Hare Today Gore Tomorrow

SHI Coordinator Report – Stephen Gilmore

The 2026 Senior Home International was hosted by Lagan Valley Orienteers on 3-4 October, with the individual event held on a glorious early autumn Saturday with Hare’s Gap in clear view above the lower slopes of Meelmore and Luke’s Mountain. As a competition for selected M/W20s, 21s and 35s representing England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, this is classic long distance orienteering with the elite M21s covering a staggering 14.7km and a climb of 610m. The individual points table showed a tie between England and Scotland at 24 points each with Ireland on 10 and Wales on 6. That called for a tiebreaker revealing that England had 32 tiebreaker points versus Scotland’s 36 and with the lowest point winning England were presented with the Dolgellau Bowl at the excellent team meal at served at Quinn’s Bar, Newcastle on the Saturday evening.

Leaving Hutts Hostel in Newcastle, the team’s base for the weekend, it was an early start to head for a misty Slievenagore for the relay competition. With fog coming and going the atmosphere was exciting as competitors were spotted briefly along the rocky ridge. It was again a close competition between England and Scotland calling for a tiebreak, but this time Scotland showing as winners in the points table with Ireland taking third place to retain the Celtic Cup. All the results and analysis are at Fixtures & Results>2026 Results.

Due to an unfortunate clash with the Junior European Championships, a competition for M/18s and M/W20s, there was an opportunity for others to step up for selection giving some juniors an experience of competing on the Ireland team at senior level.

Ireland Team Manager Report – Rosalind Heron

“Often,
the Celtic Cup (the Ireland v Wales SHI trophy) comes down to which country can
field the fuller team. In recent years, however, Ireland have also been looking
further up the table, aiming to challenge England and Scotland.

With an
unfortunate clash with JEC this year, the Irish SHI team was always going to be
disproportionately affected compared to the other nations. Despite this,
Ireland dominated the Celtic Cup, fielding a full team thanks to the support of
juniors (ranging across the 16–20 classes) and last-minute reserves who stepped
up to the plate when needed.

Both days
proved challenging and longer than expected, but everyone put in a tremendous
effort. Team Ireland like to thank all of the athletes for giving it their all
and also extend a huge thank you to the event teams for all their hard work –
from organising the races and accommodation to providing what was arguably the
best meal I’ve ever had at an SHI! Hopefully, you’ve set a new benchmark for
the years to come.

With next
year’s event heading to the South East of England on 11–12 September 2027, the
aim is clear: retain the Celtic Cup and set our sights even further up the
table!