Latest news with #Murtagh
Irish Independent
3 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Fiona Murtagh claims silver for Ireland at European Rowing Championships
Fiona Murtagh's switch from the bigger boats to the lonelier single scull yielded immediate rewards as she took silver in Plovdiv, Bulgaria this morning. Fintan McCarthy and Konan Pazzaia had taken bronze in the double yesterday. The year after the Olympic Games is made for trying out new things, and the Galway woman can be happy with her switch from crew boats – she took Olympic silver in the four in Tokyo 2020 – to the single. Her companion in the pair at Paris 2024, Aifric Keogh, retired and with encouragement from Ireland lead coach, Dominic Casey, Murtagh made the jump. Britain's Lauren Henry made a similar switch, in her case from the quadruple, and come the final she had too much for the Galway woman. Murtagh kept Henry honest. The start had been close, but by half way only these the two were in a battle for gold, with Murtagh performing well. Henry is smaller than the tall Galway woman but sculled sweetly to push away and win by 3.31 seconds. 'It's very, very special,' Henry said. 'I's still early days, but I wanted to come here and make a mark and make a name for myself, and I feel that I've done that.' Murtagh's success in her new discipline, along with the creation of the Pazzaia-McCarthy crew, have been bright spots in a generally good campaign for Ireland at the Championships. Not all the experiments by the new management made their mark. The men's quadruple scull finished fifth in their B final (11th overall). While Ukraine won from the front, the new Ireland crew fought for a placing in the top three for much of the 2,000 metres, slipping back in the final third of the race. The women's quadruple were fourth and last in their B final, 10th overall. Casey was delighted with Murtagh's success. He constantly stresses how good all the athletes are. And the decision to let many of them finish exams left a window of just a few weeks when the newly-formed units could train together as crews. There will be real anticipation as to how the reinvigorated team does come the World Cup in Lucerne from June 27 to 29.
The 42
3 days ago
- Sport
- The 42
Ireland's Fiona Murtagh wins silver at European Rowing Championships
TOKYO OLYMPIC MEDALLIST Fiona Murtagh added an individual European Championship silver to her collection with a brilliant performance in the women's single sculls A final in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The Galwegian, who was part of the women's four who won Olympic bronze in 2021, chased home winner Lauren Henry of Great Britain to win her first solo medal at a major regatta. Murtagh's silver success is Ireland's second medal at these championships following Fintan McCarthy and Konan Pazzaia's bronze in the men's double sculls on Saturday. Henry and Murtagh set a challenging early pace in Sunday's final with little to choose between them through the opening 1000m, Henry leading by just six tenths of a second. Advertisement Henry, who is the reigning Olympic champion in the quadruple sculls, upped the pace in the back half of the race, stringing out the field, but Murtagh had the power and stamina to keep chase all the way to the line. Henry took gold in 7:17.80, with Murtagh second in 7:21.11, while Frida Nielsen of Denmark won bronze in 7:23.57.
RTÉ News
3 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Fiona Murtagh adds to Ireland's haul with silver at European Rowing Championships
Fiona Murtagh has claimed Ireland's second medal of the European Rowing Championships by taking silver in the single sculls in Plovdiv. Murtagh, who won Olympic bronze in Tokyo, came in behind Britan's Fiona Henry and head of Dane Frida Sanggaard Nielsen. At the halfway point, Murtagh was in second place and within striking distance of Henry, but the Britain gradually began to pull away. The Galway woman eventually crossed the line in 07:21:11, just over three seconds off first place but about 2.5 seconds ahead of Nielsen. Yesterday, the in the men's double sculls. It was a first heavyweight medal for McCarthy, who previously won two Olympic gold medals in the lightweight category.
RTÉ News
5 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Fiona Murtagh makes a splash at European Rowing Championships
Fiona Murtagh and the duo of Fintan McCarthy and Konan Pazzaia will vie for medals at the European Rowing Championships in Bulgaria this weekend after advancing to the finals of their respective events. Murtagh, who has made the switch from sweep to single sculls, stormed to victory in her semi-final in Plovdiv in seven minutes 18.97 seconds, with Greece's Evangelia Anastasiadou her nearest pursuer almost two second in arrears and Benthe Boonstra of the Netherlands third. In Sunday's final (10.13am Irish time), Murtagh has strong claims of securing a silver medal from lane four, but Britain's Lauren Henry is in imperious form and looks almost impossible to beat after setting a European record in the heats and winning her own semi-final in 7:12.13. McCarthy and Pazzaia progressed to Saturday's final (10.40am Irish time) of the double sculls in 6:05.78, with Romania's Olympic champions Andrei Cornea and Marian Enache lowering the European Championships record they set in the heats by clocking 6:00.79. Italy's Niels Torre and Gabriel Soares finished third. B finals beckon for the men's pair of Daire Lynch and Ross Corrigan, and the quadruple sculls crew of Philip Doyle, Ronan Byrne, Adam Murphy and Andrew Sheehan after both boats finished fifth in their semi-finals.
Agriland
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Agriland
Fourth annual Dogitude festival gets underway in Co. Meath
Dogitude, the two-day festival for Irish dog lovers, is set to take place at the Causey farm between Kells and Athboy in Co. Meath this weekend. The festival, now in its fourth year, offers thrilling displays by top canine athletes, expert advice, engaging workshops, and plenty of activities for dogs of all shapes and sizes. Matt Murtagh, a sheep and cattle farmer from Co. Meath, came up with the idea for the festival in 2020, but the festival was cancelled that year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, before getting underway the following year. He told Agriland: 'It's a big day. I went over to a couple of shows in England, I think our show is a good bit ahead of the one's I've seen in England.' 'It's the biggest dog event in Ireland, maybe even in the British Isles.' Over the course of the weekend, there will be a number of different events and competitions taking place, including a sheepdog trial. The provisional round for the trial started on Friday, May 23, with more trials taking place today, Saturday, May 24, before the final takes place on Sunday, May 25. Murtagh said: 'The sheep dog trials take place in a 40ac field. 'The first two days, the dog has to go out 350 yards, pick up four sheep at the top of the field, take them down round the handler, drive them across the field into a shedding ring. Then they have to separate the sheep, and put them into a pen.' Dogitude The Dogitude festival will also host a gundog exhibition for multi-skilled dogs who can hunt, point, and retrieve through rough ground and from the water. This will involve the 'Retrieve of the Year' event, where dog owners can bring their dog along to participate if they 'think it's up to scratch'. According to Murtagh, people from all over Ireland will be attending the festival along with 'a lot of great dogs'. Tickets for the Dogitude festival are available online, or at the venue.
