Union | Irish Universities Rugby Union (affiliated to the Irish Rugby Football Union) | ||
---|---|---|---|
Emblem(s) | The Shamrock on the cross of Saint Patrick with white background | ||
Ground(s) | Aviva Stadium | ||
President | Trevor Ringland (QUB RFC) | ||
Coach(es) | David O'Mahony (UCC RFC) | ||
The Irish Universities Rugby Union (IURU) is the representative body for University Rugby Union in Ireland. The Union was established in 1904 and currently consists of the following members; University College Dublin RFC, Dublin University FC, Queen's University RFC, University College Cork RFC, NUI Galway R.F.C., Maynoooth University R.F.C., University of Ulster Coleraine RFC, Dublin City University In addition University of Limerick annually compete in IURU competitions.
The IURU organises and manages the Ireland Students Representative Rugby Team which competes annually. While the Irish Universities & Students sides had played games against other Irish & English representative sides since the 1930s the first game against International opposition was played against the Scottish Universities side in 1954. In the past the predecessor of the Ireland Student side the Irish Combined Universities played against all the major southern hemisphere full international touring sides, e.g. playing and beating the Springboks in 1965 in Thomond Park therefore making them the first Irish side to beat an international touring team. The Combined Universities have also played against Australia in 1968 and New Zealand in 1974. The Combined Universities have toured overseas on 4 occasions, to New Zealand in 1978, to Japan & South Korea in 1987, to South Africa in 1994 and to Australia in 1997.
Uniquely the Combined Universities team players wear their respective universities clubs socks with the green international jersey.
Since the advent of professional rugby, matches against full senior international sides have become a thing of the past, however the Irish Universities Rugby Union has continued to arrange annual international fixtures against other National University and Student sides from England, Scotland, France and Wales and against IRFU developmental sides. The most recent Ireland Student fixture against the English Students was held in April 2017, at the Oxford University playing grounds on Iffley Road. The Irish team ably led by captain Darren Hudson fought out a thrilling 9 try, 36 all draw with the English Students.
2018 saw the Irish Students side see victory against the Scottish Students. The captain, former Munster player Cian Bohane, led the team in Edinburgh to a hard-fought 33–17 win.
The IURU also organizes four domestic tournaments across the full spectrum of performance and participation grades. The following four competitions are held on an annual basis;
The Dudley Cup is the senior grade inter university competition and is named after Lord Dudley, former Viceroy of Ireland who donated the trophy following a visit by King Edward VII to what became UCC in August 1903. The first Dudley Cup final was held in March 1904 with Queen's University Belfast the inaugural winners. The Dudley Cup has been competed for on 62 occasions since and to date University College Cork and University College Dublin lead the roll of honour with 22 titles each. The Dudley Cup is played for now between the five senior grade University clubs playing in the UBAIL, namely University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin (playing as the Dublin University Football Club), Queen's University Belfast, MU Barnhall RFC and University College Cork The current holders are University College Dublin, who won the cup by defeating University College Cork on 30 November 2019 by 10–24 at the Mardyke in Cork.
The Conroy Cup is the U-20s grade inter-varsity rugby tournament. It was inaugurated in 1988 and it is named in honour of father and son " Judge" Conroy & Paddy Conroy both past Presidents of UCD RFC. Unlike the Dudley Cup, both NUI Galway and Maynooth University take part in this competition. Uniquely this is the only under 20 club rugby competition with participants from all four provinces. The current holders are Trinity College Dublin FC who led by team captain James Hickey retained the trophy by defeating Maynooth in the 2017–2018 final.
The Maughan-Scally Cup is the junior grade inter-varsity rugby tournament. It was inaugurated in 2010 and is named after two stalwarts of UCD RFC and university rugby in Ireland. The Maughan-Scally is considered to be the most social, enjoyable and "old school" of the inter-varsity competitions. The current holders are University of Ulster Coleraine who led by team captain Dave Gilkinson retained the trophy by beating Queen's University in the 2017–2018 final.
The Kay Bowen Trophy is the ladies inter-varsity rugby tournament. It was inaugurated in 2012 and is named after Kay Bowen past President of Dublin University Rugby Club. The competition is played over one day and is hosted in turn by one of the member clubs. This competition is the largest organized by the IURU with over 220 players competing annually. The current holders are Dublin City University who led by team captain Eimear Corri defeated previous holders NUI Galway in the 2017–2018 final.
The University of Galway is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 2012, and was ranked among the top 1 percent of universities in the 2018 QS World University Rankings.
University College Dublin Association Football Club, known commonly as UCD, is the football team of University College Dublin. They play in the League of Ireland Premier Division. Founded in 1895, the club was elected to the League of Ireland in 1979 under the management of Dr. Tony O'Neill. Since the 2008 season they have played at the UCD Bowl, also home to the college's rugby team. 'The Students' play in sky blue and navy. Their reserve and freshers teams play in the Leinster Senior League.
Higher Education GAA is the governing body overseeing the Gaelic games of hurling, camogie and Gaelic football at third level institutions. The body coordinates competitions in both Ireland and Britain, and is a part of the parent organisation, the Gaelic Athletic Association. The main competitions are the Fitzgibbon Cup for hurling and Sigerson Cup for football.
The Fitzgibbon Cup is the trophy for the premier hurling championship among higher education institutions in Ireland.
The Sigerson Cup is the trophy for the premier Gaelic football championship among Higher Education institutions in Ireland. It traditionally begins in mid January and ends in late February. The Sigerson Cup competition is administered by Comhairle Ard Oideachais Cumann Lúthchleas Gael (CLG), the GAA's Higher Education Council.
The UCC Philosophical Society, commonly known as the Philosoph, is the largest debating society at University College Cork, Ireland. The Philosoph was founded in 1850, making it the oldest society at UCC. The society carries out a number of functions, including weekly debates with guest speakers, participating in debating competitions, running workshops for the students of UCC to develop their public speaking skills and running debating competitions and workshops for schoolchildren. In the 1960s Seán MacBride SC and Nobel Peace Prize winner called the Philosoph "the centre of independent thought in Ireland" when discussing the state of the nation.
Patrick "Pat" Fleury is an Irish former hurler who played as a right corner-back for the Offaly senior hurling team.
The Colours Match is an annual rugby union fixture between the University of Dublin and University College Dublin. Rugby matches between UCD RFC and DUFC predate the inauguration of "The Colours Match". Their first meeting took place at Terenure on 18 October 1919, won by Trinity.
Thomas Daly was an Irish sportsperson. He played hurling at various times with his local clubs Tulla in Clare and Collegians in Dublin. Daly also played hurling at inter-county level with both Clare and Dublin between 1917 and 1933. The GAA pitch is called Dr Daly Park which is named after him.
Michael Meehan is a Gaelic footballer from County Galway. Meehan plays his club football with Caltra and played county football for the Galway senior football team. He announced his retirement from inter county football on 21 March 2014 due to injury.
John P. O'Connor, known as Johnny O'Connor, was an Irish hurler who played as a midfielder for the Waterford senior team.
The Ashbourne Cup is an Irish camogie tournament played each year to determine the national champion university or third level college. The Ashbourne Cup is the highest division in inter-collegiate camogie. The competition features many of the current stars of the game and is sometimes known as the 'Olympics of Camogie' because of the disproportionate number of All Star and All-Ireland elite level players who participate each year Since 1972 it has been administered by the Higher Education committee of the Camogie Association.
The 2010 Ashbourne Cup inter-collegiate camogie championship was staged at the Cork IT sports complex in Bishopstown, Cork over the weekend of 20–21 February. It was won by Waterford Institute of Technology who defeated University College Cork in the final by two points, a repeat of the pairing and result, though not the margin of victory, of the 1999 final. Player of the tournament was WIT's Katrina Parrock.
Elizabeth "Lil" Kirby was a camogie player who won six All Ireland medals and became fifth president of the Camogie Association.
The 2011 Ashbourne Cup inter-collegiate camogie championship was staged at the NUIG sports complex in Dangan, Galway over the weekend of February 19–20 with the finals in Pearse Stadium, Salthill. It was won by Waterford Institute of Technology who defeated University College Cork in the final by eight points, a repeat of the pairing and result, though not the margin of victory, of the 1999 final and 2010 final. Player of the tournament was WIT's Katrina Parrock.
Combined Universities GAA was a Gaelic football and hurling team that was made up of players from the major universities of Ireland. The players were taken from St Patrick's College, Maynooth, Queen's University Belfast, Trinity College Dublin, University College Cork, University College Dublin, University of Ulster at Jordanstown, and University College Galway. In the 1980s Combined Advanced Colleges GAA joined in to make the annual contests between Combined Universities, Army and Garda a quadrangular tournament.
NUI Galway RFC is the rugby team of the University of Galway. Their colours are maroon and white.
NUI Galway GAA comprises the Gaelic football and hurling teams at the University of Galway.
The Collingwood Cup is an association football cup competition featuring university teams from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is organised by the Irish Universities Football Union, and is the oldest surviving all Ireland association football competition. University College Dublin were the inaugural winners, and later became the cup's most successful team. The competition has been played almost annually since 1914, taking a break during the First World War/Irish War of Independence era and again in 1932 and 1933 due to a dispute between the Irish Football Association and the Football Association of Ireland. In 2014 the Collingwood Cup celebrated its centenary with a dinner that featured Martin O'Neill as a guest speaker. The 2014 final was broadcast live on Setanta Sports and the tournament was sponsored by Eircom.
IHSA is an academic organisation which promotes the study of history in Ireland. The organisation was founded in 1950 by representatives from the main universities of Ireland in Dublin. The association organises an annual conference in Ireland on a rotating basis between the main third level institutions offering history courses and research facilities. Its current Reachtaire (Chair) is Dr Sarah-Anne Buckley.
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IURU page on IRFU website (www.irishrugby.ie)