Northern Ireland Amateur Championship

Northern Ireland Amateur Championship

Tournament information
Country	Northern Ireland
Established	1927;98 years ago (1927)
Organisation(s)	NIBSA
Format	Amateur event
Recent edition	2024
Current champion	Darren Dornan

The Northern Ireland Amateur Championship (often referred to as the Northern Ireland Championship) is an annual snooker competition. It is the most prestigious amateur event in Northern Ireland.

History

The first year of the championship was 1927, when G. Barron defeated G.R. Duff. It was not held in the years 1940 and 1942–44 due to World War II and in 1972 and 1973 because of The Troubles. ^[1]

Many players who have appeared in the final of the tournament have gone on to be professional, most notably including two-time World Snooker Champion Alex Higgins, former world number one Mark Allen, 25-time Irish Professional Champion Jackie Rea, World Championship semi-finalist Joe Swail, World Championship quarter-finalist Patrick Wallace (who has won the competition a record eight times) and ranking event winner Jordan Brown.

Other players who have gone on to be professional include Tommy Murphy, Jack McLaughlin, Martin O’Neill, Michael Duffy, Declan Hughes, Julian Logue, Joe Meara, Sean O'Neill, Dermot McGlinchey and Robbie McGuigan. Currently Allen, Brown and McGuigan are playing on the World Snooker Tour.

The current champion is Darren Dornan, who defeated Ryan McQuillan 10–5 in the 2024 final to win the national title for the first time in his career

Winners

Year	Winner	Runner-up	Final score
Amateur
1927 [2]	Gibson Barron	Robert Duff	381–331 [nb 1]
1928 [3]	J. Perry	J. Blackburn	414–327 [nb 1]
1929 [4]	W. Little	Capt. John Ross	282–276 [nb 2]
1930 [5]	J. Luney	Gibson Barron	351–285 [nb 1]
1931 [6]	Jack McNally	W.R. Mills	288–273 [nb 2]
1932 [7]	Capt. John Ross	W.R. Mills	266–207 [nb 2]
1933 [8]	J. French	J. Chambers	281–218 [nb 2]
1934	Capt. John Ross	W. Price	329–199 [nb 2]
1935	Billy Agnew	Capt. John Ross	281–227 [nb 2]
1936 [9]	W. Lowe	Sam Brooks	326–228 [nb 2]
1937	J. Chambers	J. Blackburn	4–0
1938	Jack McNally	Billy Sanlon	4–3
1939	Jack McNally	Sam Brooks	4–3
1940	No competition due to World War II
1941	Jack McNally	A. Heron	4–2
1942–1944	No competition due to World War II
1945	Jack McNally	Charles Downey	4–0
1946	Jack McNally	Jackie Rea	4–3
1947	Jackie Rea	Jack Bates	4–2
1948	Jack Bates	Ted Haslam	4–1
1949	Jack Bates	Jim Stevenson	4–2
1950	Jack Bates	John Dickinson	4–2
1951	Jim Stevenson	Ted Haslam	4–1
1952	Jim Stevenson	Dan Turley	4–1
1953	Jim Stevenson	Joe Thompson	4–1
1954	Billy Seeds	Jim Stevenson	4–2
1955	Jim Stevenson	Maurice Gill	4–1
1956	Sam Brooks	George Lyttle	4–3
1957	Maurice Gill	Dessie Anderson	4–1
1958	Billy Agnew	Billy Hanna	4–3
1959	Billy Hanna	Billy Seeds	4–3
1960	Maurice Gill	Dessie Anderson	4–3
1961	Dessie Anderson	Maurice Gill	4–1
1962	Sean McMahon	Dessie Anderson	4–2
1963	Dessie Anderson	Jimmy Clint	4–2
1964	Paddy Morgan	Maurice Gill	4–2
1965	Maurice Gill	Sammy Crothers	4–1
1966	Sammy Crothers	Billy Caughey	4–3
1967	Dessie Anderson	Sammy Crothers	4–1
1968	Alex Higgins	Maurice Gill	4–1
1969	Dessie Anderson	Alex Higgins	4–0
1970	Jimmy Clint	Noel McCann	4–3
1971	Sammy Crothers	Dessie Anderson	4–2
1972 [10]	No competition due to the Northern Ireland conflict
1973 [11]
1974	Paddy Donnelly	Sammy Pavis	4–1
1975	Jimmy Clint	Sean McMahon	4–1
1976	Eddie Swaffield	Donal McVeigh	4–1
1977	Donal McVeigh	George Maxwell	4–0
1978	Donal McVeigh	Liam McCann	4–2
1979	Raymond Burke	Jim Begley	4–3
1980	Sammy Clarke	Donal McVeigh	4–3
1981	Tommy Murphy	Billy Mills	4–3
1982	Sammy Pavis	Kieran Erwin	9–8
1983	Jack McLaughlin	John McIntyre	10–4
1984	Jack McLaughlin	Harry Morgan	10–3
1985 [12]	Sammy Pavis	Kieran Erwin	10–9
1986	Colin Sewell	Gordon Campbell	10–4
1987	Seamus McClarey	Gordon Campbell	10–4
1988	Paul Doran	Joe Swail	10–7
1989	Harry Morgan	Martin O'Neill	10–5
1990	Kieran McAlinden	Martin O'Neill	10–9
1991	Michael Duffy	Joe Swail	10–9
1992	Declan Hughes	Andy Sharpe	10–8
1993	Patrick Wallace	Kieran Erwin	10–8
1994	Kieran McAlinden	Michael Duffy	10–6
1995	Julian Logue	Colin Bingham	10–4
1996	Joe Meara	Paul King	10–6
1997	Jonathan Nelson	Paddy Doherty	10–5
1998	Martin O'Neill	Jonathan Nelson	10–8
1999	Michael Duffy	Kieran McMahon	10–2
2000	Patrick Wallace	Barry McNamee	10–2
2001	Sean O'Neill	Julian Logue	10–5
2002	Joe Meara	Jonathan Nelson	10–7
2003	Mark Allen	Colin Bingham	10–4
2004	Colin Bingham	Joe Meara	10–9
2005	Mark Allen	Kieran McMahon	10–1
2006	Dermot McGlinchey	Kieran McMahon	10–9
2007 [13]	Patrick Wallace	Joe Meara	10–5
2008 [14]	Jordan Brown	Julian Logue	10–9
2009 [15]	Jordan Brown	Dermot McGlinchey	10–4
2010 [16]	Dermot McGlinchey	Kieran McMahon	10–8
2011 [17]	Kieran McMahon	Brian Milne	10–5
2012	Patrick Wallace	Dermot McGlinchey	10–4
2013	Patrick Wallace	Jordan Brown	10–4
2014	Patrick Wallace	Raymond McAllister	10–4
2015 [18]	Patrick Wallace	Jordan Brown	10–2
2016 [19]	Patrick Wallace	Jordan Brown	10–8
2017	Jordan Brown	Dermot McGlinchey	10–8
2018	Jordan Brown	Patrick Wallace	10–5
2019 [20]	Declan Lavery	Darren Dornan	10–5
2020	Declan Lavery	Robbie McGuigan	10–9
2021 [21]	Robbie McGuigan	Rab McCullagh	10–4
2022 [22]	Robbie McGuigan	Rab McCullagh	10–6
2023 [23]	Robbie McGuigan	Raymond Fry	10–8
2024 [24]	Darren Dornan	Ryan McQuillan	10–5

1. Aggregate score over 7 frames.
2. Aggregate score over 5 frames.

References

1. "Global Snooker Countries – Northern Ireland". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 23 December 2008. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
2. "G. Barron Wins Snooker Title". The Belfast Telegraph. 5 April 1927. p. 11.
3. "Ulster Snooker Championship". The Belfast Telegraph. 18 April 1928. p. 11.
4. "Northern Snooker Championship". Northern Whig. 9 May 1929. p. 2.
5. "Final of Ulster Snooker Championship". Northern Whig. 25 April 1930. p. 5.
6. "Ulster Snooker Final". News Letter. 20 March 1931. p. 2.
7. "Ulster Snooker Final". News Letter. 5 March 1932. p. 11.
8. "Ulster Championships: French beats Chambers". The Belfast Telegraph. 27 February 1933. p. 11.
9. "Snooker Title Final: W. Lowe beats S.R. Brooks". The Belfast Telegraph. 12 February 1936. p. 6.
10. Snooker Scene. July 1972. p. 7.
11. name="Billiards back" https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/search/results/1970-01-01/1979-12-31?basicsearch=billiards&somesearch=billiards&retrievecountrycounts=false&sortorder=score&newspapertitle=belfast%2Btelegraph&page=1
12. Snooker Scene. August 1985. p. 21.
13. "Patrick's Day". Snooker Scene. 25 June 2007. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
14. "Jordan's Top of the Pots". Johnston Press. Archived from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
15. "Right On Cue – Jordan Brown's story". Eurosport. 3 June 2009. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
16. "Castlederg's Dermot McGlinchey wins the Northern Ireland Championship for a second time". Archived from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
17. "McQuillan shines in St Patricks Cup" . Retrieved 15 November 2018.
18. "2015 Northern Irish National Snooker Championship". The Cue View. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
19. "Dungannon ace Patrick Wallace wins Northern Ireland title for an amazing eighth time". Tyrone Times. Archived from the original on 27 March 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
20. "Lavery Claims Northern Ireland Title". WPBSA. 16 April 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
21. "McGuigan Becomes Youngest Champion". World Snooker. 19 July 2021. Archived from the original on 20 July 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
22. 'McGuigan Defends Northern Irish Title'. WPBSA, 29 March 2022, retrieved 15 August 2022
23. "Magic McGuigan Makes it Three-in-a-Row in Northern Ireland". WPBSA. 23 May 2023. Archived from the original on 23 May 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
24. "WPBSA International Round-Up May 2024". WPBSA. 24 May 2024. Archived from the original on 26 May 2024. Retrieved 28 December 2024.