Unidare Rugby Football Club, commonly known as Unidare RFC, is a

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 ...

club founded in 1958. Unidare currently play at Balcurris park, Ballymun 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 ...

city,

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 ...

.IrishRugby.ie - Club contacts - Unidare Ravens
The club's emblem is a

Raven A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned t ...

and they play in Black and Red. The club plays in the Junior (J4) section of the

Leinster Branch Leinster Rugby ( ga, Rugbaí Laighean) is one of the four professional provincial rugby union teams from the island of Ireland and the most successful Irish team domestically. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby ...

Metropolitan League.

History

Foundation

Unidare Rugby Football Club was founded in 1958 by workers of the Unidare Works in Finglas, which is now defunct.LeinsterRugby.ie - ''Unidare-Finglas going from Strength to Strength...''
/ref> During the foundation years (1958–1977) the club participated in the Business Houses Cup Competition and took part in friendly matches during the rest of the season. The club did not have their own grounds, but were given the use of a playing field and dressing rooms in Blackrock College by Father Shields.

Business Houses League

In 1977 the Business Houses League was formed. At that time Unidare Rugby Football Club was given grounds in Unidare Industrial estate on Jamestown Road, Finglas. The grounds were developed further by the club with dressing rooms, training lights, etc. The club did well in the Business Houses League, winning it for the first time in the 1980-1981 season. AIB had won the competition for the first three seasons of the competition. The club continued to participate in this competition during the 1980s.

Recent developments

In 1990 the club lost its playing fields when Unidare plc sold the land for development, and the club was hosted by

Suttonians RFC Suttonians Rugby Football Club is affiliated to the Irish Rugby Football Union. The men's 1st XV team plays in Division 1A of the Leinster League. The women's 1st XV, nicknamed 'Tribe', play in Division 1 of the women's All Ireland League. The c ...

and

Malahide RFC Malahide RFC is an Irish rugby club based in Malahide, Fingal County, playing in Division 2B of the All-Ireland League. The club was founded in 1922 but disbanded in 1944 because of a lack of members during World War II. The club was reformed i ...

for different seasons. In 2005, the club formed an alliance with

Dublin City University Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) ( ga, Ollscoil Chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a university based on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. Created as the ''National Institute for Higher Education, Dublin'' in 1975, it enrolled its f ...

Sports to play and train in the Ballymun grounds. As of 2011, Unidare played 21 seasons without a permanent home. Unidare in conjunction with The Dublin City Council were allocated the use of Balcurris Park as their new home ground.

Youth Section

In recent years, the club has undergone a revival in interest and membership and has focused in particular on the development of its youth teams. In the 2007/08 season, the club's first competitive under-age side created history by coming runners-up in the Dublin Metro U-18 League, at their very first attempt. The club currently fields youth sides at U-14, U-16, & U-18 and has ten fully qualified coaches currently working in their underage section.Emerald Rugby Magazine, October 2007

2007/2008 Season

2007/2008 J4 Metropolitan League Fixtures/Results

2007/2008 Friendly Fixtures/Results

2011/2012 Season

2011/2012 J4 Metropolitan League Fixtures/Results

References

{{reflist Sport at Dublin City University Rugby clubs established in 1958 Rugby union clubs in Dublin (city)