Munster Rugby’s New Signings For 2025/26

24th July 2025 By The Editor

Out-half JJ Hanrahan returns to Munster on a two-year deal. Inpho

10 players will join the Munster Rugby senior squad this summer with five new signings joining the club and five players moving up from the Academy.

Lee Barron, JJ Hanrahan, Dan Kelly, Michael Milne and Conor Ryan all join the province with Fionn Gibbons, Shay McCarthy, Evan O’Connell, Ruadhán Quinn and Kieran Ryan stepping up from the Academy.

See player bios below.

Lee Barron

Hooker Lee Barron joins permanently on a two-year deal having spent the final seven weeks of last season on loan at the province from Leinster.

Barron made an excellent start to life at Munster and impressed in his three appearances off the bench. He played a big role in the victories over Ulster and Benetton that secured a place in the play-offs and ensured Munster’s place in the Champions Cup for 2025/26.

After making an early introduction against Benetton at Virgin Media Park, he scored his first Munster try in the must-win clash.

A dynamic hooker who has represented Ireland at U20 level, Lee Barron scored three tries in 23 appearances for Leinster after making his debut as an Academy player against the Sharks in 2022.

The 24-year-old came up through the ranks at Lansdowne RFC and St Michael’s College.

JJ Hanrahan

The province’s third-highest points-scorer of all-time with 743 points in 142 appearances, 32-year-old Castleisland man JJ Hanrahan returns to Munster having departed for Clermont Auvergne in 2021.

The out-half, who can also play in the centre and at full-back, has spent the last two seasons at Connacht and scored 145 points in 23 appearances for the province despite a lengthy absence due to a long-term knee injury.

JJ made his Munster debut against Dragons in September 2012 and won the province’s Young Player of the Year award in 2014. An 88.71% success rate off the tee also saw Hanrahan win the 2014 PRO12 Golden Boot Award.

After making 64 appearances in three seasons, he joined Northampton Saints in 2015 before returning to Munster in 2017.

Hanrahan marked his 100th Munster appearance with a Player of the Match performance in the win over Benetton in April 2019 and kicked the winning penalty from the halfway line against the same opponents in the PRO14 quarter-final.

He won the PRO14 Golden Boot for the second time in the 2019/20 season having landed 50/55 kicks in the regular season.

He starred in Munster’s first-ever win away to Clermont Auvergne at Stade Marcel Michelin in December 2020 and was 100% accurate off the tee, scoring 24 points in the 39-31 comeback victory.

At the end of that season, Hanrahan joined Clermont and spent a year in France before returning to the URC with Dragons in 2022/23. He has spent the last two seasons at Connacht.

Dan Kelly

Exciting young centre Dan Kelly joins from Leicester Tigers on a two-year contract.

24-year-old Kelly, who qualifies for Ireland through his grandparents, played alongside Tom Ahern and Jack Crowley for the Ireland U20s in 2020. The trio helped Ireland win the Triple Crown before the competition was suspended after three games due to the pandemic.

He scored 10 tries in 93 appearances for Leicester after making his debut in 2020.

A midfielder capable of playing at inside and outside centre, Kelly was born in Manchester and joined the Sale Sharks Academy at the age of 16 in 2017.

He spent two years at Sale and earned a scholarship at Loughborough University where he played in their National League squad.

After starring for the Ireland U20s as an 18-year-old, Kelly joined Leicester Tigers in 2020 and made his Premiership debut against Gloucester at the age of 19.

The 2020/21 season saw Kelly establish himself as a key member of the Tigers squad, scoring two tries in 17 appearances and appearing in the Challenge Cup final.

He earned one cap for England against Canada in 2021 and played an integral role in Leicester’s Premiership title-winning campaign in 2022, making 23 appearances over the season.

He continued his strong run of form over the following two seasons with six tries in 38 games.

Kelly was included in the England squad for the 2023 Six Nations but missed out due to injury and has scored one try in 12 appearances for Leicester last season.

Michael Milne

From Birr in County Offaly, powerful prop Milne came up through the ranks at Birr RFC and Cistercian College, Roscrea.

He scored 12 tries in 48 appearances for Leinster after making his debut as an Academy player in 2019.

He played schools rugby alongside Josh Wycherley and the duo won a Grand Slam with the Ireland U20s in 2019 along with Craig Casey and John Hodnett.

The 26-year-old represented Emerging Ireland in 2022 and earned his first two Ireland caps this summer against Georgia and Portugal.

He spent the final seven weeks of last season on loan at Munster and made a big impact, scoring one try in four appearances.

Conor Ryan

Lock Conor Ryan joins the province on a one-year development contract for the 2025/26 season.

The second-row currently plays with UCC RFC in the AIL and came up through the ranks of Clonakilty RFC.

Ryan made his first senior appearance in last summer’s pre-season friendly against Bath at the Rec while he played in the mid-season clash against Leicester Tigers at Welford Road, scoring a second-half try.

Most recently, he was involved in the two wins for Munster ‘A’ over the Connacht Eagles in the IRFU ‘A’ Interprovincial Championship.

Ryan has lined out for UCC in Division 1B of the Men’s AIL over the last two seasons and featured for the Cork club in their narrow loss to Nenagh Ormond in last season’s promotion play-off.

The 21-year-old played all of his age-grade rugby with Clonakilty RFC which included winning a South Munster U18 league title with the West Cork club.

This is part of Munster Rugby’s wider ongoing commitment to monitoring local players’ performances in the AIL and providing opportunities to players that emerge later and have been performing at a consistently high level.

Fionn Gibbons

Centre/winger Fionn Gibbons moves up from the Academy to the senior squad on a one-year contract.

A standout performer for the Grand Slam-winning Ireland U20s in 2022, scoring three tries in four appearances, Gibbons plays his AIL rugby with Young Munster RFC and has made two senior appearances to date.

Capable of playing in the centre and on the wing, Gibbons joined the Academy in 2022 after coming up through the ranks at Castleknock College and missed the majority of last season with a long-term knee injury.

He made his Munster debut against Connacht in October 2022 and featured against the Sharks in the 2023/24 campaign.

Shay McCarthy

Winger Shay McCarthy moves up to the senior squad from the Academy on a two-year deal.

The exciting, speedy winger has already made a big impact at senior level with four tries in 12 appearances.

The 22-year-old made his Munster debut against the Sharks in October 2023 within months of joining the Academy and was a try-scorer on his Champions Cup debut against Bayonne in December 2023.

His first season in the Academy included an appearance in the Champions Cup round of 16 clash against Northampton Saints and he ended the season with two tries in seven games.

The Limerick man scored three tries in seven appearances last year and moves up to the senior squad after two years in the Academy.

McCarthy started out at Richmond RFC and won a Munster Schools Boys Junior Cup with St Munchin’s College in 2018.

His impressive form with Young Munster in the AIL earned a call-up to the Ireland U20s squad and he made his debut at that level against France in June 2022.

Evan O’Connell

Academy lock Evan O’Connell moves up to the senior squad on a two-year deal.

The talented second-row joined the Academy ahead of the 2022/23 season and plays his AIL rugby with Young Munster RFC, making the switch to the Cookies from UL Bohemian RFC ahead of the 2024/25 season.

A former Castletroy College student, Evan lined out for the Munster U18 Schools team at the start of the 2021/22 season.

He captained Castletroy in the Pinergy Munster Schools Boys Senior Cup later that year before lining out for Ireland in the 2022 U18 Six Nations Festival.

O’Connell featured for the Munster U19s in the 2022 Interprovincial Championship.

Internationally, O’Connell has captained the Ireland U20s squad through the 2024 Six Nations and led the team in South Africa during the U20s World Championship.

He lined out for Emerging Ireland on their tour to South Africa last October and made six senior appearances for Munster last season.

O’Connell made his debut against the All Blacks XV at Thomond Park at the beginning of November and started on his Champions Cup debut in the win over Stade Francais at Thomond Park in December.

The second-row also captained Munster A last season in the A Interprovincial Championship and trained with the Ireland squad ahead of their summer fixtures against Georgia and Portugal.

Ruadhán Quinn

Academy back-row forward Ruadhán Quinn moves up to the senior squad on a two-year deal.

The talented 21-year-old came up through the ranks at Ballina-Killaloe RFC and Crescent College Comprehensive. He plays his club rugby with Young Munster RFC and has also lined out for Old Crescent in the AIL.

He was a Pinergy Munster Schools Senior Cup winner with Crescent in March 2022 and joined the Academy that summer.

At the age of just 18, Quinn became Munster’s youngest player of the professional era when he came off the bench against Zebre at Virgin Media Park in October 2022.

He starred for the Ireland U20s in their 2023 Grand Slam-winning 6 Nations campaign and helped the team to the World Rugby U20 Championship final that summer.

To date, he has scored two tries in 19 senior appearances.

Kieran Ryan

Prop Kieran Ryan moves up to the senior squad on a two-year deal.

The Limerick man, who can play loosehead and tighthead, made his Munster debut against the Sharks in October 2023 and has already made 12 senior appearances.

The 23-year-old came up through the ranks at Shannon RFC and St Munchin’s College and plays his Energia AIL rugby with Shannon.

Ryan represented the Ireland U20s in 2022 and made his Champions Cup debut against Stade Francais last season.