Clonakilty RFC

Clonakilty RFC currently fields 3 competitive adult teams(Seniors, 2nd's and 3rd's) a whole range of underage teams from U19 down to U8 and a Veterans' XV(many of whom could still play competitive rugby if they so chose)

Our 1st XV play rugby in the All Ireland League, Division 2 which is a remarkable achievment for a club of our age and location.

Our grounds are based at Shannonvale, just 2 miles outside Clonakilty town in beautiful West Cork with facilities including 2 pitches, floodlighting, full managed gymnasium, multiple changing rooms & last but not least - 2 bars.

We are always on the lookout for new members, playing and otherwise so feel free to contact us from our contacts page or just call out sometime and enjoy the rugby

Clonakilty Rugby Club as we know it now, was formed in 1977 at a meeting in The Kilty Stone Tavern on Pearse St. which was the spiritual home of the club for many 30 years. The main reason at that time for the reformation of the club was to provide a social outlet for those involved.

Rugby had been played for periods previously in the town. In 1890 a Clonakilty side competed in The Munster Senior Cup for the first time. The club played their games in The Showgrounds but disbanded in the early 1900's.

Clonakilty R.F.C. took the field again in the 1930's when the late Paul Blewitt, father of the revered former Hon. Sec. the late Jimmy Blewitt was a stalwart player and administrator. The club disbanded again before The Second World War and was not heard of again until that fateful evening in The Kilty Stone Tavern in 1977.

Two weeks later the first Clonakilty team fielded against Bandon in a home fixture at a field in Desert(provided by the Jennings family, who later also provided David, successful Club Captain) recorded the club's first victory.

The following season the club entered the Minor A league (J2) under the Captaincy of past President, Kevin Dillon, whose son Paul is a current member of the first team squad whose other sons Terry, Barry, Derek and Brian have figured with distinction for the club in the recent past

After a very successful league campaign in the first year in competition, the Clonakilty 1st XV took the Droumleena West Cork Cup at the end of the season, defeating local rivals, Bandon, in a typically hard fought encounter and brought home the first silverware.

The following season saw Clonakilty consolidate their position under the leadership of Denis Noonan who had been the driving force behind the formation of the club. Kevin Dillon was again appointed Captain for the 1979/80 season and the club were now back playing in The Showgrounds. The first team put in some memorable perand were unbeaten on their way to winning The Minor A league for the first time.

The success had new players flocking to the club and as a result a second team started to progress well. With the enthusiasm of captain Ray O'Neill and coach Tom Kirby the team enjoyed a successful season. The 1980/81 season saw the club fielding four adult sides for the first time. This was an incredible achievement in its own right but the 1st’s and 2nd’s went on to contest their respective cup finals but unfortunately neither was able to overcome the might of Cork Constitution in Musgrave Park. John O’Brien and Justin Houlihan captained the sides.

Tadhg Harte became Captain the following season and Kevin Dillon, as Coach/Manager encouraged leading GAA stalwarts Eoin O'Mahony, Casey O'Donovan, James O'Donovan and Gerry Ryan to compliment a very strong pack and bring the club to unprecedented success with a victory over Skibbereen in The O'Neill Cup final and added the Minor A league for good measure.

In 1982/83 season under the Captaincy of the aforementioned James Blewitt the club entered Junior ranks for the first time. This was a season that experienced one of those cyclical phenomena when a large number of players are lost to a club through retirement or migration. It is therefore to the credit of those concerned that they flourin spite of the step up and the player loss, to remain undefeated until Christmas and then to narrowly go down in the Munster Junior Cup.

In 83/84 the club was again skippered by Denis Noonan, in 84/85 by Howard Deane, Barry Kirby in 85/86 and Liam Cahill took over the reins in 86/87. These were the years when the first players from the clubs underage section started to come through as Junior players. Under the guidance of Noel (The Bear) O'Sullivan, the under 18 team started their sequence of West Cork victories which is unrivalled to date. The debt owed to the underage coaches at this time can never be repaid but perhaps the threshold the club is now at, will have been a source of great personal satisfaction to men like Kevin Dillon, Tom Kirby, Dan O'Donovan and Jimmy O'Regan, whose sons Tim and Kevin featured strongly in the rise to seniority while John features in the current successes. During these mid-eighties seasons the club had some magnificent Junior Cup outings especially against the brilliant Cork Constitution side of those years.

In the 86/87 season Dave O'Hea and Tadgh Harte took over the second XV. The Kelly Cup was won for the first time with this young enthusiastic team. Tadgh went on to coach the firsts in the following season under the captaincy of Teddy Cullinane and the team narrowly lost the O'Neill Cup final in a replay to Skibbereen but victory was achieved in the Quinlan West Cork Cup at the end of a great season.

Clonakilty R.F.C. changed direction in 1994 in as much as the playing side became managed as a separate entity. The introduction of Kevin Casey a New Zealander to coach and develop all players within the club including the under age section was followed with the appointment of other full time coaches. Brendan Breen, James Lancaster, Wayne Warlow, Simon Brooke, Steve Joslin all contributed to bringing the players to the current level of skill which is now so evident. These coaches worked closely with a number of club coaches and managers The appointment of local boy Terry Dillon as player coach in 2000 later to be assisted by forwards coach Eugene “Ginger” Murnane proved to be an inspired move.

The 2000-01 season will live long in the memory of all Clonakilty sportsmen when Clonakilty's 1st 15 went through 12 games undefeated to win the Munster Junior League, then defeated Connaught Champions Connemara All-Blacks, The Leinster Champions Navan and the Ulster Champions Lisburn to win the Round Robin and qualify for Senior Status to complete an exhausting but memorable season. Clonakilty won the very prestigious Munster Junior Cup reputed to be one of the most difficult competitions to win in any grade of rugby.

In 02/03 the addition of David Corkery to assist Terry Dillon underlined the Club's ambitious nature. 03/04 Allan Rutherford took over as Head coach and assisted by Declan Coppinger brought the club to second place in the 17 club division three. They were very unfortunate to lose narrowly and unluckily to Barnhall in a promotion play-off in Leixlip. Following this “Decky” went solo and assisted by senior players, Eddie Knowles and Derek Dillon and with specialist input from Paul Barr he finished the job winning the division in style, promotion to division two and also taking the championship in that memorable day out in Lansdowne Road.

All the aforementioned can take great pride in the current team and they have taken the players to a level undreamt of in 99/00 when Clon were playing in Division 2 of The Munster Junior League.

The U. 16's coached by Malachy Boohig in 2000/01 progressed to a very formidable team and completed a great season by winning the All Ireland League title. The side progressed to U18 level in 2002 and won the AIL title again in the new age group. Many are appearing in the senior squad since then. The other Under-Age teams covered themselves in glory and Clonakilty Under-Age at every level are now amongst the most respected and feared teams in the South Munster division. indeed the current U15 side are undefeated in nearly two seasons.

The Clonakilty Ladies, recently disbanded but hopefully to be resurected in the future have been very influential in the club. Under dedicated and inspirational coaches including Steve Joslin, Ritchie Draper, Kate McCarthy & Patrick Noonan enjoyed some very successful seasons and having won the AIL Division 2 title in '01 / '02 to gain promotion to A.I.L. division 1, and adding the All Ireland Cup in 04/05.

Successive administrations have contributed hugely to the development of the club. People like Colm Quirke, Barry Kirby, Ray O'Neill, Noel Murphy, and Martin Kingston to mention just a few all left indelible marks and continto take a keen interest in the club. The late Jimmy Blewitt, Robbie O'Higgins, Grattan Neville, Justin Houlihan and Tony Deane can be included in that context as their presence is still felt strongly throughout the club.

Ambition was never in short supply in the club but as its foundation was socially motivated few could have envisaged that a quarter of a century later they would find themselves a successful All Ireland League Division Two Senior Club fielding three adult teams and many successful underage sides. Long may it continue