Rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

is a

team sport A team sport includes any sport where individuals are organized into opposing sports team, teams which compete to win or cooperate to entertain their audience. Team members act together towards a shared objective. This can be done in a numb ...

played 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 ...

on an

all-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) refers to all of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Ireland" is most frequently used to refer to sporting teams or events for the entire islan ...

basis.

History

In May 1934

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

beat

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

32–19 in an exhibition match in

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 ...

. Twenty years later, in May 1954, Warrington were again defeated by Halifax in both

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 ...

(34–15) and Dublin (23–11). The first rugby league club side to actually play in Ireland, Dublin Blues, were not formed until 1989. They consisted mostly of

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 ...

players who wanted to test themselves in the other code. The Blues competed against touring teams from Britain scoring victories over

British amateur The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

opposition. In early 1995 the Rugby Football League development arm financed the position of a Development Officer for Ireland, providing a boost to the development of the game. This laid the basis for the formation of the national Ireland side, which played its first ever game on

St Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ( ga, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit=the Day of the Festival of Patrick), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patr ...

1995, in

Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, defeating the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

24–22. Competitive matches were established between teams in

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 ...

and

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 ...

: Schoolboy matches were played between

and

schools, Open Age Clubs competed against each other in the All-Ireland Challenge Cup. Teams included Belfast Wildcats and Bangor Vikings from

. In 2011 an academy was set up in

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 ...

where talented players would be identified to sign with Super League clubs, 4 were eventually signed across

St Helens R.F.C. St Helens R.F.C. is a professional rugby league club in St Helens, Merseyside who compete in the Super League, the top tier for rugby league in Great Britain. They are the current Champions, having won the last 4 consecutive titles, and becom ...

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England, that compete in the Super League, the top-level professional rugby league club competition in the Northern Hemisphere. The club have competed i ...

and

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headi ...

. In 2022,

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 ...

made their

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

debut.

Governing body

In Ireland the

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ge ...

Rugby League Ireland Rugby League Ireland (RLI) is the internationally recognised governing body for the development of rugby league football in Ireland, having secured official recognition from the RLIF in 2000. It is recognised within the Irish Sports Council a ...

(RLI).

Competitions

Ireland National League

Ulster League

;Results

Provincial League

;Results

Media

There are two weekly rugby league newspapers in the UK

Rugby Leaguer & League Express ''Rugby Leaguer & League Express'' is a weekly newspaper published every Monday in the United Kingdom. Other rugby league titles published by League Publications Ltd include the monthly magazine ' Rugby League World' and the annual 'Rugby League ...

an
League Weekly
and two monthly magazines,

Rugby League World ''Rugby League World'' is a dedicated rugby league magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom. Other rugby league titles published by League Publications Ltd include the weekly newspaper ''Rugby Leaguer & League Express'' and the annual ''G ...

and Thirteen Magazine. Most of their content covers the sport in Britain, Australia and New Zealand but Irish rugby league is also covered. These publications are usually only available by subscription in Ireland. International rugby league magazine covers all rugby league internationally and has featured Ireland's domestic season, road to the world cup and interviewed

Luke Ambler Luke Ambler (born 18 December 1989) is a former Ireland international rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. He has played at representative level for Yorkshire (Under-17s) and Ireland, and at club level for Elland ARLFC, ...

. A rugby union publication called Emerald Rugby covers rugby league in Ireland each month.

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

own the rights to broadcast a highlights package called the

Super League Show The ''Super League Show'' is the BBC's principal rugby league programme, shown on BBC One in the North of England on Monday evenings, repeated nationally on BBC Two on Tuesday lunchtimes and also on BBC iPlayer. The programme, produced by PDI ...

which was first broadcast in Northern Ireland in 2008. Prior to this it had only been broadcast in the North of England.

Rugby League Raw Rugby League Raw was a regional BBC Sport television programme featuring rugby league action and behind-the-scenes footage from the National Leagues play-offs. The series began in 2000 as a regional programme on Yorkshire Television and switched ...

is not broadcast in Northern Ireland despite the BBC owning the rights to do so. The BBC covers the Rugby League

from the rounds in which the top clubs enter.

BBC Radio Five Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcast ...

and BBC Five Live Sports Extra carry commentary from a selection of Super League matches each week,. Live

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

and

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

games are shown on

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

Arena with highlights also being shown on the channel. From the 2022 season, 10 live

games per season will be shown on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

, the first time the league will be shown on terrestrial television.

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

games are shown on

Premier Sports Viaplay Sports and Premier Sports are a group of pay television sports channels owned by Viaplay Group. Viaplay Sports holds exclusive live UK and Republic of Ireland TV rights to La Liga, Scottish League Cup, Elite Ice Hockey League, NHL an ...

, with one game a week being aird. Setanta Sports Ireland broadcast highlights of the 2005 and 2006 pre-season Dublin challenge matches, and the 2005 European Nations Cup, on its Sports Weekly and Sports Monthly programmes. Manchester based

Channel M Channel M was a regional television station, serving Greater Manchester. The station, originally known as ''Manchester Student Television'', was owned and operated by the GMG Regional Media division of Guardian Media Group. Coverage Original ...

show some National League and amateur rugby on their Code XIII programme.

The national team

There are in fact two Ireland teams: the full ''Ireland'' side is dominated by players of Irish ancestry from the

and the

NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

, whilst the ''Irish Wolfhounds'' side is made up of players from the domestic Irish competition. Until recently the

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 ...

team were known as 'Great Britain and Ireland' and Irish players were able to play for them. Brian Carney (rugby footballer) is a rare example of a player who played in the Irish league and then gained a professional contract with Super League club

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...

, he went on to play for Great Britain and Ireland. Ireland also has a strong students Wolfhounds team who competed in the 2008 Students world cup and finished 2nd in the student's 4 nations tournament in 2009.

References

External links

Rugby League Ireland

{{Rugby League Playing Nations links Rugby league in Ireland, Rugby league in the United Kingdom