The Ulster Hockey Union is the governing body for

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

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 ...

. It is affiliated to

Hockey Ireland Hockey Ireland, previously known as the Irish Hockey Association, is the governing body for field hockey in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is responsible for organising both the Ireland men's national field hockey team and t ...

. It organises a number of leagues and cup competitions for clubs and schools in the province. These include the Ulster Senior League, the

Kirk Cup The Kirk Cup is the oldest hockey tournament in Ulster and the oldest provincial hockey trophy in Ireland. It has become a tradition since the 1966-67 season for the final to be played on Boxing Day, a date previously reserved for the Anderson Cup ...

and 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 ...

. Over 70 clubs are affiliated to the union.

Foundation

The modern Ulster Hockey Union was founded in May 2009 following the merger of the Ulster Branch of the Irish Hockey Association and the Ulster Women's Hockey Union. The UBIHA was originally formed in December

1896 Events January–March * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end, as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports that Wil ...

. Founding members of the original association included the North Down,

Cliftonville Cliftonville is a coastal area of the town of Margate, situated to the east of the main town, in the Thanet district of Kent, South East England, United Kingdom. It also contains the area known as Palm Bay. The original Palm Bay estate was ...

and Antrim hockey clubs. At a special general meeting on 15 October 1897 at the Royal Avenue Hotel,

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 ...

, members of the association agreed to form the Ulster Senior League. The 1897–98 season also the introduction of the association's senior men's cup competition, the

Competitions

Men's

* Ulster Senior League *

Anderson Cup The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the midwestern United States, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. The USHL is strictly ...

Women's

Schoolboys

Burney Cup The Burney Cup (Ulster Schoolboys' Senior Hockey Cup) is an annual competition involving the strongest schools affiliated to the Ulster Hockey Union, Ulster Branch of the Irish Hockey Association. The competition is held in the spring term of eac ...

McCullough Cup The McCullough Cup is a hockey competition. It is an annual tournament played for by schools affiliated to the Ulster Branch of the Irish Hockey Association. The competition is held in the winter term of each school year, with the older Burney ...

* Richardson Cup

Schoolgirls

* Ulster Schoolgirls' Senior Cup

Representative players

The Ulster Hockey Union also organises representative teams. They mainly play against teams representing the other

provinces of Ireland There have been four Provinces of Ireland: Connacht (Connaught), Leinster, Munster, and Ulster. The Irish language, Irish word for this territorial division, , meaning "fifth part", suggests that there were once five, and at times Kingdom_of_ ...

. A number of Ireland, England and Great Britain internationals have also played for Ulster at interprovincial level.

Men

; * Harry Cahill *

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 ...

* David Judge ' *

Iain Lewers Iain Lewers (born 5 January 1984) is a field hockey player from Northern Ireland who represented Ireland, England and Great Britain at international level. He represented Great Britain at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics. He was also a member ...

* Eugene Magee * Stephen Martin *

Martin Sloan Martin Sloan, also referred to as Marty Sloan, is a former field hockey player from Northern Ireland who represented Ireland and Great Britain at international level. Between 1982 and 1995 he made 149 senior appearances for Ireland. Between 198 ...

; * Harry Cahill *

* David Judge ' *

* Stephen Martin *

; *

;Notes * David Judge represented Ulster at schoolboy level.

Women

; * Margaret Gleghorne * Violet McBride * Jackie McWilliams *

Maeve Kyle Maeve Esther Enid Kyle, OBE, née Shankey (born 6 October 1928), is an Irish Olympic athlete and hockey player. She was born in County Kilkenny. She competed in the 100m and 200m in the Melbourne Olympics and subsequently in the Rome Olympics ...

; * Margaret Gleghorne * Violet McBride * Jackie McWilliams

Personnel

* Stephen Martin worked for the union as a sports development manager from 1985 until 1991. *

Shirley McCay Shirley McCay (born 7 June 1988) is an Ireland women's field hockey international. She was a member of the Ireland team that played in the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final. McCay has played in the Women's Irish Hockey League for Old Alex, ...

has worked as a coach for the union since 2013. *

Angela Platt Angela Platt (born 29 May 1979) is a former Ireland women's field hockey international goalkeeper. Between 2000 and 2006 she made 75 senior appearances for Ireland. She represented Ireland at the 2002 Women's Hockey World Cup. She is also a fo ...

served as the executive manager of the union from 2009 until 2017.

References

{{Field hockey in Ireland

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 ...

Field hockey governing bodies in Ireland 1896 establishments in Ireland Sports organizations established in 1896