Clondalkin Rugby Football Club (

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

: Cumann Rugbaí Chluain Dolcáin) is an

Irish rugby Rugby union in Ireland ( ga, Aontas Rugbaí) is a very popular team sport. Rugby union is organised on an all-Ireland basis with one national team, governing body and league for both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Founded in ...

club based in

Clondalkin Clondalkin ( ; ) is a suburban town situated 10 km south-west of Dublin city centre, Ireland, under the administrative jurisdiction of South Dublin. It features an 8th-century round tower that acts as a focal point for the area. Clondalk ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

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 ...

. It has a great reputation for being a progressive, family-oriented club as well as being one of

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

’s fastest growing. The club is known across Ireland as ‘Clon’ or ‘CRFC’, and its grounds are located at Baldonnel, Clondalkin, Dublin 22 (D22 Y9H9). The club was previously located at Kingswood Cross from 1973 to 2022. The club colours are yellow and blue and these colours feature on the club's crest which also includes a round tower, in reference to the 8th century tower located in Clondalkin village.

History

Clondalkin RFC was founded in 1973 by a group of rugby enthusiasts in this rapidly expanding area of Dublin. Their first game was against Old Kilcullen RFC and the outing confirmed that the potential existed for a rugby club in Clondalkin, so the club was formed and affiliated to the Leinster Branch. For the first five years, the club was based at

Moyle Park College Moyle Park College is a secondary school in Clondalkin, South Dublin, Ireland. The school was established by the Marist Brothers in 1957, and grew alongside the population of the local area. As of the school year 2017, no more Marist Brothers ta ...

, one of the largest secondary schools in Clondalkin and the club adopted the school's colours as an acknowledgement of the support it received from the school in its formative years. Gradually, the club began to expand, the number of teams in the club grew and a junior section was established. To cater for this expansion, the club purchased grounds at Kingswood Cross, thanks to the hard work and dedication of the committee and club members, and the invaluable support of local businesses and the community. Instrumental in the move was a local bank manager and club member, Paddy Gordon, after whom the grounds were named.

Present Day

Owing to the outstanding growth and success of the club, in 2022, 'Clon' moved to new, larger grounds in the area, in order to facilitate the rapid expansion of the club. It currently has three senior men's teams, a senior women's team and a thriving youth and mini section featuring players from the ages of 5 up to 18 - boys and girls. The senior men's first team compete in

Leinster League The Leinster League is the second tier of rugby in Leinster, behind the Leinster Senior League. It has five divisions. The champions qualify for a round-robin tournament with the champions of the other three provincial junior leagues for one of tw ...

(J1) Division 2A, while the senior women's team compete in Division 2. Many current and former senior players now help to coach the youth and mini teams, developing the Clon stars of the future. Current Leinster star, James Lowe is a friend of, and regular visitor to, the club and gives tremendous encouragement to the club's young players.

References

{{reflist Rugby union clubs in South Dublin (county) Rugby clubs established in 1973