‘I’M only 15 and I was in the U18 category, so I was up against bigger girls and harder competition,’ Meabh Cuinnea explains, reflecting on her greatest achievement in road bowling.

In July, the Rosscarbery teen hit the summit when she won the All-Ireland U18 title at Ballinagree.

Her best moment yet.

She didn’t expect to get as far as she did, lining up against older and more experienced bowlers, but there’s something about Meabh.

Having previously won Munster titles at U12, U14 and U16 levels, she added the Munster U18 crown this summer on her way to a head-turning All-Ireland triumph.

‘Very unexpected,’ was her modest reply to her best day on the road.

‘I didn’t think I’d get so far, but luckily, I did.’

Award winner Meabh Cuinnea with, from left; Kieran McCarthy, Sports Editor, The Southern Star; Ann Downey, general manager, Celtic Ross Hotel; Helen Wycherley, Celtic Ross Hotel, and Aideen Carberry, C103 Radio. (Photo: Martin Walsh)

Getting the better of Megan O’Reilly added to Meabh’s accomplishment, as she had lost to the Ulster champion in their 2024 All-Ireland U16 clash at Eglish in Tyrone.

But Meabh wasn’t going to be denied this time, even if she admits she surprised herself.

‘I really did, because I bowled her in the All-Ireland final two years before that and I lost. And I was just like, “Oh, I mightn’t win this,” but I’ll have to keep my head up,’ she says.

Instead, Meabh produced the goods when it mattered. All-Ireland champion. Best in the land.

For good measure, she went back down to U16 and added a Munster title there too.

‘It was fantastic winning the U16 Munster and the U18 All-Ireland. That gave me a good hop in my stride to go on and win the Munster U18 all in the one year.’

Award winner Meabh Cuinnea with her friends; from left, Bonnie Hayes, Hannah Roycroft and Emer Jennings. (Photo: Martin Walsh)

Recently, Meabh took centre stage at the Celtic Ross Hotel in her native Rosscarbery when she was presented with a Paudie Palmer West Cork Sports Star Youth award to mark her All-Ireland winning exploits.

Joined by family, friends from Mount St Michael Secondary School Rosscarbery and the bowling community, it was a reminder of why the sport holds such a special place in West Cork.

For Meabh, she’s just getting started.

Since accepting the award, she threw the winning bowl in the Youth International Triple Crown score at the King and Queen of the Roads Festival at Ballincurrig, teaming up with Gerald McDonagh to get the better of the best young bowlers from The Netherlands and Germany.

In a sense, Meabh is only warming up.

‘Next year I’ll try to go for U18 again. I’ll try my best again to get up to the standard I did this year.

‘There’s Europeans for the U18s too, so I’ll try my best to get to that.’