Gallery- County Athletics scene gets off to a bright start under the lights

The 2026 Kilkenny county athletics year got off to a great start under the floodlights of St Joseph’s AC, Rosbercon on Saturday night.

The ever-efficient hosting by Joseph’s produced a great event, with races for the juveniles preceding the County Intermediate races. A lovely laid out course with good underfoot conditions due to the frosty weather made for a chilly, but entertaining, evening with refreshments at hand to warm both athletes and spectators.

The under-nine girls got the evening under way with various clubs attending with medals for the top three finishers of each race for the XC Open. The women’s 5,000m got underway just after the last boys’ race with Nuala Fitzgibbon (Kilkenny City Harriers) taking the top spot. Fitzgibbon broke from the group early on and maintained a great lead throughout the 5,000m course. Sinead O’Keeffe (Thomastown) ran in second place just ahead of Caoimhe Barry (St Joseph’s) - there were exceptional performances from both as they completed the podium.

Thomastown were the overall Intermediate Shield winners on the night in first place with Ellen Ryan, Ailish O’Shea and Orla O’Keeffe all scoring for Thomastown with O’Keeffe. With Caoimhe Barry their first runner home St Joseph’s took team silver with Elaine O’Donovan, Maria Griffin and Cora Power all scoring. Kilkenny City Harriers were third with Tara Brett, Jill Kavanagh and Kate Mullen all scoring on the team also.

The last race of the evening, the men’s 8,000m, was highly competitive from the whistle. A leading pack of eight runners broke from the starting 26 athletes and settled well into the race.

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On the second last lap it was clear that Thomastown’s Tadhg Ryan and Gowran’s Martin Desgrandchamps would be the two athletes contesting for first place. Both were neck and neck leading out from the football field into the finishing loop, with Ryan kicking into top gear at the perfect time to pull away. Despite the sprint from Desgrandchamps up the finishing straight, Ryan held on to secure his Intermediate title.

A strong race from Gowran’s Sean Morrissey saw him clinch third place and finish as the second scorer for Gowran, who won the Men’s Intermediate Shield, John Coady and Marty Moseley scoring third and fourth on the team.

Thomastown were the second team with Lonan O’Farrell, Paul Moran and Danny Shanahan scoring for their team alongside Ryan. Host club St Joseph’s picked up the bronze for third team with JP Vereker, Joey Duggan, Conor Hennessy, and Peter Barry putting in solid performances.

Well done to all who travelled on the evening, all who raced and to St Joseph’s for hosting.