The Ennis Rugby Football Club (RFC) History Committee is making one last push to complete the compilation of the club’s centenary book.
Ennis RFC is celebrating its hundredth year with an ambitious and exciting programme of events, which is entitled “Ennis Rugby 100: A Century in the Making”.
A club spokesperson said: “Ennis RFC would like to sincerely thank everyone who have kindly donated and/or loaned photographs, medals, jerseys and other memorabilia. However, we are certain that there is even more treasure out there.”
“We are making one last call for everyone to look in their attics, under beds and in drawers for anything to do with Ennis RFC. To progress the publication of the Centenary book, we have set a closing date of March 31st for all contributions. We have a dedicated email address to which you can mail details of any items of interest to – erfchistory@gmail.com.
“Our former President and long time club member Johnny King has also kindly agreed to be a point of contact. You can get him on 086-3854514. To make things even easier for you, Johnny will attend the club from 7.30pm to 9.00pm on Thursday the 30th and Friday the 31st of March to accept your items of interest.
Please make one last push to assist us in making the publication as memorable as possible,” the spokesperson added.
Ennis Rugby Football Club (Ennis RFC) formally launched its centenary celebrations this at a reception in the County Council Chamber.
Ennis RFC is celebrating its hundredth year with an ambitious and exciting programme of events, which is entitled “Ennis Rugby 100: A Century in the Making”.
In 1923, when the Irish Free State was in its infancy, a group of pioneers established a rugby club in Ennis, Co Clare. It was a game that took time for the people of Ennis, and Ireland, to make their own. Ireland stands today as the #1 ranked rugby nation in the world. That success is built on local community rugby clubs across Ireland, just like Ennis RFC.
After a century in existence, Ennis RFC members are taking stock of the road they’ve travelled. They want to celebrate not just their rugby club, and the game of rugby, but the families and volunteers – down through the decades, right up to today – who work together to nurture the young people in their community, offering them a chance to develop friendships and skills that will help them throughout their lives.
Ennis RFC is proud of the social role it plays. It has always been a vital hub of the Ennis community and its hinterland. The club is based in the heart of the town, beside the famous Ennis Showgrounds. Today, it has over 650 members, who range from our U6 Leprechauns to more seasoned club members, volunteers and supporters.
This year is for them and those who have brought the club this far, in good shape, to 2023. Over the next year, “Ennis Rugby 100″ is a rallying call for its club members to work together in celebrating not only their illustrious and colourful history, but also to position Ennis RFC for the next 100 years.
An exciting program of events has been created, which includes a club history book; dinner dance; BBQ; celebratory matches; golf classic; and charity fundraisers. Ennis RFC will also launch a strategic plan, which will be a blueprint for how the club will work together and harness its energies so it can meet challenges which lie ahead and, in particular, to ensure that Ennis RFC continues to thrive well into the future.
Ennis RFC President, Dermot Hallahan, said: “We are very grateful for the support of the club members and we look forward to celebrating Ennis Rugby 100 in 2023 with club members and the wider rugby community in Clare.”
President of Munster Branch, Ger McNamara added: “I am delighted to help launch the Ennis Rugby 100, which is a great achievement and I wish the club a successful year of celebrations.”
As part of the centenary celebrations, the club is planning to publish a Centenary Book which will document, in word and picture, the story of the club from its genesis to the present day.
To ensure we don’t leave anything out, we are launching an appeal for help from anyone who has been associated with the club in any shape or form over the years.
Perhaps you or a relative played for the club and have old team photographs lying around at home? Perhaps you have old jerseys of interest or a funny story to tell? You might have coached a team, made the tea or washed the jerseys !
In any event, we want to hear from you and would appreciate any and all contributions you could make.
We promise to carefully treasure any memorabilia you might be in a position to loan us and will return it safely to you.
We have a dedicated email address to which you can mail details of any items of interest to – erfchistory@gmail.com. Our former President and long time club member Johnny King has also kindly agreed to be a point of contact. You can get him on 086-3854514.
We would love you to help us record your treasured memories of the last 100 years as we enter our second century.
52% of our membership is from Ennis and its immediate environs with the remaining 48% coming from players from all over the county. Players come from Ballyvaughan in North Clare to Ballinacally along the Shannon Estuary and from Doolin on the wild Atlantic Way to Feakle in East Clare.
Girls and Women’s rugby was first introduced to Ennis RFC in September 2017. Over 20% of the current club membership is female and it continues to grow.
This season has seen another huge development with the creation of our women’s squad. This was built on a demand from within, with our girls looking for a way to play for their club after they completed underage rugby. The growth and success of the women’s squad again has been achieved on the back of hard work and commitment from the coaches, mentors and players and the tremendous support from the club.
In 2015, Ennis RFC was Munster “Underage Club of the Year”.
Current Munster players who came through the Ennis underage system include Aoife Corey, Eilish Cahill, Elana McInerney, Ethan Coughlan and Tony Butler.
Current underage players on Munster development squads include Lynsey Clarke, Orna Moynihan, Gráinne Burke, Luca Cleary, Nico Rous, Marco Cleary and Michael Sweeney.
