History
1994
In the Knights' inaugural season, they reached the All-Ireland Championship, but were narrowly beaten by the Dublin Tornadoes, 21–15.
1995
The team reached the All-Ireland Championship again and were beaten, once again, by the Dublin Tornadoes, this time more convincingly, by a final score of 44–12.
1996
The '96 team were destined to struggle from the start of the season with so many people leaving the team at the one time. However, despite this large setback, they reached the semi-finals and were defeated by the eventual champions, the Dublin Lightning 3 – 0 in double overtime.
1997
1997 saw founder, Eddie Kelly retire from running the team. His position was taken by Errol Maxwell. In the preseason games for 1997, it was clear that the team, with its new assignment of players were going to make a promising impact on the league that year. The Knights only lost one regular season game that year and they went on to win Shamrock Bowl XII by beating the Dublin Bulls 21–0.
1998
1998 saw the team unbeaten (two ties with the Dublin Tigers though!) and win the Shamrock Bowl for the second consecutive time by defeating the Tigers 22–14 at Carrickfergus Rugby Club on Sunday 30 August. The team made history in May by playing an American NCAA rated team (Maranatha Bible Baptist College) for the first time.
1999
The '99 team were defeated by the Dublin Tigers 22–6 in Shamrock Bowl XIV.
2001
With veteran linebacker Mark Harris installed as coach, the '01 Knights won the reformed league (now re-structured as the IAFL) with a record of 5–1. They contested Shamrock Bowl XV against the Dublin Rebels led by Brian Dennehy, but were beaten by the greater experience of the Rebel side. The Dublin Rebels won by a margin of 28–7.
2002
The Knights won the Shamrock Bowl for the third time in their history in 2002. After finishing runner's up in the league to the UL Vikings, they faced them again in Shamrock Bowl XVI, played at UL Sports Centre in Limerick. The Knights beat the severely weakened Vikings team by a record margin of 66–0.
2003
The '03 team qualified for Shamrock Bowl XVII as League Champions, where they matched up against the Dublin Rebels. The match was played at Old Suttonians Rugby Club in Dublin and the home team took the Championship with a 24–12 scoreline. 2003 also saw the Knights travel to Belgium for the Charleroi Cup, having qualified as the previous year's Shamrock Bowl winners. There, they finished in 3rd place, with the Dublin Rebels winning their second successive tournament.
Tallaght Stadium is an association football stadium in the Republic of Ireland based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club Shamrock Rovers originally announced details of the stadium in July, 1996. The stadium is now owned and operated by South Dublin County Council with Shamrock Rovers as the anchor tenants.
American Football Ireland (AFI) is the National Governing Body for American football for Ireland and Northern Ireland. Founded in 1984 the AFI is entirely volunteer run and all American football played in Ireland is played at an amateur level.
The Belfast Trojans are an American Football team formed in January 2006, and have competed in the IAFL since 2007 playing NCAA rules in full contact. The Belfast Trojans are among the most successful American Football teams in Ireland, having won the Shamrock Bowl five times.
The Tallaght Outlaws were an American football located in Tallaght, Ireland. The club was initially established in 2006 as a flag football team, before joining the Irish American Football League (IAFL) in 2007 where it competed for two seasons. The club folded following the conclusion of the 2008 season, as one of the only IAFL teams in history not to win a single game.
The Dublin City University Saints was a former American football team of Dublin City University, Ireland. Established in 2005, the DCU Saints initially competed in the Irish American Football League (IAFL) for five seasons, reaching the playoffs in 2008 and 2009. The team collapsed following the conclusion of the league's 2010 season, before attempting to unsuccessfully reform for the 2013 season.
Ballyhale Shamrocks is a Gaelic Athletic Association club located in the parish of Ballyhale in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland. The club was founded in 1972 and is primarily concerned with the game of hurling. Ballyhale Shamrocks are the most successful club in the history of the All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship with nine titles.
The University of Limerick Vikings are the American football team from the University of Limerick in Limerick, Ireland. The team currently competes in the American Football Ireland Division One. The Vikings have won three IAFL Shamrock Bowl titles – in 2007, 2008 and 2009 and the Atlantic Cup in 2010. The Vikings also won their first AFI Division 1 Bowl in 2023, concluding a perfect 10-0 season.
The Dublin Rebels are the most successful team in the history of the Irish American Football League. They have earned ten national championship wins, four league titles, three European crowns, and have registered an undefeated season three times, in 2006, 2010, and 2023.
The 2008 Irish American Football League (IAFL) season is the 22nd season since its establishment. The current champions are the UL Vikings. The first games were played on 30 March. The Shamrock Bowl was scheduled for 10 August in Cork Institute of Technology's brand new stadium. The Shamrock Bowl was the first major national event played there.
Shamrock Bowl XXI was played on July 29, 2007 at UL Sports Ground, Limerick to decide the Irish American Football League (IAFL) champion following the 2007 regular season. This Shamrock Bowl hosted two teams from the IAFL South division, the University of Limerick Vikings and the Cork Admirals. The Vikings won the first Shamrock Bowl title in their team history, previously losing their last two in 2002 and 2006. This was the Cork Admirals' first Shamrock Bowl appearance.
Shamrock Bowl XXII was played on August 10, 2008. The match featured the Irish American Football League South Division champions University of Limerick Vikings meet the IAFL Central Division champions Dublin Rebels in CIT Stadium, Cork, Ireland. The UL Vikings were able win their second consecutive Shamrock Bowl title by defeating the Dublin Rebels 14-12. The MVP of the game was Adrian Garvey who scored the Vikings only offensive touchdown of the game.
The IAFL College Bowl was a college football tournament that formed part of the Irish American Football League between 2007 and 2011. Four teams competed in the championship since its inauguration: the UL Vikings, the DCU Saints, Trinity College, and UCD. The final champions were Trinity College, having defeating UCD 7-0 in December 2011.
The Cork Admirals are an American Football team that play in the American Football Ireland Premier Division. The team is based in Old Christians RFC, Cork.
The 2007 IAFL season, with new divisional format, was due to begin on March 4 with the College Championship game between DCU Saints and UL Vikings, but the game was delayed due to rain, so the season proper began on March 25 when the Cork Admirals beat the Belfast Bulls, the UL Vikings beat the Tallaght Outlaws and Dublin Rebels beat the Dublin City University Saints. The season continued throughout April and May, with the IAFL College Championship Game eventually been rescheduled on June 3, with the UL Vikings beating the DCU Saints 50–2.
Trinity College Dublin American Football is the American Football team of Trinity College Dublin.
The Craigavon Cowboys are an American football team playing in Craigavon, currently playing in the Irish American Football League. Early success for the Cowboys seen them take home the Shamrock Bowl Crown in 1986, 1990 and 1992. The Club folded in the mid 90s but reformed again in 2005, winning the DV8 League in 2009 - the DV8 league was set up for young clubs giving them the base to slowly grow their team and to give the rookie players some valuable game time. After winning the DV8 championship the Cowboys jumped up to the top division in Ireland.
The 2011 IAFL season was the 25th regular season of the Irish American Football League.
Shamrock Bowl XXV was an American football game pitting the 6 time Shamrock Bowl champions, Dublin Rebels against university side, UL Vikings. The game was played on July 31, 2011, at the Morton Stadium in Santry, Dublin. The Rebels defeated the Vikings by a score of 14-13, earning their seventh Shamrock Bowl win. Rebels safety Marcus Naylor was named the Shamrock Bowl MVP. He was the second Rebels safety ever to win the award following, Brian Carter.
The IAFL is the Irish American Football League. It is an amateur American football organization in Ireland. It was founded in 1984, and it has two conferences which consist of 23 teams competing in the Shamrock Bowl Conference, IAFL-1 and IAFL-2
'IAFL-2' is the third tier of American football in Ireland. The League was Founded in 2014 with the Tyrone Titans Winning the inaugural competition.
