The Carlow Crusaders were a

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

team based in

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2016 census, it had a combined urban and rural population of 24,272. The River Barrow flows through the town and forms the historic bounda ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. They played in the

Irish Elite League The All-Ireland Rugby League Championship (now the McGettigans All-Ireland League for sponsorship reasons) was first played for in 1997 under the title All-Ireland Challenge Cup. Since then it has also been known as the All-Ireland League, Elite L ...

. They played home games at Oak Park,

. The Crusaders were forced to play most of their games in

Cill Dara RFC Cill Dara RFC is an Irish rugby club based in Kildare, Leinster, playing in Division 1B of the Leinster League. The club's colours are a combination of red, white and black. History Rev. Father E.D. O' Connor, O. Carm, and former president, J ...

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional cent ...

as Oak Park is owned & used by Carlow RFC. The Carlow Crusaders were embroiled in controversy when they opted to pull out of the 2011 All Ireland Final against the Treaty City Titans. They have yet to explain publicly their reasons for the action but has since been found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute by an independent panel. This decision has left many wondering if Carlow will take part in any further rugby league competitions. They are currently in the process of appealing the charge.

Honours

(1): 2008

Former players

* Ross Barbour

Honours

Former players

See also