Cork Harlequins Hockey and Cricket Club is a multi-sports club based in

Cork City Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. 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* January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...

. Although Harlequins is best known for its

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

and

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

teams, during its history the club has also organised teams in various other sports including

table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

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 ...

and

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

. In 2008–09 Cork Harlequins were founder members of both Men's Irish Hockey League and the Women's Irish Hockey League. As of 2018–19, the club's senior women's team played in the national league Division 1 but have played in Division 2 since 2021 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. The senior men's team currently plays in the national league Division 2. Reserve teams play in the Men's Irish Junior Cup and the Women's Irish Junior Cup. Cork Harlequins have also represented

in European competitions.

History

Women's field hockey

Cork Harlequins was founded in

, initially as a women's

team. A group of women employed by Dowdall and O'Mahony, a dairy shop on St Patrick's Street, decided to enter a tournament at Church Road in

Blackrock BlackRock, Inc. is an American Multinational corporation, multinational investment company. Founded in 1988, initially as an enterprise risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager ...

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

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Cork Harlequins women won the Irish Senior Cup for the first time in 2000. In 2008–09 Cork Harlequins were founder members of the Women's Irish Hockey League. 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 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. In 2019 the team including Caoimhe Perdue won the Irish Senior Cup for the 2nd time against Loreto in the final, winning on shuttles. ; Women's Irish Hockey League ; 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,

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

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 Men's Irish Hockey League. ; 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 leagues.

Harlequin Park

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

Lord Mayor of Cork The Lord Mayor of Cork () is the honorific title of the Chairperson () of Cork City Council which is the local government body for the city of Cork in Ireland. The office holder is elected annually by the members of the Council. The incumbent ...

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 ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

. 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 pitch (sports field), playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a pile (textile), short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Si ...

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 Roisin Upton.

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 * Women's Irish Hockey League **''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 Cork