Cork Constitution

The Cork Constitution (CC) is a rugby union club based in Cork, playing in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League. It was founded by staff of the '' Cork Constitution'' newspaper. Since the paper did not publish on Sundays, the staff were looking for activities to pursue on Saturday afternoons. In the summer, cricket was played, while in the winter, rugby was the designated activity. The team currently plays in Temple Hill, Ballintemple.

Due to the introduction of professional rugby union, and its success at producing players who go on to obtain Munster contracts, Con, like many other senior rugby clubs in Ireland, has been unable to field a full strength side for a number of years. In this period though, Con have remained competitive, reaching the final of the All-Ireland League on six occasions since 2001 inclusive; losing in 2001 to Dungannon, losing in 2002 to Shannon, again losing in 2004 to Shannon and losing in 2007 to Garryowen, winning the elusive third title in 2008 on beating Garryowen in Musgrave Park and capturing a fourth title when beating St. Mary's by 17 points to 10 after extra time in Dubarry Park in May 2010.
This 2010 League victory led by Evan Ryan completed an AIL double as Con had already won the AIL cup earlier in the season. Their most recent AIL victory was in 2023-24, their seventh title.

The All-Ireland Bateman Cup, played between the Provincial Cup winners, was re-inaugurated in 2005-06, and Constitution have now won it on seven times.

Honours

* All-Ireland League: 7
**1990–91, 1998–99, 2007-08, 2009–10, 2016–17, 2018–19, 2023-24
* All-Ireland Cup: 7
**2005–06, 2009–10, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17
* Munster Senior Cup: 30
**1905–07, 1910, 1922–23, 1928–29, 1932–33, 1942–43, 1945–46, 1956–57, 1960–61, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1969–70, 1972–73, 1982–83, 1984–85, 1988–89, 2008–09, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17 2018–19 2019–20
* Munster Senior League
**1912 (shared), 1914 (shared), 1922, 1923, 1927, 1939, 1953, 1957, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1998

Notable players

* Stephen Archer
* Michael Bradley
* Paul Burke
* Rory Burke
* David Corkery
* Jack Crowley
* John Daly
* Shane Daly
* Jody Danaher
* Scott Deasy
* Ivan Dineen
* Len Dineen
* Garrett Fitzgerald
* Denis Fogarty
* John Fogarty
* Seán French
* Tom Gleeson
* Brian Hayes
* Billy Holland
* Jonathan Holland
* Anthony Horgan
* Darragh Hurley
* Gerry Hurley
* John Kelly
* Alex Kendellen
* Ralph Keyes
* Tom Kiernan
* Denis Leamy
* Donal Lenihan
* Cian Mahony
* Conor Mahony
* Jeremy Manning
* Paul McCarthy
* Alex McHenry
* Tommy Moroney
* Frank Murphy
* Kenny Murphy
* Noel F. Murphy
* Noel A. A. Murphy
* Ian Murray
* Ian Nagle
* Ross Noonan
* Kevin O'Byrne
* Donncha O'Callaghan
* Ultan O'Callaghan
* Liam O'Connor
* Mick O'Driscoll
* Ronan O'Gara
* Pat O'Hara
* David O'Mahony
* Peter O'Mahony
* Brian O'Meara
* John O'Neill
* Conrad O'Sullivan
* John Poland
* Brian Roche
* Mike Ross
* John Ryan
* Tim Ryan
* Frankie Sheahan
* Bodo Sieber
* Brian Toland
* Brian Walsh
* Duncan Williams
* Simon Zebo

References

External links

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Rugby union teams in Ireland
Rugby clubs established in 1892
Rugby union clubs in County Cork
All-Ireland League rugby union clubs
Munster Senior League (rugby union) teams