HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Tullamore RFC is an Irish
rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...
team based in Tullamore,
County Offaly County Offaly (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is named after the Ancient Ireland, ancient Kingdom of Uí ...
, playing in Division 2C of the All-Ireland League.


History

On Sunday 16 January 1927 a scrap team from
Tullamore Tullamore (; ) is the county town of County Offaly in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is on the Grand Canal (Ireland), Grand Canal, in the middle of the county, and is the fourth most populous town in the Midland Region, Ireland, Midlands Reg ...
was sent to Edenderry only to be beaten. Tullamore R.F.C. was formed at a meeting on Saturday 5 February 1927. Mr. Danny Williams was elected president. The club appears to have held "Practices" each Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at grounds on Arden Road. The first annual Dinner Dance was held at the end of the 1927–1928 season. Although the club was attracting a good following, this was its last season. With a club in
Kilbeggan Kilbeggan () is a town in County Westmeath, Ireland. It is in the barony of Moycashel. Geography Kilbeggan is situated on the River Brosna, in the south of County Westmeath. It lies south of Lough Ennell, and Castletown Geoghegan, north of ...
proving more successful the Tullamore players joined up with their friends in Kilbeggan.


Founding a Club

The present club was founded after a match at Derrinturn between Carberry and Tullamore. It was decided to hold a general meeting, which was held in Colton's hotel on Monday 19 April 1937. The honour of being the first president of the new club was bestowed on Dr. J. M. Prior Kennedy. Tullamore opened their first season in October with a game away to Birr at half-time Tullamore were leading 6-0 but in the end had to give way and were beaten 8–6. Of the 20 games played that season Tullamore won 6, Lost 11 and drew 3.


Town's Cup Success

From the 1937–38 season to 1946 Tullamore were five times in the Semi-final of the Provincial Towns Cup and victory coming eventually in 1946, defeating
Skerries A skerry is a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation. Skerry, skerries, or The Skerries may also refer to: Geography Northern Ireland *Skerries, County Armagh, a List of townlands in County Armagh#S, townland in Coun ...
in the final. Fourteen years passed before Tullamore repeated its 1946 performance and won the cup again. On 10 April 1960 Tullamore defeated Wexford 17–8 in
Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...
in the final. At the victory Dinner, held in Spollanstown a perpetual trophy was presented by Dermot Kilroy and Oliver McGlinchey that was to be known as the Midland Shield for use in the Midland League Competition. The 1960s was memorable for what happened off the pitch and not on it. After several years of negotiations, offers acceptances and fresh proposals the Tullamore rugby club took over Spollanstown. A final settlement was reached with the Tullamore soccer club in 1970. The Provincial Towns Cup was won again in 1976 and they qualified for the play-off in the Senior Cup. The main man in the cup final win over Drogheda was Matt Geraghty the team manager of the 1st team for the 1998–99 season. Tullamore won 9–3. In September 78 the club visited the U.S. Taking in Boston, New York, Buffalo and other centres. The years up to 1986 do not differ remarkably to the previous years. There were cup victories each year, but none for the 1st XV since the cup of 1976.


Youths

During the early 70s the club started to take positive steps to promote Juvenile rugby. In October 1974, Oliver McGlinchey with the help of big John Cahill and Denis Magner, two teachers in the town decided that Tullamore RFC needed to produce its own replacement stock for the adult teams. They set about training and coaching the youths of the area, and to date this has been a huge success and the fruits of their labour, as well as other dedicated members, can be admired in the trophy cabinet. The club now fields U8, U10, U12, U14, U16 and U18 teams and the club are indeed proud to have fielded a number of international players namely, Ronan Kelly, Peter Bracken, Ivan Dunne, Colin Finnerty and Ray Farrell. These players also represented Leinster, as did Paul Marsden, Alan Kerin and Kevin Wynne.


Honours

* All-Ireland Junior Cup : 2009, 2011 * Leinster League Division Two: 1995/1996 * Provincial Towns Cup: 1946, 1960, 1976, 2006 * Provincial Towns Seconds Cup: 1968, 1992, 2000, 2002 * Anderson Cup (Third XV): 1981, 1986, 1992, 1998 * Dunne Cup (Fourth XV): 1979, 1983, 2000 * Coonan Cup (Fifth XV): 1985, 1992, 1994 * Provincial Third XV League: 1995/1996, 1996/1997 * Provincial Towns Plate: 1990, 1992


National team players

The following Tullamore RFC players have gone on to play for the Ireland national rugby team: *
Jordan Conroy Jordan Conroy (born 10 March 1994) is an Irish rugby union player. He is a specialist sevens player who plays for the Ireland national rugby sevens team, and has represented Ireland in the 2020 Summer Olympics and plays his XV's club rugby with ...
(playing since 2016 for the national sevens team) * Megan Burns (playing since 2018 for the women's national sevens team)


References


Tullamore RFC
{{All-Ireland League (rugby union) Rugby union teams in Ireland Rugby clubs established in 1937 Sport in Tullamore, County Offaly All-Ireland League rugby union clubs Leinster Senior League (rugby union) teams Rugby union clubs in County Offaly