Ballybrakes Bowls – Sponsors League Division 1
The NIBA is pleased to announce that Ballybrakes Bowls will be sponsoring Division One of our league for the 2026 season.
Ballybrakes Bowls was started over twenty years ago by Gary and Donna Mc Cloy, who are very well known to all bowlers throughout the country.
Both Donna and Gary took up the game as teenagers and both progressed through the ranks to the highest level with both having hit a century of caps for Ireland last year. Donna was one of the Irish fours who brought home bronze in 2008 from the World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand. Donna retired in 2025, after gaining her 106th cap for Ireland, with Ireland winning the silver medal for the first time in thirty years at the Women’s International Series in Wales. Donna has not just focused on playing the game; she has also served as Manager for Ireland’s women’s Under 18 and Under 25 teams.
Gary too retired at the same time from the Irish outdoor side and like Donna, again in Wales; with him winning his 100th cap, with a successful victory in his last game for Ireland, in a game of triples, again in the Home International series.
The highlight for Gary, must surely be, winning a gold medal for Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth games in Kuala Lumpur in 1998, with the rink going through the tournament unbeaten. Four years later he won a Triples bronze medal at World Bowls in Johannesburg. More recently Gary travelled to Wellington, New Zealand in 2022, for the Champion of Champions singles and came home with a bronze medal.
Both Gary and Donna have multiple appearances at Commonwealth Games, World Bowls, Atlantic Rim and European championships, with both of them winning medals of all colours at these international tournaments. Gary still represents Ireland in the indoor arena; competing successfully in the British Isles Indoor Series held recently in Belfast and has been a competitor at Potters at the World Indoor Bowls Championship. Also, this year, he will be endeavouring to add to the numerous medals that he has won at the Irish Championships.
Their main shop is in Ballybrakes Community Indoor Bowling Club, Ballymoney and they now run the bowling shop in Belfast Indoor Bowls Club in Shaw’s Bridge. More importantly, as the business has grown, they have established themselves as Irelands Premier Bowls Shop, through their expansive website, you can view an extensive stock of all the main bowling brands; Aero, Drakes Pride, Henselite, and Thomas Taylor.
If you need new bowls, clothing or accessories, their expertise will help you choose the right equipment for your needs. They can also assist our clubs from offering supplies from items as small as bowl stickers right up to scoreboards and coaching equipment.
The NIBA would encourage any of its members needing new bowls or equipment to support their sponsorship by contacting Gary or Donna on either 07737 281848 or their website: www.ballybrakesbowls.co.uk