Instonians is a sports club based in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, Northern Ireland, that incorporates

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 ...

, men's and ladies'

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

sections. There is also a golf society that plays under the Instonians name. Instonians Rugby Football, Cricket and Athletic Clubs merged on 1 April 1962, the combined sections being known as 'Instonians', and then on 31 May 1979 the title of the club was changed to Instonians Rugby Football and Cricket Club. Finally on 1 April 1988, the Instonians Men's Hockey Club joined the association when the title reverted to Instonians.

Membership

The club was closed to former pupils or staff of

Royal Belfast Academical Institution The Royal Belfast Academical Institution is an independent grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland. With the support of Belfast's leading reformers and democrats, it opened its doors in 1814. Until 1849, when it was superseded by what today is ...

, which regards itself as one of the leading schools in Belfast. Instonians was the last 'old boys' club in Ireland to finally open its membership to all in 1990. In practice, however, the men's hockey club still only accepts members meeting the old ''closed'' criteria.

Grounds

The club for many years used the

grounds at Bladon Drive, Osborne Park and Orangefield, before moving to its own grounds at Shane Park in 1965. Shane Park was sold for redevelopment in 1999 and the club now groundshares at the Shaw's Bridge Sports Complex with

Cooke Cooke is a surname derived from the occupation of cook. Notable people with the surname include: * Alexander Cooke (died 1614), English actor * Alfred Tyrone Cooke, of the Indo-Pakistani wars * Alistair Cooke KBE (1908–2004), British-American j ...

Rugby

Instonians Rugby Club started as a section within the Belfast Old Instonians Association. The original part of the modern-day club, it started play in the Ulster Junior League in season 1919–20, and produced play of sufficient quality to merit immediate election to the Ulster Senior League for the following season. The 1st XV currently plays in the Ulster Qualifying League 1. Instonians have won the

Ulster Senior Cup The Ulster Senior Cup is a knock-out competition for senior rugby union teams in the province of Ulster. It is administered by Ulster Rugby. The most successful club is Queen's University with 23 wins. The current holders are City of Armagh RF ...

nineteen times, the

Ulster Junior Cup The Ulster Junior Cup is a rugby union competition for clubs in the Irish province of Ulster that are not considered strong enough to play in the Ulster Senior Cup. It also includes the second teams of the senior clubs. The perpetual trophy that ...

four times and the Ulster Senior League seven times (with five shared titles). 31 Instonians rugby players have been capped by Ireland at full International level and the club has produced two

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

captains.

Honours

* All-Ireland Cup: 1 **1926–27 *

: 19 ** 1921–22, 1922–23, 1926–27, 1927–28, 1928–29, 1930–31, 1933–34, 1937–38, 1945–46, 1947–48, 1948–49, 1949–50, 1953–54, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1964–65, 1978–79, 1998–99 * Ulster Senior League: 12 (5 shared) ** 1924–25, 1925–26, 1926–27 (shared), 1927–28, 1950–51 (shared), 1952–53 (shared), 1953–54 (shared), 1956–57 (shared), 1957–58, 1959–60, 1984–85, 1986–87 *

: 5 ** †1936–37, †1959–60, †1973–74, †1993–94, 2014–15 † Won by 2nd XV

Ladies' Hockey

Instonians Ladies' Hockey is somewhat unusual in that the club is associated with a boys' school. However, the ladies' hockey section was the second part of the club to be formed in 1921. Membership was initially made up from wives, sisters, daughters and girlfriends of ''Inst'' old boys and staff. The ladies' hockey club was one of the most successful club sides in

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

over a period from 1930 until the mid-1960s. They were winners of the

Ulster Shield The Ulster Shield is the premier knock-out competition for ladies' hockey teams in the Ulster province of Ireland. It is one of the oldest ladies' hockey competitions in the world, with the first competition being held in 1896. Ireland was the fir ...

on ten occasions and won the Irish Senior Cup in 1955. The dawning of the 1970s saw a gradual decline in playing standards, and eventually Senior League status was lost. They took up a nomadic existence moving from ground to ground over the past twenty years. However 2006 saw Instonians Ladies' Hockey Club renew its connection with the parent club with the opening of a new water-based artificial turf pitch at the Shaw's Bridge Sports Complex. Instonians Ladies currently play in Section Four of the Senior League (following the restructuring of the ladies leagues in 2007 removing Qualifying and Intermediate Sections) of the Ulster Women's Hockey Union.

Cricket Club

Instonians Cricket Club was founded in 1932. The first team currently plays in the Premier League of the

NCU Senior League The Northern Cricket Union (NCU) Senior League is the provincial cricket league within the NCU jurisdiction in Ireland, which covers counties Antrim, Armagh, Down and south Tyrone of Northern Ireland. The league was formed in 1897 and is curre ...

Honours

: 4 (2 shared) **1962, 2009 (shared), 2013 (shared), 2014, 2016 *

NCU Challenge Cup The NCU Challenge Cup, also called the NCU Senior Challenge Cup and the NCU Senior Cup, is the most important provincial cricket knock-out cup of the NCU jurisdiction in Ireland. The competition began in 1887, with eleven clubs participating in ...

: 3 **1964, 2009, 2012 *

Ulster Cup The Ulster Cup was an annual football competition held by the Irish Football League for senior clubs. History Beginning in 1949, it was held on fifty-one occasions until being suspended after the 1998/99 season and discontinued after a one-of ...

: 4 **1999, 2007, 2010, 2011 *

NCU Junior Cup The NCU Junior Cup is a provincial cricket knock-out cup of the NCU jurisdiction in Ireland. The competition began in 1891 and is open to teams playing in the Sections 2 and 3 of the NCU Senior League and Section 1 of the NCU Junior League (which ...

: 4 **†1967, †1970, †2001, †2017 † Won by 2nd XI

Men's Hockey Club

Instonians Men's Hockey Club was formed in 1959. The first team is one of the top teams in Ireland, winning the Irish Senior Cup on four occasions with their initial success coming in 1995. Four Irish Club Championships have also been won. In association with

the club have just completed the purchase and laying of a water-based artificial turf playing surface at the Shaws Bridge Sports Complex.

Notable former players

Rugby union

;

; {, , - style="vertical-align:top" , , *

Keith Crossan Keith Crossan (born 29 December 1959 in Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a former Irish rugby union international player who played for the Irish national rugby union team. He played as a winger. He played for the Ireland team from 1982 to 1992, wi ...

* David Hewitt * David Irwin *

Ronnie Lamont Ronald Arthur Lamont, MBE (18 November 1941 – 22 December 2022) was an international rugby union player. Lamont was born on 18 November 1941. Lamont was capped thirteen times for Ireland between 1965 and 1970, winning seven caps as a number ...

, , * Colin Patterson *

Robin Thompson Robin Henderson Thompson (5 May 1931 – 14 August 2003) was a rugby union international for Ireland, a former British Lions captain and rugby league player. Robin Thompson won two Ulster Schools Senior Cup medals with RBAI (Royal Belfast Aca ...

* Sam Walker * Roger Wilson *

Michael Lowry (rugby union) Michael Lowry (born 20 August 1998) is an Irish rugby union player from Northern Ireland who plays fullback and out-half for United Rugby Championship and European Rugby Champions Cup side Ulster, and internationally for Ireland. Doubted ear ...

James Hume (rugby union) James Hume (born 7 September 1998) is an Irish rugby union player who plays Rugby union positions#Centre, centre for United Rugby Championship and European Rugby Champions Cup side Ulster Rugby, Ulster. Born in Belfast, Hume attended Royal Belf ...

Cricket

; men's internationals * Herbie Martin; played rugby union for Instonians. *

Regan West Regan West (born 27 April 1979) is a former New Zealand-born Irish cricketer. He played for the Central Districts and the Wellington in the State Championship in New Zealand. He bowled left-arm, either fast-medium or slow left arm orthodox, ba ...

Field hockey

; men's internationals * Paul Gleghorne *

Mark Gleghorne Mark Gleghorne (born 19 May 1985) is a field hockey player from Northern Ireland who has represented Ireland, England and Great Britain at international level. He represented Great Britain at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Gleghorne was a member of ...

* Michael Watt ; men's internationals *

; men's internationals *

; women's internationals * Maeve Kyle

Olympians

;

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

* Paul Gleghorne; field hockey –

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

* Maeve Kyle; athletics – 1956, 1960, 1964 * Michael Watt; field hockey –

;

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

; field hockey –

External links

Instonians Club

{{NCU Senior League Sports clubs in Belfast Rugby union clubs in Northern Ireland Irish rugby union teams Rugby union clubs in County Antrim Cricket clubs in Northern Ireland NCU Senior League members Cricket clubs in County Antrim Field hockey clubs in Northern Ireland Men's Irish Hockey League teams 1919 establishments in Ireland