Team Ireland has departed for Sofia, Bulgaria, and the 2026 European Elite Championships this morning.
The team includes double Olympian, reigning World champion, and four time continental champion, Aoife O’Rourke and her sister, Lisa, the 2022 World champ and 2025 World silver medalist. They are joined by 6 Paris Olympians: Daina Moorehouse (51kg), Jenny Lehane (54kg), Jude Gallagher (60kg), Dean Clancy (65kg), Jack Marley (90kg) and 57kg Michaela Walsh, the Commonwealth Games silver medalist at the weight. CWG 70kg champion, Jon McConnell, will also be competing in Sofia. The team is completed by 2024 European champion, Shannon Sweeney, World Youth champion and European U23 bronze medalist Cliona D’Arcy, Evelyn Igharo (70kg) and Gavin Rafferty (75kg).
400 boxers will compete in this World Boxing ranking event, drawn from 40 federations: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Montenegro, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, World Boxing Refugee Team, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Turkey and Ukraine.
The team has been in camp since July, and as the final part of their preparations, Boxing Ireland hosted a multi-nations sparring camp at the High Performance Unit at the Institute of Sport, from September 2nd to 9th. Participating nations will included Hungary and Finland, with boxers from Nigeria and USA. The camp formed an important final phase of the preparation programme, giving Team Ireland the opportunity to work against high-quality international opposition before travelling to Bulgaria.
The Championship draw takes place on Wednesday evening, and boxing will begin on Thursday. Afternoon Sessions will begin at 12pm, Irish time – Evening Sessions will get underway at 4pm.
Team Ireland
48kg Shannon Sweeney, St. Anne’s BC, Mayo
51kg Daina Moorehouse, Enniskerry BC, Wicklow
54kg Jennifer Lehane, DCU BC, Dublin
57kg Michaela Walsh, Holy Family BC, Belfast
60kg Kellie McLoughlin, St. Catherine’s BC, Dublin
60kg Jude Gallagher, Two Castles Olympic, Tyrone
65kg Dean Clancy, Sean McDermott BC, Leitrim
70kg Evelyn Igharo, Clann Naofa BC, Louth
70kg Jon McConnell, Holy Trinity BC, Belfast
75kg Aoife O’Rourke, Castlerea BC, Roscommon
75kg Gavin Rafferty, Dublin Docklands BC
80kg Lisa O’Rourke, Castlerea BC, Roscommon
80+kg Cliona D’Arcy, Tobair Pheadair BC, Galway
90kg Jack Marley, Monkstown BC, Dublin
Support Staff
Team Manager| Jon Mackey
Head Coach | Damian Kennedy
Coach | James Doyle
Coach | Jay Delaney
Coach | Liam Cunningham
Coach | Lynne McEnery
Physiotherapist| Rob Tuomey
Doctor | Dr. Jim Clover
Psychologist | Dr. Paul Aherne
Analyst | Alan Swanton
HOPS | Paul Carragher
How to Watch
Eurovision Sport will broadcast the complete championships here: https://eurovisionsport.com/en/home
The RTE Player will broadcast selected bouts, here: https://www.rte.ie/player/
About the European Elite Championships
- This is the first European Boxing Elite Championships under the banner of European Boxing and within the World Boxing family
- This is a World Boxing ranking event, with points award from 1st to 8th place: 1st Place -800 points, 2nd Place -500 points; 3rd Place -300 points; 4th Place -300 points and 150 points for those finishing 5th-8th place.
- 40nnational federations are eligible to compete in the tournament.
- Draw: approx. 4:30pm, September 16th.
- Competition dates: 17th-25th September. There is no rest day at this tournament. Quarter finals take place on September 22nd and 23rd. , semi finals on September 24th. Finals and medal ceremonies will take place on during the second session on September 24th, and on September 25th.
- Afternoon Sessions will begin at 12pm, Irish time – Evening Sessions will get underway at 4pm.
- Competition venue: Asics Arena, Sofia, Bulgaria