Cork Harlequins Hockey and Cricket Club is a multi-sports club based in the Douglas area of

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

in Ireland. The club was founded in

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Italia ...

. Although Harlequins is best known for its field hockey and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

teams, during its history the club has also organised teams in various other sports including table tennis, association football, rugby union and tennis. In 2008–09 Cork Harlequins were founder members of both

Men's Irish Hockey League The Men's Irish Hockey League is a field hockey league organised by Hockey Ireland that features men's teams from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The league was first played for during the 2008–09 season. It replaced the All-I ...

and the

Women's Irish Hockey League The Women's Irish Hockey League is a field hockey league organised by Hockey Ireland that features women's teams from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The league was first played for during the 2008–09 season. It replaced the A ...

. As of 2018–19, the club's senior women's team continue to play in national league and the Women's Irish Senior Cup. The club's senior men's team have also played the Men's Irish Senior Cup and were All-Ireland club champions in 2002. Reserve teams play in the Men's Irish Junior Cup and the Women's Irish Junior Cup. Cork Harlequins have also represented

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 ...

in European competitions.

History

Women's field hockey

Cork Harlequins was founded in

, initially as a women's field hockey team. A group of women employed by Dowdall and O'Mahony, a dairy shop on

St Patrick's Street St Patrick's Street ( ga, Sráid Naomh Pádraig) is the main shopping street of the city of Cork in the south of Ireland. The street was subject to redevelopment in 2004, and has since won two awards as Ireland's best shopping street. St Patric ...

, decided to enter a tournament at Church Road in

Blackrock BlackRock, Inc. is an American multi-national investment company based in New York City. Founded in 1988, initially as a risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with tri ...

. The team captain chose their name after noticing the ball in their first match was made by Harlequins of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Cork Harlequins women won the Irish Senior Cup for the first time in 2000. In 2008–09 Cork Harlequins were founder members of the

. In 2009–10 with a team that included Yvonne O'Byrne, Cliodhna Sargent, Rachael Kohler and Sinead McCarthy, Harlequins finished as league runners up. In 2016–17 with a team that included Yvonne O'Byrne,

Roisin Upton Roisin may refer to: * Róisín, Roisin or Rosheen, an Irish female given name (including a list of persons with the name) * "Róisín Dubh" (song), an Irish political song * "Róisín Dubh", a track from the Thin Lizzy album '' Black Rose: A Ro ...

and Naomi Carroll, Cork Harlequins were Irish Senior Cup finalists. In 2017–18 O'Byrne, Upton and Carroll helped Harlequins finish as runners up in both the national league and the EY Champions Trophy. ;

; Irish Senior Cup ; Irish Junior Cup ;Notes

Men's field hockey

Cork Harlequins men's field hockey team were All-Ireland club champions in 2002. They won the Irish Senior Cup for the first time in 2006. Their squad included schoolboys,

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and Conor Harte. Cork Harlequins subsequently went onto represent

in the 2007 European Cup Winners Trophy. They won the trophy after defeating Kolos Sekoia of Ukraine 4–1 in a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

. In 2008–09 Cork Harlequins were founder members of the

. ; Irish Senior Cup ;Notes ; Irish Junior Cup

Cricket

Cork Harlequins formed a cricket team in 1967. They enter senior, junior and minor teams in various

Munster Cricket Union The Munster Cricket Union is one of five provincial governing bodies for cricket in Ireland. Along with the Connacht, Northern, Leinster and North West unions, it makes up the Irish Cricket Union (now known as Cricket Ireland), the supreme gove ...

leagues.

Harlequin Park

The land for Harlequin Park was purchased at Farmers Cross in the early 1960s from Dick Young for £900. In September 1970 the

Lord Mayor of Cork The Lord Mayor of Cork ( ga, Ard-Mhéara Chathair Chorcaí) is the honorific title of the Chairperson ( ga, Cathaoirleach) of Cork City Council which is the local government body for the city of Cork in Ireland. The office holder is elected ann ...

opened the new club pavilion which today houses the club bar. In the 1970s a new playing pitch was developed, which became the first "grit" playing surface in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

. More land was purchased and car parking and the pavilion were extended to include two new dressing rooms, a function hall and a kitchen. The grit pitch was converted into a sand based

astroturf AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Since the early 2000s, AstroTurf has ...

surface in 1987, the second of its kind in the Republic. In the 1980s and 1990s more land was purchased from Murphy's Caravan Park and from the Rolf family to increase the size of the facility. A second astroturf pitch was constructed in 1998. The first astroturf pitch fell into disrepair and was used as a car park for a period of time. The club now has two functioning field hockey pitches as well as cricket facilities.

Notable players

Men's field hockey internationals

;

Women's field hockey internationals

; When Ireland won the silver medal at the

2018 Women's Hockey World Cup The 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup was the 14th edition of the Women's Hockey World Cup, a field hockey tournament. It was held from 21 July to 5 August 2018 at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in London, England. Defending champions ...

, the squad included two Cork Harlequins players, Yvonne O'Byrne and

Honours

;Men's field hockey *European Cup Winners Trophy **''Winners'': 2007: 1 *All-Ireland Club Championship **''Winners'': 2002: 1 * Irish Senior Cup **''Winners'': 2006, 2012: 2 **''Runners Up'': 1938, 1950, 1991, 1995, 2003, 2004: 6 * Irish Junior Cup **''Winners'': 1999: 1 **''Runners Up'': 1930, 1979, 1988, 1991, 1997, 2005, 2007: 7 ;Women's field hockey *European Cup Winners Cup B Division **''Winners'': 2001 *

**''Runners Up'': 2009–10, 2017–18 * EY Champions Trophy **''Runners Up'': 2018 * Irish Senior Cup **''Winners'': 2000, 2018–19 **''Runners Up'': 2003, 2017 * Irish Junior Cup **''Winners'': 1990, 1992

References

External links

Cork Harlequins on Facebook

Cork Harlequins on Twitter
{{Sport in Cork City Women's Irish Hockey League teams 1925 establishments in Ireland Field hockey clubs established in 1925 Harlequins Cricket clubs in Munster Cricket in County Cork