Ennis RFC, or Ennis Rugby Football Club, in an amateur

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

club based on the Drumbiggle Road in

Ennis Ennis () is the county town of County Clare, in the mid-west of Ireland. The town lies on the River Fergus, north of where the river widens and enters the Shannon Estuary. Ennis is the largest town in County Clare, with a population of 25,27 ...

County Clare County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,817 ...

adjacent to the Ennis Showgrounds which has a ground capacity of up to 1,000. The club often use the

Clare County Council Clare County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae an Chláir) is the authority responsible for local government in County Clare, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and ...

community facility at Lee's Road for training. The club currently plays in the

Munster Junior League Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

division 2.

History

The club was formed in 1923. Players were primarily drawn from among the business community in the town. Many were also involved in the Past Pupils Union of

St. Flannan's College Saint Flannan's College is an Irish co-educational secondary school located in Ennis, County Clare, which takes its name from the 7th century patron saint of the Dál gCais. Formerly an all-boys boarding school, the first girls class was entere ...

. At the beginning of The Emergency (WWII), the club temporarily disbanded and did not reform until 1952. The

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

ban on their members playing any 'garrison games' discouraged people playing rugby if they also played

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

. This affected the player base available to the club. An underage section was formed in 1973. In 1979 the club finally built a clubhouse after purchasing land from the Showgrounds. The clubhouse is still in place today, having had a gym added subsequently. As of 2008, the club fielded teams at various levels: Senior, Senior 2nds, U-19's, U-17's, U-15's, U-14's, U-13's, U-12's, U-11's, U-10's, U-9's, U-8's. The club had several successes with underage players selected for Munster and Ireland at a number of age levels in the early 2000s.

Honours

* 1928 Daresbury Cup * 1932 Garryowen Cup * 1976/77 The Kenny Shield * 1977/78 Banner Shield * 1978/79 Limerick City Cup * 2006 Liam Fitzgerald Cup

References

External links

Ennis RFC

Munster Rugby, ERFC contact details
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ennis Rfc Rugby union teams in Ireland Rugby union clubs in County Clare Rugby clubs established in 1923 Ennis