The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland. The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ground at Aviva Stadium, where adult men's Irish rugby union international matches are played. In addition, the Union also owns the Ravenhill Stadium in Belfast, Thomond Park in Limerick and a number of grounds in provincial areas that have been rented to clubs.
Lansdowne Road Stadium was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for the Aviva Stadium on the same site, which opened in 2010.
St Michael's College is a voluntary Catholic boys' school, with an associated primary school, located on Ailesbury Road in Dublin 4, Ireland. Founded in 1944 by the Congregation of the Holy Spirit as a second feeder school along with Willow Park, it was initially a primary school to Blackrock College. The first eight pupils were transferred from Willow Park. The next September, 58 boys were enrolled. In 1952 the first secondary school pupils were admitted. Following expansion in the 1960s and 1970s, the school developed both a primary and secondary school. It has been extensively expanded, including the opening of a cafeteria, a sports pavilion, as well as new classrooms and a new gym.
The Leinster Schools Senior Challenge Cup is the premier rugby union competition for secondary schools affiliated to the Leinster Branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), and was first held in 1887.
Eric Miller is a former Irish rugby union and Gaelic football player. As a rugby player Miller played for, among others Old Wesley, Leicester Tigers, Ulster, Leinster, the Barbarians, Ireland and the British and Irish Lions. After retiring as a rugby player, Miller switched football codes and went on to play Gaelic football for the Dublin county team.
Newbridge College, the Dominican College Newbridge, is a co-educational private fee-paying voluntary secondary school in Newbridge, County Kildare, Ireland, run by the Roman Catholic Dominican Order. The Dominican Friars founded Newbridge Dominican College in 1852 as a boarding school for boys. Today, still run by the Dominican Fathers, Newbridge College is a mixed day school with a student population of almost 1,000 pupils. It is also the home of a resident Community of Dominican Friars - the Priory and Church being centred between the two wings of the College buildings.
St Mary's College C.S.Sp. is a voluntary boys' primary and secondary school run by the Congregation of the Holy Spirit and located in Rathmines, Dublin, Ireland. The school was founded in 1890, closed in 1916, and then reopened in 1926. The school colours are blue and white.
Rugby union is a popular team sport on the island of Ireland, organised on an all-Ireland basis, including players and teams from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Its governing body, the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), was founded in 1879, making it the third oldest rugby union in the world after the RFU (England) and the SRU (Scotland).
Lansdowne Football Club, also sometimes referred to as Lansdowne Rugby Football Club, is a rugby union team based in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1872 by Henry Dunlop as the Irish Champion Athletic Club. Its senior team currently plays in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League. The club's playing colours are black, red and yellow hoops, with navy shorts.
Luke Matthew Fitzgerald is a former rugby union player. He played at winger or fullback for Leinster. He retired in June 2016. Having previously studied at Blackrock College he won two Leinster Schools Senior Cups, in 2004 and 2006. He won his first cap for Ireland in November 2006. Fitzgerald earned the nickname "Pivot" from Leinster and Irish rugby fans due to his exciting runs and sidesteps from broken play.
St Mary's College Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in South Dublin, Ireland, playing in Division 1B of the All-Ireland League. The club was founded in 1900 by former pupils of St. Mary's College, Dublin and was originally known as Old St Mary's. They club won the Leinster Senior Cup for the first time in 1958. In 2000 they won the AIB League for the first time under the captaincy of Trevor Brennan.
Robert Kearney is an Irish former rugby union player. He played for 15 years for Leinster followed by a six-month stint in Australia, playing for Perth based side Western Force. He also played over a decade for the Ireland national rugby union team with whom he earned 95 caps, and went on two British & Irish Lions tours in 2009 and 2013. As a youth he also played rugby union for Clongowes Wood College and Gaelic football for Louth in the All-Ireland Minor Football Championship.
Aviva Stadium also known as Lansdowne Road or Dublin Arena is a sports stadium located in Dublin, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,711 spectators. It is built on the site of the former Lansdowne Road Stadium, which was demolished in 2007, and replaced it as home to its chief tenants: the Irish rugby union team and the Republic of Ireland football team. The decision to redevelop the stadium came after plans for both Stadium Ireland and Eircom Park fell through. Aviva Group Ireland signed a 10-year deal for the naming rights in 2009, and subsequently extended the arrangement until 2025.
The Irish Exiles is a rugby union representative team featuring players selected from the Irish diaspora, many based in Great Britain. The team was established in 1989 by Tom Kiernan. It was officially recognised by the Irish Rugby Football Union and during the 1990s was effectively a fifth provincial team along with Leinster, Ulster, Munster and Connacht. Between 1992 and 1993 and 1995–96 the Irish Exiles entered the IRFU Interprovincial Championship. The Irish Exiles also acts as an academy system for players from the Irish diaspora who wish to play for the men's national team and other IRFU national teams including the women's national team, the men's sevens team and the women's sevens team.
Niyi Adeolokun is an Irish rugby union player. He primarily plays as a winger. Currently unattached he most recently played for Bristol Bears & previously for Connacht. Adeolokun joined Connacht in 2014 from Trinity College. During his time with Dublin University, Adeolokun also played rugby sevens for the club.
Nora Stapleton is a former Ireland women's rugby union international. Stapleton represented Ireland at the 2010, 2014 and 2017 Women's Rugby World Cups. She was also a member of the Ireland teams that won the 2013 and 2015 Women's Six Nations Championships. Stapleton was a member of the first Ireland teams to defeat both England and New Zealand. Stapleton has also played two other football codes at a senior level. As a women's association football player, she played for UCD in FAI Women's Cup finals and UEFA Women's Cup campaigns. She has also played senior ladies' Gaelic football for Donegal.
Cliodhna Moloney is an Irish women's rugby union player from Kilconly, County Galway, Republic of Ireland. She currently plays for Railway Union RFC, Leinster Rugby (province) and the Ireland women's national rugby union team as a hooker.
Katie Fitzhenry is a women's rugby union player from Coolcotts in Wexford, County Wexford, Republic of Ireland. She plays as a centre for Blackrock College RFC, Leinster Rugby, the Ireland women's national rugby union team and the Ireland women's national rugby sevens team.
Hannah Tyrrell is an Ireland women's rugby union international. Tyrrell represented Ireland at the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup. She was also a member of the Ireland team that won the 2015 Women's Six Nations Championship. Tyrrell is also an Ireland women's rugby sevens international. She has also played two other football codes at a senior level. As a women's association football player, Tyrrell played for St Catherine's in two FAI Women's Cup finals and played for Shamrock Rovers in the Women's National League. She also plays senior Ladies' Gaelic football for Dublin in the Ladies' National Football League.
