The All-Ireland Rugby League Championship (now the McGettigans All-Ireland League for sponsorship reasons) was first played for in 1997 under the title All-Ireland Challenge Cup. Since then it has also been known as the All-Ireland League, Elite League and the All-Ireland Championship.

History

The first domestic rugby league club in

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 ...

were the

Dublin Blues Rugby League The Dublin Blues are an Irish rugby league team from Dublin, Ireland. The Blues will play in the 2021 Euro XIII's cup competition. History The Dublin Blues are Ireland's first ever rugby league club having been founded in 1989 by Brian Corriga ...

who were founded in 1989 by ''Brian Corrigan'' a club that was primarily used by union players to stay fit during the off season, playing against touring British amateur teams. Following the formation of the Ireland national side in 1995 a league competition was mooted to aid further development. So in 1997 the first Rugby League tournament began in Ireland. Under the title ''All-Ireland Challenge Cup'' eight clubs, Belfast Buccaneers, Tallaght Tigers, Churchtown Warriors, East Coast Panthers from Bray, Bangor Vikings, Dublin Blues, Northside Saints and Cork Bulls chased the first ever title. Fittingly the oldest club ''Dublin Blues'' lifted the trophy. ''Northside Saints'' from

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

won the following season before ''Dublin Blues'' won the title for the second and so far last time. 2000 brought victory for another ''Dublin'' club in ''Churchtown Warriors'' before Cork Bulls briefly ended the Dubliners dominance. Dublin City Exiles won the first of two consecutive titles, both against ''Dublin Blues'' in 2002. Clontarf Bulls were a surprise winner in 2004, the next campaign saw the emergence of Treaty City Titans from

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

as a truly dominant force they would go on and win six of the next seven championships, many of which saw them go undefeated. In the season they didn't win they were runner-up to Carlow Crusaders in 2008 a side they had beaten in the previous three finals. During this time as the sport grew the league changed from regional leagues ''Leinster'' and ''Munster'' into a top division ''Elite League'' underpinned by local leagues. By 2010 regional leagues were brought back followed by a series of play-offs. On the field Country Cowboys won their first title in 2012, it was back to the norm in 2013 as Treaty City Titans lifted their 7th title. The ''Titans'' had to settle for runners-up the next season as Barnhall Butchers won for the first time. Treaty City Titans after an indifferent campaign won again in 2015 and in 2016 we were guaranteed a new name on the trophy as debutant finalists Galway Tribesmen overcame 2012 runners-up Ballynahinch Rabbitohs

Current clubs 2022

RLI Mens Premiership

Past winners

* 1997 -

* 1998 -

Northside Saints Northside or North Side may refer to: Music * Northside (band), a musical group from Manchester, England * NorthSide, an American record label * NorthSide Festival (Denmark), a music festival in Aarhus, Denmark * "Norf Norf", a 2015 song by Vince ...

* 1999 -

* 2000 -

Churchtown Warriors Churchtown may refer to: England * Churchtown, Cornwall * Churchtown, Cumbria, a United Kingdom location * Churchtown, Derbyshire, a United Kingdom location * Churchtown, Devon, a United Kingdom location * Churchtown, Lancashire * Churchtow ...

* 2001 - Cork Bulls * 2002 - Dublin City Exiles * 2003 - Dublin City Exiles * 2004 -

Clontarf Bulls Clontarf may refer to: Placenames Australia *Clontarf, New South Wales *Clontarf, Queensland, a suburb of the Moreton Bay Region *Clontarf, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a locality in the Toowoomba Region Ireland * Clontarf, Dublin United ...

* 2005 - Treaty City Titans * 2006 - Treaty City Titans * 2007 - Treaty City Titans * 2008 -

Carlow Crusaders The Carlow Crusaders were a rugby league team based in Carlow, Ireland. They played in the Irish Elite League. They played home games at Oak Park, Carlow. The Crusaders were forced to play most of their games in Cill Dara RFC, Kildare as Oak ...

* 2009 - Treaty City Titans * 2010 - Treaty City Titans * 2011 - Treaty City Titans * 2012 -

Country Cowboys A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while th ...

* 2013 - Treaty City Titans * 2014 - Barnhall Butchers * 2015 - Treaty City Titans * 2016 -

Galway Tribesmen Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city o ...

* 2017 -

Longhorns RL Longhorn may refer to: Animals * English Longhorn, a traditional long-horned brown and white breed of cattle * Texas Longhorn, a breed of cattle * Highland cattle, a Scottish breed sometimes called Highland Longhorn * Longhorn beetle, a family o ...

* 2018 -

* 2019 -

* 2020 -

* 2021 -

* 2022 -

Belfast Stags 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 Kingdom ...

Women's competition

Winners: *2021 - Dublin City Exiles

References

External links

* Rugby league in Ireland Sports leagues in Ireland European rugby league competitions Professional sports leagues in Ireland {{rugbyleague-competition-stub