for the second South West Championship round, hosted by Myross. Rosscarbery won the under-16 women, under-14 and under-16 races and added another collection of podium finishes. Everyone there agreed it was an outstanding day's racing, and by then the club was building a serious challenge for overall South West honours.
That challenge gathered momentum at Baltimore, where Rosscarbery produced one of its best championship performances of the season and was named Club of the Day. What stood out was the spread of the results: this was not one successful crew carrying the club, but Rosscarbery scoring heavily across several underage categories.
The championship then moved to Castletownshend, where the form continued. Rosscarbery won the under-16 girls, under-16 boys, under-18 girls and under-18 boys races and added another eight podium finishes across under-12, under-14, novice and senior mixed racing. It would not be Rosscarbery's last visit to Castletownshend that summer.
From Duneen beach to county medals
On 18 July the focus switched again, as Ring Rowing Club hosted the second Beach Sprint League event at Duneen. Niamh Hehir won the women's J16 single, while Eloise Fitzpatrick and Sean McMahon won the mixed J16 double. Gabrielle O'Donoghue stepped up to the open women's single and finished second, and Luke Crowley took bronze in the men's J16 single.
Less than 24 hours later, it was back to traditional coastal racing. The Cork County Finals were held at Castletownshend on 19 July, and Rosscarbery came home with six county medals. The under-16 boys were crowned Cork county champions, the under-12 boys and under-18 women took silver, and bronze went to the under-12 women, under-14 boys and novice women. Most of those crews had been racing at Duneen the day before, which summed up the pace of the summer rather well: beach sprints one day, county finals the next.
Endurance success in Castletownbere
There was no easing off in August. The Castletownbere Endurance Regatta on 2 August produced eight medals: gold in the open mixed double; silver in the J16 mixed double, the J14 men's quad and two masters 40 women's doubles; and bronze in the J14 men's double, J21 women's double and J16 women's quad.
Attention then turned back to the South West Championship and its final round in Schull, where fourteen Rosscarbery crews reached the podium. Wins came from the under-12 girls B, under-12 boys, under-14 boys and under-14 boys B crews, backed up by five second places and five third places.
When the final points were counted, Rosscarbery had won five South West Championship titles: under-16 women, under-18 women, under-14, under-16 and under-18. The under-12 crew finished second overall, and the under-12 women, under-14 women, novice men and novice women all finished third in their championships.
Thirteen medals on the national stage
The Irish Coastal Rowing Championships were held at the National Rowing Centre in Farran on 15 and 16 August. Rosscarbery arrived in force, with 28 crews entered under the club name and two more composite crews including Rosscarbery rowers.
The return was outstanding: three gold, four silver and six bronze, 13 national championship medals in all. National titles went to the under-12 men and under-16 men, while a Castletownbere and Rosscarbery composite crew won the senior ladies title. Silver medals followed in the intermediate women, under-12 mixed, under-16 mixed and open classic races, and the under-18 men, under-18 women, pre-veteran women, junior mixed, under-16 women and under-14 crews completed the haul with six bronze medals.
And, because a national championship weekend apparently wasn't enough to keep everyone busy, it fell during Rosscarbery Family Festival week, with club members also helping at Give Rowing a Try, the sandcastle competition and Beat on the Street. There is busy, and then there is Rosscarbery Rowing Club in August.
More miles, more medals
The offshore crews were soon back on the road. At the Tullaghan Bay Endurance Regatta in Mayo on 29 August, Niamh Hehir and Nicolas O'Donoghue won the J16 double, with Nicolas also taking silver in the J16 single.
September brought another seven podium results at Kenmare. A Castletownbere and Rosscarbery composite won the women's J14 double, Rosscarbery added silver in the women's J16 double and the mixed double, and bronze medals followed in the men's J14 quad, men's J16 quad, women's J16 quad and men's J16 double.
That versatility was on show again at the Swift Racing Irish Junior Coastal Championships in Bantry on 13 September. Luke, Nicolas, Sean and Cillian took silver in the men's J16 quad, and Niamh Hehir won bronze in the women's J16 single before joining Nicolas to take silver in the mixed J16 double.
From West Cork to an Irish jersey
Then came one of the proudest moments of the season. On 19 September, five Rosscarbery club members were part of Team Ireland at the Home International Beach Sprints at Nairn Beach in Scotland.
Jack Hehir represented Ireland in the under-23 mixed double with Tara Payne of Fermoy, and the pair raced to a down-to-the-wire silver medal. Gabrielle O'Donoghue finished fourth in the junior women's single after worsening conditions forced the cancellation of the later junior racing, with the time-trial standings deciding the final places. Behind the athletes, Martin Hehir travelled as team manager and boat handler, Jeff O'Donoghue as coach and boat handler, and Niamh Hehir as a Team Ireland boat handler.
There was a clear line running through the season: Courtmacsherry in June, Duneen in July, Nairn in September. Within a few months, beach sprints had gone from another strand of the club's programme to Irish international representation.
The season gets its reward
By October, racing had finally begun to slow, and the South West rowing awards night at the Celtic Ross Hotel was a chance to take stock. Rosscarbery travelled knowing its five championship titles had put the club firmly in contention for the Teddy Burns Underage Club of the Year Cup, and that trophy duly came home.
Then came the biggest surprise of the night: Rosscarbery Rowing Club was named Celtic Ross Club of the Year. Club of the Year and Underage Club of the Year: two awards that neatly summed up the story of 2026.
The results on the water made the headlines, but they only tell part of the story. All season, coaches gave countless evenings and weekends to training, parents travelled from harbour to harbour and beach to beach, boats were transported, crews organised and events run. Coxes, selectors, committee members and volunteers did the jobs that rarely make a results sheet. That work sits behind every medal and every championship title.
And there has been little time spent admiring the trophy cabinet. Indoor training has already restarted at the Hall in Reenascreena, with preparations under way for the indoor season and, beyond that, our 40th anniversary year in 2027.
Five South West Championship titles. A Cork county title. National champions. Thirteen medals at the Irish Coastal Championships. Beach sprint victories. Endurance success. International representation. Underage Club of the Year. Club of the Year.
But perhaps the biggest achievement has been the breadth of it all. From children getting their first taste of rowing on the Lagoon in May to national champions and Irish representatives later in the year, Rosscarbery Rowing Club has shown a depth that should serve it well long after the 2026 medals have been put away.
A lot of racing. A lot of miles. A lot of work. And an awful lot of purple on podiums.
Some season, and it isn't quite finished yet.
