Congratulations to Niamh MacNulty and her team for retaining the Women’s Premier League title. In the end it took victory over Phoenix on Sunday by the narrowest of margins, 2 runs under D/L to get over the line [Scorecard]. This means that for a second year Merrion has won all three trophies, the Senior League, the Senior Cup and the All-Ireland T20.
Last season Merrion won the league title by a single point over Pembroke. The final record then out of 16 games played was eleven wins and 291 points, with two No Results and three losses. This year, with a round to play, they have had a smoother ride to the title. With 15 games played they have won 13, lost two and have comfortable passed the 300 points mark [308].
The second coming of the Women’s Section over the last three years has been a major achievement. In 2024 Merrion won no women’s titles, finished third in the Premier League, the 2nd XI were in the lower half of Division II and the 3rd XI mid table in Division 4. In 2025 the 2nd and 3rd XIs won their respective leagues and the club now has teams in the top three leagues. Last year also saw the first part of a clean sweep of trophies by the 1st XI.
Looking at the overall picture in the six years since Covid, Merrion’s women’s have been dominant in senior competitions, winning more trophies than all the other clubs combined.
| Senior Women’s Competitions 2021 – 2026 | |||||
| League | Cup | P40 | IC T20 | Total | |
| Merrion | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 13 |
| Clontarf | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Pembroke | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
| Leinster | 1 | 1 | |||
| Phoenix | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
Going back to 2000 Merrion has been the most successful club, taking over a third of the available titles.
| Senior Womens Competitions 2000 – 2026 | |||||
| L | C | P40 | IC | Total | |
| Clontarf | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
| Leinster | 5 | 2 | 1 | 8 | |
| Malahide | 4 | 5 | 6 | 15 | |
| Merrion | 8 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 28 |
| Pembroke | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| Rush | 1 | 1 | |||
| YMCA | 6 | 6 | 0 | 12 | |
| Phoenix | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Total Years | 27 | 26 | 18 | 6 | 77 |
Given Clontarf’s early dominance of women’s competitions since their relaunch in 1977, there is still a way to go to catch up. Over this period, from 1977 to the present day, Clontarf have won 45 senior titles to Merrion’s 32. Of the current clubs the next best is Malahide with 16.
Player averages to follow after the final round of matches has been completed next Saturday. The last game is Pembroke v Merrion in Sydney Parade.
Note : Photo from 2025