Hughes wins Paddy Murray Memorial

The Paddy Murray Memorial handicap billiards tournament took place at Edenderry Snooker Club on Sunday, 2nd of November 2025.  After a day’s play, which saw many interesting and closely contested games, the trophy went to Eugene Hughes (Carlow), a fitting reward for the consistently high standard of play he showed throughout the day.

Play started at 11.00am, all rounds being 1 hour, handicapped.  Eliminations in the opening preliminary round  were John Downey (Dungarvan), Jason Dowling who had travelled from Rathkeale and local players Liam Byrne, Sean Dunne, Michael Tyrell, Willy Murrin, Stephen Dunne and Paul McLoughlin.

The semi finalists in the top half of the draw were Kilkenny veteran Larry Drennan and eventual winner Eugene Hughes, Larry having taken a very close quarter final win over relative newcomer Richard Butler (Kilkenny), while Eugene took a comfortable win in his quarter final against last year’s winner Joe Doheny (Borris-in-Ossory).  In the semi final Eugene quickly went about tackling the handicap start he was giving Larry, taking command of the match from the start, consolidated with a beautifully played break of 72 to claim his place in the final.

The semi finalists in the bottom half of the draw were Aonghus McAnally (Portmarnock) and double National Champion Wayne Doyle (Dun Laoghaire), Aonghus taking a closely contested quarter final against local player James Kelly, overtaking James by a mere 7 points when time was called.  In an even closer finish, Wayne took his quarter final win against younger brother Ciaran (also Dun Laoghaire), a mere 5 points separating the two at the finish.  In the semi final, Wayne showed his class scoring two useful and decisive breaks each of 79 points.

The Final was an entertaining high quality game between current National Double Champion Wayne and past champion Eugene who incidentally is one of only a very few players in the history of the game in Ireland to have held both the Billiards and the Snooker Championships in the same season.  In the game, Wayne was first to show, scoring the more freely of the two, amassing a break of 53 in the process.  As though sensing the threat, Eugene responded, matching Wayne score for score until, at about half way through the game, thanks to a magnificent break of 82, Eugene established a significant lead which he held for the rest of the final to claim the 2025 Paddy Murray Memorial Title.  Commiserations must go to Wayne who gave a great performance throughout the day, overcoming the significant handicap start he was giving his opponents to get to the final.

Our congratulations must go to the Edenderry Club for the excellent playing conditions and to the tournament sponsors Croi Laighean Credit Union for their support and for the beautifully crafted event trophy. It stands as testament to the high regard they held for Paddy Murray and we look forward to continue contesting it on an annual basis.

The committee of Edenderry snooker club would like to thank Brendan Devlin for his help in performing the draw, sorting handicaps, which is always a difficult job and taking on the job of TD for the day.

It was a great pleasure to have Paddy’s brother Hugh and niece Claire at the event to present the trophy on behalf of the Murray family in memory of the late Paddy.

Results:

Preliminary and Pre-Quarters (one hour)

• Liam Byrne  255  –  262  Richard Butler
• Larry Drennan  349  –  284  Sean Dunne
• Michael Tyrrell  277  –  296  Joe Doheny (Brk: 52)
• Eugene Hughes (Brk: 99)  296  –  277  Willy Murrin
• Stephen Dunne  284  –  297  Aonghus McAnally
• John Downey  269  –  305  James Kelly
• Wayne Doyle (Brk: 51, 52)  354  –  273  Jason Dowling
• Paul McLoughlin  261  –  348  Ciaran Doyle

Quarters (one hour)

• Richard Butler  238  –  244  Larry Drennan
• Joe Doheny  189  –  314  Eugene Hughes (Brk: 51)
• Aonghus McAnally (Brk: 51)  332  –  325  James Kelly
• Wayne Doyle (Brk: 68)  376  –  371  Ciaran Doyle

Semi-Finals (one hour)

• Larry Drennan  172  –  285  Eugene Hughes (Brk: 72)
• Aonghus McAnally  305  –  402  Wayne Doyle Brk: (79, 79)

Final (one hour)

• Eugene Hughes (Brk: 82)  325  –  234  Wayne Doyle (Brk: 53)