Congratulations to the 2026 winners of An Corn Buíochais, Janice Dack & Mary Chambers. They are  pictured receiving the trophy from club President, Anthony McMackin.

Two separate sessions of bridge classes for beginners, will start in the club on Monday evenings from 14 September and on Friday mornings from 18 September. Details are on the attached notice. Please bring this opportunity to the attention of anyone that is interested in learning how to play bridge. Thank you.

In all my years playing bridge I don’t think I’ve ever come across a set of boards like those on Monday morning August the 24th! Quite honestly I found the bidding really difficult and if myself and my partner landed in the correct contract, it was more by accident than design. 

A lot of people have asked me about Board 19. South has a 14 count and most people probably opened a spade with 5 of them. However there is no great rebid on the hand so my partner chose to open 1NT; this is by arrangement…we have a mechanism for finding the 5 card major if necessary.  So I’m sitting North with a 17 count and solid, solid diamonds, as well as a 4 card major (hearts). I genuinely couldn’t think what to do….I’m thinking some kind of slam, but which one?  

I decide to find out if we have a heart fit so I bid 2 clubs. Then to make things even more difficult East bids a cheeky 2 spades with 4 points. Helena my partner doubles…..now I’m wondering does that mean she has hearts; it usually does after a spade bid, but maybe not in this sequence. (We still have to work that out) Meanwhile West decides to bid 3 clubs with 5 points.  

Thinking cap on again…..the clubs don’t bother me,,,but have we a spade stopper? Have we a heart fit? Still not sure what to do, I take a deep breath, as I’ve seen John Murray do many times and bid 6 diamonds. Helena’s hand goes down and I’m relieved to see the Ace of diamonds, but slightly disappointed that we are not in 6 NT. In fact there is 7 NT and 7 diamonds for the taking. I know I can play 2 rounds of hearts and ruff a heart before drawing trumps, but that’s a risk I’m not prepared to take. 

On the A side 2 North/South pairs are in 6 diamonds and 1 pair in 6 NT. I still wonder would we have landed there without the interference of the Cassidy’s. In fairness, that’s the job of the opposition and they are our nemesis every Monday morning 😉On the B side, 1 pair got into 6 diamonds and 1 pair into 6 NT, so well done to them. 

I think it’s fair to say that if your partner opens and you have 17 points and especially a good solid 17 as this was, slam has to enter your thoughts. 

Another very puzzling hand, this time for East/West was 11. I was glad I didn’t have to bid this myself and looking at it now, I still don’t know how to get to the 6 diamonds that is in it. That contract is only makeable though with everything being in the right place, but with a 15 count in West and 11 in East, you want to be in game at least. It’s very problematic though as South has opened, in our case 1NT. If you play Multi Landy West can show their 2 suited hand by bidding 2 spades showing spades and a minor. (I think a x is dangerous here, as there is every chance South COULD rattle off 5 club tricks and make their 1 NT, though as it happens here they couldn’t) 

When West bids 2 spades, I think that with 11 points East has to speak. Perhaps ask for the minor by bidding 2 NT. When West answers 3 diamonds, you can probably jump to 5, or even close your eyes and bid 3 NT…… 

I’m really not sure and would love to hear other suggestions. 

Just spoke with Noel Murphy, who reached 5 diamonds with Tony Wilkinson and the above is exactly how they bid it. I think the important this is that East says SOMETHING especially when North can’t find any bid. 

Mary Deane. 

After a promising start to our Wednesday morning game we will now take a break until early September . Wednesday morning bridge will resume  on Wednesday 16th September at 10am. Thank you to all who have supported this new venture so far. 

Friday Night Bridge is cancelled for the Summer and will also resume in early September.

Following the AGM on 21st May and subsequent Council meeting the following are the council members for 2026/7.

Details of the AGM are available on AGM 2026 Page.

President - Anthony McMackin,

Bar Manager - Patricia Brennan.

Social Secretary - Mary Chambers 

Secretary - Clodagh Gallagher.

Treasurer - Niall Duffy.

Facilities Officer - Kathy Murphy.

Technology Officer - Eilish Timoney.

Tournaments Officer - Nora Weafer.

The following is one of the items on the Smart Card Information Tab.

How do I check my balance.

If you make any purchase at the bar using your Smart Card you will get a receipt with your balance on it.

You can also go to the Bar with your Smart Card and ask the Bar Person for the balance or for a list of recent transactions. 

You can also get it online through the Smart Club Cloud App (which you can download to your phone) - Click on Smart Card - then on the page which appears click on the three rectangles on the top right of the screen.  These will then allow you to view your Transaction History.

You can logon to SmartClubCloud | Login Page - Go to the Top Up Icon - Scroll down through that and you will see a Transaction History Tab. Fill in the details and this will show your transaction History.

To login online your username will be in the form firstname.surname.number - e.g. joe.soap.567 and you should have set up your own password.