Club History
Sligo RFC is one of the oldest clubs in Ireland, having been founded in 1890. The club had the honour in 1896, of playing in the first Connacht Senior Cup game ever held in the province, when their opponents were University College Galway.
County Sligo v. Dublin University 2nd XV – 1910
Back Row: Wilson, McCarthy, Evans, Lyndon, Wiley, Hosie, Martin, Longmoor, Harvey, Cavanagh. Middle Row: Shaw, Scott, Lauder, Quigley, Moore, Denning, Quinlan, Moore, McCarter (Capt. D.U.), Pratt, Joughin, Vernon, Burgess, Pettigrew. Front Row: Ribton (Capt. Co. Sligo), Sproule, Douris, Bradstreet, Keenan, Kidd, Sinclair, Nunan.
Sligo won the Connacht Senior Cup for the only time in 1914, defeating Galway Town by 9-3, and they unsuccessfully contested three consecutive Senior Cup finals, against UCG in 1923, 1924, and 1925.
Between 1925-1974, Sligo played as a Junior side, and enjoyed considerable success. They won the Connacht Junior Cup in 1925 for the first time, and subsequently were victorious in 1954, 1966 and 1968. Sligo also won the Connacht Junior League in the 1965/66, 1967/68 and 1971/72 seasons.
The club was granted senior status by the Connacht Branch in the 1975/76 season, and until 1997/98, competed as a senior club. Sligo played in the All-Ireland from 1993/94 until 1997/98, before being relegated after a play-off with Midleton.
Since returning to junior ranks, Sligo won the Connacht Junior Cup in 1999 and 2005. In 2005 also, the club won the All-Ireland U-18 League for the first time, when they defeated Barnhall in a thrilling final in Naas.
Sligo RFC has a thriving underage section. Five club members, Gavin Foley (1993, 1994), Billy Leahy (2000), David McGowan (2002, 2003), Jason East (2007) and Aaron Spring (2008) were capped for Ireland at Youth Level, while David was also capped for Ireland U-19’s in 2004, and at U-21 in 2005 and in 2006.
The ’Father of the Club’ is George Hamlet, who was Club President from 1969-1972 and after whom the Hamlet Room in the Clubhouse is named. George is a son of the late George T. Hamlet (Old Wesley), who was capped 30 times for Ireland, and captained the International team on 8 occasions, and who served as President of the IRFU in 1926/27.
Sligo RFC was also honoured when Joe Burgess, who was Club President in 1994/95, was elected President of the Connacht Branch in 2001/02.
Trivia: The current Sligo RFC crest was updated in 2007 with the re-addition of the escallop shell which in the past was typically attached the the hare’s foot and is synonymous with Sligo (Shelly Place, as gaeilge). The original crest though was inspired by the Springboks crest from the late forties, and designed by Jack Regan. See this post for more information.
Past Presidents
| 1890-99 Sgt. O’Neill 1912-14 Sgt. Foster 1922-25 Rev. Fr. Wagner 1926-32 W.J. Smith 1949-53 Cmdt. Bill Barrett 1957-59 C. Shaw 1959-60 Rev. Fr. Gardner 1960-61 T. O’Sullivan 1961-64 D. Gilligan 1964-65 A. Bradshaw 1965-69 J. Mullan 1969-72 G. A. Hamlet |
1972-74 B. McDonagh 1974-75 H. Hackett 1975-77 V. J. O’Brien 1977-80 Ernest Cooke 1980-82 Michael Collins 1982-83 Aidan Buckley 1983-84 Enda Allen 1984-85 Dr. Jimmy Devins 1985-86 Brian Mullan 1986-87 Joe Coulter 1987-89 George Draper 1989-90 Eamonn McGowan |
1990-91 Frank Feeney 1991-94 Aidan Buckley 1994-95 Joe Burgess 1995-96 Pat McEnroe 1996-99 Damien Heaslip 1999-01 Brian Mullan 2001-03 Michael Storey 2003-05 Des Butler 2005-06 Michael O’Hehir 2006-08 Tom Gilligan 2008-09 Conor Frazer 2009- Brendan Leahy |
Life Members
| Angus Boal Aidan Buckley Des Butler Jim Casey Ernest Cooke Dr. Niall Considine Joe Coulter Pat Curran Charlie Culhane John Davey Dr. Jimmy Devins T.D. Ronan Doyle George Draper Sen. Geraldine Feeney |
Kevin Flynn Declan Gallagher Des Gaynor Tom Gilligan George Hamlet Brendan Leahy David Lillie Michael Lucey Barry McConkey Eamonn McGowan Brian Mullan Alan McMeekin Dr. Donal Murray Dr. Thiaga Nadaraja |
John O’Connor Stephen O’Donovan Eddie O’Hehir Michael O’Hehir Jim Purdy Kevin Quinn (Snr.) Hans Ruxenhoff Michael Storey Dr. John Williams Declan Dunne Pat McEnroe Conor Frazer |
Honorary Life Members
Therese Cosgrove, Gavin Foley, Billy Leahy, David McGowan, Ann O’Toole, Jason East, Arron Spring
Connacht Senior InterProvincials
Brian McHugh, Charlie Culhane, David McGowan
Youth Internationals
Gavin Foley, Billy Leahy, David McGowan, Jason East, Arron Spring
U19 Internationals
Ross Allen, David McGowan
U21 Internationals
David McGowan
Women’s Internationals
Therese Cosgrove, Ann O’Toole
Women’s A Internationals
Therese Gosgrove, Sylvia Hunter, Finola Monaghan, Ann O’Toole
