History
Barnhall Rugby Club was founded on 16 May 1969 by employees of Irish Meat Packers, Barnhall, Parsinstown, Leixlip, County Kildare. The first full season was 1969/70 when Barnhall played in the J5 O’Connor Cup. At the start of the following 1970/71 season, the committee decided to find games for a second team. The rationale for this move was that the club had no chance of progression or even survival unless a second team was put on the field. Since 1999 Barnhall have established themselves as an All-Ireland League team having spent most of their time in Division Two. 2008 brought Relegation to Parsonstown. Having narrowly avoided relegation for a second consecutive year in 2009. In 2010, the club changed its name to NUIM Barnhall, reflecting the club's tie-in with the
National University of Ireland, Maynooth
The National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM; ga, Ollscoil na hÉireann Mhá Nuad), commonly known as Maynooth University (MU), is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. It w ...
; and in 2015 to the current MU Barnhall, reflecting the university's change of style to 'Maynooth University'.
Barnhall currently play in Division 2A of the AIL League
Over the years notable players have included
Trevor Brennan
Trevor Brennan (born 29 September 1973) is an Irish former rugby union player. He played for Barnhall, Bective Rangers, St Marys College RFC, Leinster, Stade Toulousain and Ireland, being capped 13 times. He played either in the second row o ...
.
Honours
*
All Ireland League Division 2B
**''Winners'': 2018-19: 1
*
Leinster Senior League Shield The Leinster Senior League Shield was a rugby competition in Ireland, involving lower-ranked senior rugby clubs in Leinster, i.e. clubs from Leinster competing in the lower divisions of the All-Ireland League. It ran from 2011-12 until 2015-16. Pr ...
**''Winners'': 2013-14: 1
Youth Development
MU Barnhall RFC have a large underage rugby programme. The mini-section in the club has players from under-8's level to under-13's.
The youth teams from under 13's to under 19's follow the IRFU's Long Term Player Development Plan(LTPD) and the emphasis moves from participation and fundamentals to learning to play the game and learning to train for the game. The under 19's team play in the Under-19 Premier League. Barnhall were very successful in the Under 16(now Under 17) competition winning the All Ireland in 2005/2006 and runners up in 2001 and 2006/2007. The 2005/2006 squad also went on to win the All-Ireland competition.
Women's Rugby
In 2007 Barnhall entered the Leinster Women's league for the first time. Managed by Jennie Coleman and coached by Keith Bewley and Kevin Sheil the team went as far as the final in their inaugural year losing out to Longford in the final at
Malahide
Malahide ( ; ) is an affluent coastal settlement in Fingal, County Dublin, Ireland, situated north of Dublin city. It has a village centre surrounded by suburban housing estates, with a population of over 17,000.
Malahide Castle dates from th ...
.
The team draws its players mostly from the Tag-rugby leagues which are played every Summer in Parsonstown and from NUI Maynooth whose rugby programme has close links with Barnhall RFC.
In 2010 the Barnhall Women won the Leinster Div 3 to become Leinster champions.
Representative Rugby
Over the years Barnhall has produced players who have gone on to play representative rugby for
Leinster
Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...
,
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 ...
and even abroad. Trevor Brennan began his career in Parsonstown before going on to play for
Bective Rangers
Bective Rangers Football Club is a rugby union club in Dublin, Ireland founded in 1881.
The Club is affiliated to the Leinster Branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union and play in Division 1A of the Leinster League.
The club plays its games a ...
in the AIL and then captaining
St Mary's College RFC
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 a ...
to AIL division 1 success. Trevor was contracted to Leinster when he moved back to Barnhall who had just achieved senior status and were promoted to AIL Division 2. He was capped 13 times for Ireland before moving to French side
Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...
where he appeared in three
Heineken Cup
The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...
finals in a row winning two of them.
Brendan Burke made his AIL debut at the age of 17 and earned a Leinster contract by becoming one of the top try-scorers of all time in the AIL with 49 tries. He played for the Irish under-19's and Irish 7's teams and is currently playing with English Division 1 team Bedford.
Klein Jan Tromp arrived in Barnhall from
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
in 2001. Klein was quoted in a South African rugby magazine saying that his year in Barnhall re-ignited his passion to play rugby and on his return to South Africa he played both
Currie Cup
The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...
and
Super 14 rugby for the Cheetahs and the Cats.
References
Barnhall RFC
{{Irish rugby links
Irish rugby union teams
Rugby union clubs in County Kildare
Rugby clubs established in 1969
Sport in Leixlip
Senior Irish rugby clubs (Leinster)
Maynooth University