The teams for this weekend’s Gaelic football interprovincial series at Croke Park have been confirmed with players from 11 counties, including London and New York, set to feature.
The interprovincial series, which will see four games played across Friday and Saturday, will act as a showcase for rule changes put forward by the Football Review Committee.
Each province has named a 30-man squad for the series, made up of intercounty players from across the respective province, while Connacht and Ulster will also bring a small number of standby players.
The Leinster squad, managed by Dessie Dolan, features eight Dublin players – among them Stephen Cluxton, Brian Howard, Ciarán Kilkenny and James McCarthy – four from Laois, three each from Kildare and Louth, two apiece from Carlow, Westmeath, Offaly, Meath and Wicklow, as well as Longford’s Darren Gallagher and Wexford’s Eoin Porter.
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At the helm for Connacht is Pádraic Joyce, who brings eight of his county squad members with him, including Connor Gleeson, Cillian McDaid and Matthew Tierney.
They’re joined by a 10-strong Roscommon contingent, seven from Mayo – including Breaffy’s Aidan O’Shea – four from London, three from Sligo and Leitrim respectively, and New York’s Shane Brosnan and Joey Grace.
Ulster’s squad is littered with 2024 All-Ireland winners Armagh, Rían O’Neill and Aidan Forker among the Orchard County’s nine players involved. Tyrone’s Niall Morgan will man goal, joined by seven more of his county men, while Antrim, Derry, Down, Fermanagh and Cavan have each donated three players to the cause, with two each from Monaghan and Donegal.
Finally in the Munster squad, Cork lead the way with nine players, followed by Clare and Kerry with five. Waterford and Limerick are represented with four players, while there’s three from Tipperary.
The interprovincial series will begin with Leinster v Connacht at 6pm on Friday before Munster v Ulster at 8pm (both games will be televised live on TG4). On Saturday, Friday’s defeated provinces will meet at 5.30pm (live coverage on the RTÉ news channel), while the winning provinces will compete for the Railway Cup in the final, throw-in at 7.30pm (live coverage on RTÉ2).
Squads
Leinster: Stephen Cluxton (Dublin), Michael Bambrick (Carlow), Mark Barry (Laois), Seán Bugler (Dublin), Ciarán Byrne (Louth), Ray Connellan (Westmeath), Peter Cunningham (Offaly), Ciarán Downey (Louth), Ross Dunphy (Carlow), Kevin Feely (Kildare), Daniel Flynn (Kildare), Darren Gallagher (Longford), Dean Healy (Wicklow), Ryan Houlihan (Kildare), Brian Howard (Dublin), Killian Roche (Laois), Ronan Jones (Meath), Donal Keoghan (Meath), Ciarán Kilkenny (Dublin), Paul Kingston (Laois), Craig Lennon (Louth), James McCarthy (Dublin), Eoin Murchan (Dublin), Evan O’Carroll (Laois), Lee Pearson (Offaly), Eoin Porter (Wexford), Kevin Quinn (Wicklow), John Small (Dublin), Paddy Small (Dublin), Ronan Wallace (Westmeath).
Connacht: Connor Gleeson (Galway), Johnny McGrath (Galway), Brian Stack (Roscommon), Seán Mulkerrin (Galway), Cillian McDaid (Galway), John Daly (Galway), Eoghan McLoughlin (Mayo), Jack Carney (Mayo), John Maher (Galway), Matthew Tierney (Galway), Bob Touhy (Mayo), Enda Smith (Roscommon), Diarmuid Murtagh (Roscommon), Aidan O’Shea (Mayo), Daire Cregg (Roscommon), Conor Carroll (Roscommon), Ruaidhrí Fallon (Roscommon), Mark Diffley (Leitrim), Johnny Heaney (Galway), Shane Brosnan (New York), Ultan Harney (Roscommon), Barry McNulty (Leitrim), Conor Cox (Roscommon), Donie Smith (Roscommon), Ciarán Murtagh (Roscommon), Diarmuid Duffy (Mayo), Fergal Boland (Mayo), Pat Spillane (Sligo), Aidan McLoughlin (London), Liam Gallagher (London).
Standby Players: Paul Towey (Mayo), Keith Byrne (Leitrim), Shay Rafter (London), Eddie McGinness (Sligo), Cian Lally (Sligo), Joey Grace (New York), Daire Rooney (London).
Ulster: Niall Morgan (Tyrone), Diarmuid Baker (Derry), Mark Bradley (Tyrone), Paddy Burns (Armagh), Aidan Clarke (Tyrone), Oisín Conaty (Armagh), Pádraig Faulkner (Cavan), Aidan Forker (Armagh), Niall Grimley (Armagh), Daniel Guinness (Down), Pat Havern (Down), Marc Jordan (Antrim), Conn Kilpatrick (Tyrone), Barry McBennett (Monaghan), Ronan McCaffrey (Fermanagh), Seán McNally (Fermanagh), Darren McCurry (Tyrone), Eoin McElholm (Tyrone), Joe McElroy (Armagh), Eoin McEvoy (Derry), Kieran McGeary (Tyrone), Peter McGrane (Armagh), Ross McQuillan (Armagh), Odhrán Murdock (Down), Daire Ó Baoill (Donegal), Rían O Neill (Armagh), Oisín O Neill (Armagh), Gerry Smith, (Cavan), Ciarán Thompson (Donegal), Niall Toner (Derry).
Standby players: Frank Burns (Tyrone), Mick Byrne, (Antrim), Joe Finnegan (Antrim), Jason Irwin (Monaghan), Jason McLoughlin (Cavan), Fionan O’Brien (Fermanagh).
Munster: Josh Ryan (Limerick), Darragh Brennan (Tipperary), Damien Bourke (Kerry), Darragh Cashman (Cork), Eoin Cleary (Clare), Jimmy Feehan (Tipperary), Aran Griffin (Clare), Emmet McMahon (Clare), Brian McNamara (Clare), Seán Meehan (Cork), Tadhg Morley (Kerry), James Naughton (Limerick), Danny Neville (Limerick), Colm O’Callaghan (Cork), Diarmuid O’Connor (Kerry), Chris Kelly (Cork), Conor O’Currin (Waterford), Seán O’Dea (Limerick), Donal O’Sullivan (Kerry), Chris Óg Jones (Cork), Dermot Ryan (Waterford), Maurice Shanley (Cork), Killian Spillane (Kerry), Mark Stokes (Tipperary), Alan Sweeney (Clare), Matty Taylor (Cork), Caoimhín Walsh (Waterford), Tommy Walsh (Cork), Seán Walsh (Waterford), Paul Walsh (Cork).
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