Bective Rangers Football Club is a
rugby union
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
club in Dublin,
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
founded in 1881.
The Club is affiliated to the
Leinster Branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union and played in Division 1A of the Leinster League until the 2024-25 Season. Having won the All Ireland League Provincial Qualifier in April 2025, the club will return to the Energia All Ireland league Division 2C in the 2025/26 Season.
The club plays its games at the Donnybrook Rugby Ground in
Donnybrook with a second grounds at Glenamuck.
The Club fields teams from Minis, Youth, U20s Juniors, Senior and Vets.
History
The club origins stem from the establishment of Bective House College by Dr. John Lardner Burke at 15 Rutland Square (now
Parnell Square
Parnell Square () is a Georgian square sited at the northern end of O'Connell Street in the city of Dublin, Ireland. It is in the city's D01 postal district.
History
Formerly named ''Ruthland Square'', it was renamed after Charles Stewart ...
East) in 1834. Bective house was one of a number of houses on the square owned by the
Earl of Bective for whom the house was named. The school later moved to
North Great George's Street and later again to
Clontarf but kept its original name. Notable past pupils of the school included
Bram Stoker
Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912), better known by his pen name Bram Stoker, was an Irish novelist who wrote the 1897 Gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. The book is widely considered a milestone in Vampire fiction, and one of t ...
, author of
Dracula
''Dracula'' is an 1897 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The narrative is Epistolary novel, related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens ...
.
The title of Earl of Bective was taken from the Earl's estate at
Bective Abbey and castle in
County Meath
County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...
.
The club was originally named Bective College and later Bective FC from the 1870s and was established by past pupils of the school. It was officially founded in 1881.
Honours
*
All-Ireland Cup
**1922–23, 1924–25
*
Leinster Senior Cup
**1889, 1892, 1910, 1914, 1923, 1925, 1932, 1934, 1935, 1955, 1956, 1962
* Leinster League Division 1
**2021-22, 2022-23, 2024-2025
*All Ireland Junior Cup
**2024-25
*Spencer Cup
**2024-25
*All Ireland league Provincial Qualifier
**2025
Notable former players
*
Danie Poolman
*
Trevor Brennan
Trevor Brennan (born 29 September 1973) is an Irish former rugby union player. He played for Barnhall, Bective Rangers, St Marys College RFC, Leinster, Stade Toulousain and Ireland, being capped 13 times. He played either in the second row or ...
*
James Leo Farrell
*
Cliff Morgan
*
Paddy O'Donoghue
*
Harry Harbison
Notable former coaches
*
Mike Ruddock
Mike Ruddock, OBE (born 5 September 1959) is a Welsh rugby union coach who was later an interim consultant for Ospreys, having previously coached Lansdowne FC. Ruddock was the Director of Rugby at the Worcester Warriors from 2007 to 2010. He ...
(head coach c. 1990)
*
Harry Williams (head coach 1997-2001)
*
Bernard Jackman (head coach 2019-2024)
Notable persons
*
Louis Magee; President of the IRFU 2014/2015
* Joe Nolan
References
External links
Bective Rangers website
Rugby clubs established in 1881
Rugby union teams in Ireland
Rugby union clubs in Dublin (city)
Donnybrook, Dublin
1881 establishments in Ireland
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