Irish Women's Bowling Association

Governing body for the sport of bowls in Ireland

Irish Women's Bowling Association
Official website

Sport	Bowls
Jurisdiction	Ireland
Abbreviation	IWBA
Founded	1947
Affiliation	World Bowls
Headquarters	Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland
Secretary	Jennifer Dowds
www.iwba.co.uk
&

The Irish Women's Bowling Association is the governing body for the sport of bowls for women in Ireland. The organisation is responsible for the promotion and development of lawn bowls in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and is affiliated with the world governing body World Bowls. The IWBA also falls under the umbrella of the Irish Bowls Federation.

History

Bowls in Ireland began with Scottish and English settlers in Northern Ireland during the 17th century.

In 1903, J. C. Hunter of Belfast visited England following an invitation by W.G. Grace and this led to five clubs forming the Irish Bowling Association (IBA) in 1904. However, it was not until the affiliation of the Dublin-based Kenilworth Bowling Club to the IBA that the organisation encompassed all of Ireland.

The Irish National Bowls Championships were inaugurated in 1908.

The Irish Women's Bowling Association was formed on 17 October 1947 and had eight founder member clubs. This grew to 56 by 1972 and the Irish Women's Bowling League was created in 1952, followed by the Junior League in 1964. In 1969 the four competitions still used today to qualify for the Nationals were introduced, they were; the NI Private Greens League (NIWPGL), the Ladies Bowling League of Ireland (LBLI) the Provincial Towns Women's BA (PTWBA) and the Northern Ireland Women's BA (NIWBA).

As of 2024 Ireland was the only country from the leading bowls nations still to have separate associations for men and women.

Bowls players

Further information: Category:Male lawn bowls players from Northern Ireland Further information: Category:Female lawn bowls players from Northern Ireland Further information: Category:Lawn bowls players from the Republic of Ireland

References

"Ireland". World Bowls. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
"Irish Bowls Federation (IBF)". Irish Bowls Federation (IBF). Retrieved 2 January 2025.
^ Sullivan, Patrick (1986). Guinness Bowls – The Records. Guinness Superlatives Ltd. pp. 44–47. ISBN 0-85112-414-3.
^ Hawkes/Lindley, Ken/Gerard (1974). Encyclopaedia of Bowls. Robert Hale and Company. pp. 138–142. ISBN 0-7091-3658-7.
Bolsover, Godfrey (1959). Who's Who and Encyclopaedia of Bowls. Rowland Publishers Ltd (Pre isbn).
"Previous Winners". Irish Bowling Association. Retrieved 2 January 2024.

v t e Sports governing bodies in Ireland (IRL)
Summer Olympic Sports	Aquatics Diving Swimming Synchronized Swimming Water polo Archery Athletics Badminton Basketball Boxing Amateur and Professional) Canoeing Climbing Cycling Darts Equestrian Fencing Field hockey Football ROI NI Golf Gymnastics Handball Judo Modern pentathlon Rugby 7's Rowing Sailing Shooting Practical Shooting Table tennis Taekwondo Tennis Triathlon Volleyball inc. Beach Volleyball Weightlifting Wrestling
Winter Olympic Sports	Biathlon Bobsleigh Curling Skating Figure Speed Short Track Ice hockey Luge Skeleton Skiing Alpine Cross Country Nordic Combined Freestyle Jumping Snowboarding
Other IOC Recognised Sports	Air sports Bandy Baseball Billiard sports Boules Bowling Bridge Chess Cricket Dance sport Floorball Karate Korfball Lifesaving Motorcycle racing Motorsport Mountaineering Netball Orienteering Pelota Vasca Polo Powerboating Racquetball Roller sports Rugby Softball Sport climbing Squash Sumo Surfing Tug of war Underwater sports Water ski Wushu
Other Sports	American Football Australian Football Gaelic games Ladies' Gaelic Football Camogie Greyhound racing Lawn bowls IBA IWBA Pitch and Putt Real Tennis Rugby League Rugby Union Skydiving University Sports
Olympic Federation of Ireland Paralympics Ireland Sport Ireland Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games Council

Categories:

Misplaced Pages