Clontarf Football Club is an Irish

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 based in

Clontarf, Dublin Clontarf () is an affluent coastal suburb on the Northside (Dublin), Northside of Dublin in the city's List of Dublin postal districts, Dublin 3 postal district. Historically, there were two centres of population, one on the coast towards the c ...

. The club play in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League.

History

Origins and early history

Clontarf Football Club currently play at Castle Avenue, where they moved to in 1896. The club gets its mascot from the meaning of Clontarf, which translates as "meadow of the bull". The red and blue colors are used by most sporting clubs in the area. The club was formed before the establishment of the

Irish Rugby Football Union The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) () is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland (both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ground at Aviva Stadium, where a ...

Separate and shared facilities

Since 1896, the grounds at Castle Avenue have been shared with

Clontarf Cricket Club Clontarf Cricket Club is a cricket club in Dublin, Ireland, playing in Division 1 of the Leinster Senior League. Based at Clontarf Cricket Club Ground, Castle Avenue, with a shared clubhouse, it also has playing facilities in the grounds of M ...

. Until 1947, both games were played on the same ground, and the wicket was fenced off in the winter. In 1982, following a fire which destroyed the bar and lounge, an agreement was reached between both clubs to go their separate ways. Subsequently, each club was provided with separate premises and the use of a common main bar and hall for each club's season.

Playing highlights

In 1902, Clontarf was admitted to Senior Ranks — Leinster League — and in the following year reached the final of the Leinster Club Senior Cup, where they were beaten by Lansdowne by one

goal A goal or objective is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan, and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to ...

(5 points) to one try (3 points). Other notable moments in the club's history include winning the Leinster Club Senior Cup in 1936, a feat which remained unmatched amongst Clontarf teams for another 63 years, until the cup returned to Castle Avenue in April 1999. However, the intervening years were not without success as various teams representing the club won leagues and cups in the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Clontarf won the Leinster Floodlight Competition in 1989, 1990, 1997, and 1998, the All Ireland Floodlight Competition in 1990, and the All Ireland League Division II in 1996/97. Since attaining Division 1 status in 1997, Clontarf has maintained its position as one of the top twelve clubs in Ireland. It has reached three All Ireland League division one finals, two of them to record winners Shannon. The club has produced a number of professional rugby players such as Cian Healy, Emile Prior, Brian O'Driscoll, Tadgh Furlong, Matt D'Arcy, Michael None, and Joey Carbery.a During their 1966 world tour the club had only one loss to the Athletic Rugby Football Club of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

captained by I.N. McEwan. Among the teams played were

Black heath Black Heath was a house and coal mine located near the present day Midlothian, Virginia, Midlothian area of Chesterfield County, Virginia. The Black Heath coal mining enterprises were operated intermittently from the early 1780s until 1939 and wer ...

from

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, and

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. In 2014, Clontarf won the All-Ireland League for the first time in the club's history, topping the table by a point, after a finish which saw Clontarf beat Ballynahinch at Castle Avenue while Old Belvedere lost to Garryowen, giving Clontarf the title. Four days after this victory, the same Clontarf side faced

Barbarians F.C. The Barbarian Football Club, known as the Barbarians, is a British-based invitational rugby union club. The Barbarians play in black and white hoops, though players wear socks from their own club strip. Membership is by invitation. As of 2011, ...

to mark the 1000 year anniversary of the

Battle of Clontarf The Battle of Clontarf () took place on 23 April 1014 at Clontarf, near Dublin, on the east coast of Ireland. It pitted an army led by Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, against a Norse- Irish alliance comprising the forces of Sigtrygg Silkbea ...

. Clontarf were winners on the day, running out 43–42.Barbarians repelled again as Clontarf edge thriller
Irish Times, 23 April 2014.

In the community

On a local level, the club runs a "mini" rugby team and youth rugby is of importance to the club. The club has won several mini rugby competitions over recent seasons. For the 2018/2019 season, a Girls Youth team was set up and trains twice a week at the club. The club has had an association with the local

St Paul's College, Raheny St Paul's College in Raheny, Dublin, Ireland, is a Roman Catholic secondary school for boys under the trusteeship of the Vincentian Fathers, formally the Congregation of the Mission. Founded in 1950, it is one of two Vincentian schools for bo ...

and

Mount Temple Comprehensive School Mount Temple Comprehensive School is a secondary school in Clontarf, Dublin, Ireland. The school operates under the patronage of the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, and has, as a primary objective, the provision of state-funded second ...

, as well as

Belvedere College Belvedere College Society of Jesus, S.J. (sometimes St Francis Xavier's College) is a fee-paying voluntary secondary school for boys in Dublin, Ireland. Formally established in 1832 at Hardwicke Street in north inner city Dublin, the school was ...

in central Dublin, for several years. The club also has a social committee, with theme nights, awards balls, golf outings, and Tag Rugby runs during the summer months.

Teams

Clontarf have teams from senior level down as young as under-8. At senior level, there are five teams, the firsts play in the AIL Division 1, while the rest of the senior teams play in the Leinster Metropolitan Leagues. In 2007/2008 the first team won the Leinster League cup beating St Mary's College in the final. They were also a runner-up in the J1 Section A league, and runners-up in the J4 league. The J2 team won the J2 section B gaining promotion to J2 section A. In 2014/2015, the J4 team won the Leinster Branch Metro League Division 6 title and won promotion to division 5. The J6 team won the 2016/2017 Leinster Branch Metro League Division 11 title and won promotion to division 10.

Honours

* All-Ireland League Winners 2014, 2016, 2022, 2025. Runners up 2013, 2017 * Leinster Club Senior Cup Winners 1936, 1999, 2002, 2024-25 * Metropolitan Cup Winners 2012

International players

* Mick McGrath - plays for the

Ireland national rugby sevens team The Ireland national rugby sevens team competed in several international rugby sevens competitions. The team was governed by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU). In May 2025 the IRFU dismantled the programme at the end of the 2024/25 season, i ...

Cian Healy Cian Eoin James Healy (born 7 October 1987) is a former Irish people, Irish professional rugby union player who played as a Prop (rugby union), prop for Leinster Rugby, Leinster and for the Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland national tea ...

- plays for Ireland and

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

Tadhg Furlong Tadhg Vincent Furlong (born 14 November 1992) is an Irish professional rugby union player who plays tighthead prop for United Rugby Championship club Leinster and the Ireland national team. Furlong is widely considered to be one of the world' ...

- plays for Ireland and

Joey Carbery Joseph Carbery (born 1 November 1995) is an Irish rugby union player who plays as a fly-half for Top 14 club Union Bordeaux Bègles. Born in New Zealand, he represents Ireland at international level after qualifying on ancestry grounds. Ear ...

- plays for Ireland * Noel Reid - plays for

SU Agen Lot-et-Garonne Sporting Union Agen Lot-et-Garonne (), commonly referred to as SU Agen, Agen () or SUALG, is a French professional rugby union club based in Agen, Lot-et-Garonne that competes in the Pro D2, France's second division of rugby. Founded in 1908, Ag ...

and formerly Ireland

References

External links

* {{AIB League Rugby clubs established in 1876 Rugby union teams in Ireland Rugby union clubs in Dublin (city) All-Ireland League rugby union clubs Leinster Senior League (rugby union) teams 1876 establishments in Ireland