The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) () is the body managing

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

in the island of

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

(both

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

). The IRFU has its head office at 10/12

Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road Stadium (, ) was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for the Aviva Stadium on ...

and home ground at

Aviva Stadium Aviva Stadium, also known as Lansdowne Road (, ) or Dublin Arena (during UEFA competitions), is a List of stadiums in Ireland by capacity, sports stadium located in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,711 spectators ...

, where adult men's Irish rugby union international matches are played. In addition, the Union also owns the

Ravenhill Stadium Ravenhill Stadium (known as the Kingspan Stadium for sponsorship reasons until June 2025) is a rugby stadium located in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the home of Ulster Rugby. With the opening of a new stand for the 2014 Heineken Cup quarter ...

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

Thomond Park Thomond Park is a stadium in Limerick in the Irish province of Munster. The stadium is owned by the Munster Rugby and has Shannon RFC and UL Bohemian RFC as tenants. Limerick FC played home games in Thomond Park from 2013 to 2015 in the Le ...

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

and a number of grounds in provincial areas that have been rented to clubs.

History

Initially, there were two unions: the Irish Football Union, which had jurisdiction over clubs in

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

and parts of

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

and was founded in December 1874, and the Northern Football Union of Ireland, which controlled the

area and was founded in January 1875. The IRFU was formed in 1879 as an amalgamation of these two organisations and branches of the new IRFU were formed in Leinster, Munster and Ulster. The

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

Branch was formed in 1900. The IRFU was a founding member of the International Rugby Football Board, now known as

World Rugby World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international competit ...

, in 1886 with

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. (England refused to join until 1890.) Following the

partition of Ireland The Partition of Ireland () was the process by which the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (UK) divided Ireland into two self-governing polities: Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland (the area today known as the R ...

in to what is now the

(an independent country) and

(a region of the United Kingdom), the then Committee of the Irish Rugby Football Union decided that it would continue to administer its affairs on the basis of the full 32 Irish counties and the traditional four provinces of Ireland:

(12 counties),

(9 counties),

(6 counties), and

(5 counties), as they had been whilst all in the United Kingdom. This led to the unusual, but not unique, situation among international rugby union teams, where the Irish representative teams are drawn from players from two separate political, national territories: Ireland (an independent, sovereign state) and Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom). To maintain the unity of Irish rugby union and the linkages between North and South, the IRFU purchased a new ground in 1923 in the Ravenhill district of

at a cost of £2,300. The last full International at Ravenhill involving Ireland for more than a half-century took place in 1953–54 against Scotland who were victorious by 2 tries (6 points) to nil. Australia played Romania in the 1999 World Cup at the ground. The next full International played at Ravenhill was the Rugby World Cup warm-up match against Italy in August 2007 due to the temporary closure of Lansdowne Road for reconstruction. The four provincial branches of the IRFU first ran cup competitions during the 1880s. Although these tournaments still take place every year, their significance has been diminished by the advent of an All-Ireland league of 48 Senior Clubs in 1990. The four provincial teams have played an Interprovincial Championship since the 1920s and continue to be the focal point for players aspiring to the international level. These are

and

. All four provinces play at the senior level as members of the

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in ...

Logos and emblems

The Irish Rugby Football Union represents the island of Ireland and the emblems and symbols it uses have reflected its association with the whole of the island of Ireland since its formation. Some elements have changed since 1874, but what has remained consistent throughout the history of the union is the use of the shamrock in its emblems. Originally the Shamrock was a five-sprig emblem covering most of the lefthand side of the jersey and this was used until the 1898 game against England in when it was replaced with a white shield with a sprig of four similar sized shamrocks. Louis Magee 1902

In 1927 a new crest was introduced, with the shamrock design altered to a sprig of three shamrocks of a similar size within a smaller white shield. This was the official crest until 1974 when the centenary logo was used, and which continued to be used with only a slight modification made in 2010. Logos used on the official match programmes from the 1920s to 1954, showing a single shamrock surrounded by an oval had no relation to the official jersey emblem. The only time an Irish jersey had a single shamrock was when the Ireland side toured Chile and Argentina in 1952 and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in 1970, and in both series no caps were awarded. Although the use of the shamrock has been a constant, albeit with modifications to design, other elements of symbology have changed. In the early twenties, when the Irish Free State was established, the union was left in the position of governing a game for one island containing two separate political entities. A controversy ensued as to what flag should be flown at international matches. For a side that played both in Dublin and Belfast (the former being in the Free State, the latter being politically part of the United Kingdom) this posed a significant issue. IRFU flag

In 1925 the union designed their own flag, incorporating the arms of the four provinces. Although it had the same elements as the Flag of the Four Provinces, it was not identical, instead having them separated on a green background with the IRFU logo in the centre. Even so, the call to fly the

Irish tricolour The national flag of Ireland (), frequently referred to in Ireland as 'the tricolour' () and elsewhere as the Irish tricolour, is a vertical tricolour of green (at the hoist), white and orange. The proportions of the flag are 1:2 (that is t ...

continued. In 1932, despite the IRFU insisting that only the IRFU flag was flown at home internationals, pressure continued such that the Minister for External Affairs in the Free State asked to meet with the president of the Union. The result was that on 5 February 1932, the IRFU unanimously voted to fly both the flag of the union and the national flag at Lansdowne Road at all international matches in Dublin. The IRFU flag, as designed in 1925, is that which is still used by the Ireland rugby union side, albeit with the logo updated in the middle. At the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup, was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The World Rugby, International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japa ...

, the Ireland team entered the field of play at the beginning of their matches with the Irish tricolour and the

Flag of Ulster The flag of Ulster, Ireland consists of a red cross on a gold background with a red hand on a white shield in the centre. History The flag of Ulster came about when Walter de Burgh, 1st Earl of Ulster became Earl of Ulster in 1264. He merg ...

. Similar to the flag and logo compromise, since The Rugby World Cup in 1995, the Irish rugby team has sung both the Irish national anthem "

Amhrán na bhFiann "" (), or in English, "The Soldier's Song", is the national anthem of Ireland. The music was composed by Peadar Kearney and Patrick Heeney, the original English lyrics written by Kearney, and the Irish-language translation, now usually the ...

" and "

Ireland's call "Ireland's Call" is a song by Phil Coulter used as a national anthem by some sports competitors representing the island of Ireland, originally the Ireland men's rugby union team. It was commissioned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) fo ...

Affiliation

There are currently approximately 95,000 rugby players in total in Ireland. There are 56 clubs affiliated to the

Branch; 71 to the

Branch; 59 to the

Branch and 23 to the

Branch. In addition, there are 246 schools playing rugby: Ulster (107), Leinster (75), Munster (41) and Connacht (23). The IRFU also has an Exiles branch tasked with developing "Ireland-qualified" players (i.e., eligible to play internationally for Ireland as members of the

Irish diaspora The Irish diaspora () refers to ethnic Irish people and their descendants who live outside the island of Ireland. The phenomenon of migration from Ireland is recorded since the Early Middle Ages,Flechner, Roy; Meeder, Sven (2017). The Irish ...

) living in England, Scotland and Wales. Volunteers provide coaching, administration and development under the supervision of a paid development manager.

IRFU presidents

* 1874-76: Duke of Abercorn * 1876-79: Duke of Marlborough * 1879-80: W.C. Neville * 1880-81: W. Goulding * 1881-82: R.B. Walkington * 1883-84: A.R. McMullen * 1884-85: R.E. McLean * 1885-86: G. Scriven * 1886-87: W.L. Stokes * 1887-88: J. Chambers * 1888-89: R. Biggs * 1889-90: F.W. Moore * 1890-91: M.H. Turnbull * 1891-92: H. Hook * 1892-93: J.R. Blood * 1893-94: R. Garratt * 1894-95: J. Macaulay * 1895-96: R.G. Warren * 1896-97: J. Dodds * 1897-98: J.F. Maguire * 1898-99: J.B. Moore * 1899-00: S. Lee * 1900-01: J. O'Sullivan * 1901-02: T. Thornhill * 1902-03: J. Johnston * 1903-04: V.J. Murray * 1904-05: A.D. Clinch * 1905-06: F.M. Hamilton * 1906-07: J. Flynn * 1907-08: G.H.B. Kennedy * 1908-09: A. Barr * 1909-10: C.W.L. Alexander * 1910-11: F.C. Purser * 1911-12: J.H. O'Conor * 1912-13: R. Stevenson * 1913-16: F.H. Browning * 1919-20: A. Tedford * 1920-21: W.P. Hinton * 1921-22: R.M. Magrath * 1922-23: G.G. McCrea * 1923-24: H. Thrift * 1924-25: J.J. Coffey * 1925-26: F.J. Strain * 1926-27: G.T. Hamlet * 1927-28: J. Sealy * 1928-29: H.J. Millar * 1929-30: T.J. Greeves * 1930-31: J.G. Musgrave * 1931-32: W.A. Clarke * 1932-33: C.S. Neill * 1933-34: S.E. Polden * 1934-35: J. Wallace * 1935-36: S.T. Irwin * 1936-37: C. Davitt * 1937-38: H.E. Emerson * 1938-45: J.J. Warren * 1945-46: H.J. Anderson * 1946-47: W.A.B. Douglas * 1947-48: T.M. McGrath * 1948-49: G.P.S. Hogan * 1949-50: W.G. Fallon * 1960-61: N.F. Murphy * 1961-62: L.B. McMahon * 1962-63: J.A.E. Siggins * 1963-64: T.A. O'Reilly * 1964-65: C.C. Harte * 1965-66: P.F. Murray * 1966-67: D.G. O'Donovan * 1967-68: E. O'Davy * 1968-69: C.P. Crowley * 1969-70: J.W.S. Irwin * 1970-71: E. Patterson * 1971-72: D.A. Dineen * 1972-73: J.C. Conroy * 1973-74: I.F. Mahony * 1974-75: H.R. McKibbin * 1975-76: J.J. Keane * 1976-77: J.A.D. Higgins * 1977-78: J.F. Coffey * 1978-79: K.J. Quilligan * 1979-80: J. Montgomery * 1980-81: R. Ganly * 1981-82: J.J. Moore * 1982-83: J.E. Nelson * 1983-84: G.F. Reidy * 1984-85: M.H. Carroll * 1985-86: D. McKibbin * 1986-87: E. Bell * 1987-88: P.F. Madigan * 1988-89: T.J. Kiernan * 1989-90: A.R. Dawson * 1990-91: N.J. Henderson * 1991-92: A.D. Browne * 1992-93: C.A. Quaid * 1993-94: M. Cuddy * 1994-95: K.E. Reid * 1995-96: S. Millar * 1996-97: R.M. Deacu * 1997-98: N.H Brophy * 1998-99: N.A.A. Murphy * 1999-00: W.S.H. Lavery * 2000-01: E. Coleman * 2001-02: R. Loughead * 2002-03: D.M. Crowley * 2003-04: J.K. Quilligan * 2004-05: B.T. Keogh * 2005-06: D.A. Crawford * 2006-07: P.J. Boyle * 2007-08: D.V. Healy * 2008-09: J. Lyons * 2009-10: J.R. Callaghan * 2010-11: Caleb Powell * 2011-12: John D. Hussey * 2012-13: William B. Glynn * 2013-14: Pat Fitzgerald * 2014-15: Louis Magee * 2015-16: Martin O'Sullivan * 2016-17: Stephen Hilditch * 2017-18: Philip Orr * 2018-19: Ian McIlrath * 2019-20: Nicholas Comyn * 2020-21: Des Kavanagh * 2021-22: Des Kavanagh * 2022-23: John Robinson * 2023-24: Greg Barrett

National teams

Ireland national rugby union team The Ireland national rugby union team is the men's representative national team for the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team represents both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Ireland competes in the annual Six Nations Champio ...

Ireland national rugby sevens team The Ireland national rugby sevens team competed in several international rugby sevens competitions. The team was governed by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU). In May 2025 the IRFU dismantled the programme at the end of the 2024/25 season, i ...

Ireland women's national rugby union team The Ireland women's national rugby union team represents Ireland in international women's rugby union competitions such as the Women's Six Nations Championship and the Women's Rugby World Cup. They have also represented Ireland in the FIRA ...

* Ireland women's national rugby sevens team *

Ireland Wolfhounds The Ireland Wolfhounds (also known as Ireland A and Ireland B) are the second national rugby union team of Ireland, behind the Ireland national team. History The Wolfounds previously competed in the Churchill Cup together with the England Sax ...

Emerging Ireland Emerging Ireland is an Irish international rugby union team that represents Irish Rugby Football Union, Ireland in selected matches, tours and competitions. Composed of Ireland qualified players only, mostly uncapped or at the beginning of their c ...

* Ireland national under-20 rugby union team *

Ireland national schoolboy rugby union team The Irish Schoolboys rugby union team is the national team for secondary school students and under-18 school players in Ireland. There is an equivalent Ireland under 18 clubs side that play international rugby. Role The Irish Schoolboys side re ...

Notes and references

External links

*
IrishRugby.net
{{Authority control Rugby union, Ireland 1879 establishments in Ireland

Rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

National members of World Rugby Sports organizations established in 1879