| Full name | University of Galway Rugby Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Union | IRFU Connacht | |
| Nickname(s) | UG | |
| Founded | 1874 | |
| Region | Galway | |
| Ground(s) | Dangan (Capacity: N/A) | |
| Coach(es) | Colm Rigney, Gavin Duffy, Diarmuid Codyre and Bernie Kelly | |
| Captain(s) | Charlotte Miller | |
| League(s) | Connacht Rugby Junior League 1A | |
| 2023/24 | 6th | |
| ||
| Official website | ||
| nuigrugby | ||
University of Galway RFC is the rugby team of the University of Galway. Their colours are maroon and white. [1]
The rugby club was founded in 1874 at the time the university was named University College Galway, which makes it the oldest club in Connacht. [2] They played in the Bateman Cup competition many times and won their first Connacht Senior Cup in 1897. They have held this trophy aloft 34 times in all, more than any other club in the Connacht,[ citation needed ] and they have won the senior league 16 times. They won the Dudley Cup for the first time in 1905.
They have had many successes down through the years, but a real highlight was the 1962/63 season when they swept the boards — they won the Connacht Minor League and Minor Cup, the Connacht Junior League and Junior Cup, the Connacht Senior League and Senior Cup, the OLBC Sevens and the Blake Sevens. [3]
Many of their players have played for Irish universities international teams, and 10 have been capped for Ireland, several while playing for UCG. One of those, Ciaran Fitzgerald, Captained Ireland to a Triple Crown in 1982, and subsequently the 1983 British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand.
Currently UG do not compete in the All-Ireland League, but they participate in Connacht Rugby competitions, and for 2023/2024 will field two teams at Junior League level (J1A & J2A). [4]
Their Under-20 team plays in the Irish Universities Conroy Cup [5] competing against UCC, UCD, QUB, TCD, DU, UL & Maynooth.
In League competition along with two other Connacht Clubs (Galwegians & Galway Corinthians) they compete in the Leinster Rugby JP Fanagan Under-20 League - in division Premier 3. [6]
They have also set up a Rugby Youth Academy in an attempt to help strengthen the club. [7]
The women's team was set up in the 2002–2003 season. Their first official game was in 2004 versus Sligo I.T. In the 2008/2009 season UG women won the Connacht League. In the 2012/2013 season UG contested the Colleges & Universities Sports Association of Ireland Div 1 College League Final against UL. In 2013/2014 and again in 2014/2015 UG won the Irish Universities Rugby Union Kay Bowen Intervarsity Cup.[ citation needed ]
Connacht Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. Connacht competes in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU Connacht Branch, which is one of four primary branches of the IRFU, and is responsible for rugby union throughout the geographical Irish province of Connacht.
The Connacht School's Rugby Senior Cup is an annual rugby union competition for secondary schools affiliated to the Connacht Rugby Branch of the IRFU.
The Connacht Senior Cup is a knockout competition for senior rugby union clubs in the Irish province of Connacht, under the auspices of the Connacht Branch IRFU. The Cup has been played for a total of 102 times, with twelve different cubs having won the trophy during that period.
The Connacht Senior League is a rugby union competition for senior clubs in the Irish province of Connacht. It was first played for in 1925-26.
Gavin Duffy is an Irish sportsman. Duffy is a former international rugby union footballer who primarily played at full back. He last played professionally for Irish provincial side Connacht Rugby, in the Pro12, and represented Ireland at full international level.
Salthill Devon Football Club is an Irish association football club originally based in Salthill, Galway. Their senior team currently plays in the Galway & District League. They have previously played in the Connacht Senior League, the A Championship and the League of Ireland First Division. In 2012 they played under the name SD Galway. Since 2005 Salthill Devon have hosted a youth tournament known as the Galway Cup.
Galwegians Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club in Galway, Ireland.
St. Joseph's Patrician College, often known as "The Bish", is a secondary school in the West Ireland city of Galway. Founded by the Patrician Brothers, a religious order, it has approximately 800 students on roll and, in recent years, has had success in a wide range of sporting activities including soccer, rugby, basketball, rowing, Gaelic games, athletics, and table tennis.
Mervue United A.F.C. is an Irish association football club based in Mervue, Galway. Their senior men's team currently plays in the Galway & District League. The club has previously fielded teams in the Connacht Senior League, the League of Ireland U21 Division, the A Championship and the League of Ireland First Division.
Eric Elwood is a former Irish rugby union player from Galway. He played as a fly-half. He played for Ireland internationally, and provincially for Connacht. He was on the Coláiste Iognáid team that won the Connacht Schools Rugby Senior Cup in 1985. He split his club career between hometown club Galwegians and Lansdowne in Dublin, starting and finishing his career in Galway, with a stint playing with Lansdowne in the 1990s. Elwood earned 35 caps for Ireland, scoring 296 points for the side. He played 168 games for Connacht scoring 1,152 points. He was the first Connacht player to make 100 appearances for the side, while his points tally remained a record until being surpassed by Jack Carty in 2023. Elwood also made a single appearance for international invitational side the Barbarians before being capped by Ireland.
The Connacht Senior League was an association football league featuring amateur, intermediate, and League of Ireland reserve teams affiliated to the Connacht Football Association. It was a third level league in the Republic of Ireland football league system. An earlier provincial league, the Western League, had been active, on and off, since the 1930s before the Connacht Football Association decided to establish a more permanent league. The CSL was active between 1981 and 2000. In 2013 discussions were held about relaunching the league.
John Muldoon is an Irish rugby union coach and former player. He is currently the Lineout & Maul coach for Connacht.
Steve Cunningham is President of the Connacht branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union.
Eoin McKeon is a rugby union player from Ireland. He primarily played in the back row. McKeon played for his native province of Connacht in the Pro14 from 2010 to 2020. He played his club rugby for Galwegians.
Andrew Browne is a rugby union player from Ireland. Browne is a versatile forward, able to play as a flanker or a lock. Browne most recently played professionally for Irish provincial side Connacht Rugby. His older brother Damian Browne is also a rugby player, and formerly played for Connacht and Leinster.
Galway United Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Galway. They play in the League of Ireland Premier Division following promotion from the First Division in 2023. They were founded as Galway Rovers F.C. during the 1930s. They made their League of Ireland debut in 1977–78 and changed their name to Galway United in 1981–82. After suffering financial difficulties, the club dropped out of the League of Ireland after the 2011 season but in 2014 Galway United returned initially playing as Galway F.C. for a season. Like other sports teams from the county, Galway United are nicknamed "The Tribesmen", after the 14 "tribes" of Galway, the merchant families that established the city.
Sport in Galway includes a diverse heritage, with a history in sports ranging from horse racing, Gaelic games, soccer and rugby to rowing, motorsport, greyhound racing and others. The Galway Races are known worldwide and are the highlight of the Irish horse racing calendar. Over the years it has grown into an annual festival lasting seven days.
Cormac Brennan is a rugby union player from Ireland. He can play in a number of positions across the backline mainly in the back three, but also covering centre. Brennan currently plays for Irish Pro14 side Connacht, having come through the province's academy. He plays his club rugby for Galwegians.
Brian O'Donnell is an Irish retired association footballer, rugby union player and Gaelic footballer. His league and championship career with the Galway senior team lasted eleven seasons from 1979 until 1989.
Ciaran Gaffney is a former rugby union player from Ireland. He played as a fullback or on the wing, and also played at centre in his youth career. Gaffney last played for Italian side Zebre in the Pro14, having come through the academy of Irish side Connacht.
University in Galway was his next stop. He lined out for Connacht while there and also made the combined Universities team.
He studied engineering at University College Galway, where he won several Connacht Senior League and Cup titles. His sprinter's speed helped him to become a try scorer and after making a big impact playing for UCG he was chosen on the Combined Universities team, playing on the team that famously beat the touring South Africans.
From Woodford in Galway, Roche was one of the first Connacht-born players to represent Ireland in the 1950s and the first to do so while playing with a Connacht club. He attended Garbally College in Ballinasloe and represented both UCG and Galwegians RFC.
Despite that, the West got international recognition as far back as Henry J. Anderson in 1903, followed in the next 60 years by the likes of Sligo-born Aengus McMorrow in 1951; the dynamic Dickie Roche from Woodford, Co. Galway, a student at U.C.G. when he was capped in 1955 and playing for Galwegians two years later when he was capped again...
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