About · History
Club History & Archive
125 years of St Mary's College RFC — the teams, the people and the life of the club
St Mary's College RFC was founded in September 1900 by past pupils of St Mary's College, Rathmines. It became a senior club in 1911, lay closed from 1917 until it was revived in 1932, and has made its home at Templeville Road since 1976. Along the way it has won the All-Ireland League three times (2000, 2012 and 2026), produced twelve British & Irish Lions and more than 30 Ireland internationals, and grown into a club of some 25 teams, from Little Rugby at age three to the Vets.
This page is the front door to the club's online archive. The first part points to the history of every team and competition. The second part tells the story of everything else that makes a club: the dinners and the dances, the golf, Ladies' Day, Strictly, the tours, the reunions and the people who made them happen.
Explore the archive
Every team and competition has its own history page, and most now end with a "From the Archive" section of press cuttings, programmes and photo galleries.
The club story
Senior rugby
Junior rugby
Women, U20, youth & minis
Representatives
Papers, pictures & film
Home grounds
Club life
The social side of St Mary's, from the dances of the 1940s to the 125 Gala Ball. Galleries are from the James Maguire photo archive on SmugMug.
Dances, dinners and big nights
In the 1940s and 1950s Jimmy Ganter's dances in the Crystal Ballroom on Anne Street, along with the pavilion tea-room, paid for the move from Kimmage Grove; later Gerry Ebbs ran the club dances for ten years, the club's main source of regular income. The first Annual Dinner on the club premises was held in 1966, organised for its first ten years by Matt Gilsenan, then by Colm Bevan from 1975 and Paddy McGlade from the 1990s, and since 2020 by Michael Fanagan.
Other great nights include the 50-year dinner for the 1957-58 Leinster Senior Cup team (November 2007), the Lions and Legends night for Denis Hickie and Malcolm O'Kelly (December 2011), Jonno's Night for Jonathan Sexton (February 2016), the Lions Preview Lunch (May 2017) and, in the 125th season, the Club 125 Gala Ball at the InterContinental on 9 May 2026. Each May the Club Sevens and the Captain's Dinner close the season.
Ladies' Day
From the Kimmage Grove days a Ladies' Committee looked after the post-match teas; Eileen Tracey led it in the early 1980s, following Kit Duff, Pauline Smyth, Sheila Kearns, Breda Gilsenan and Olivia Bagnall. The modern Ladies' Day, a lunch on an AIL home day, was run by Marie Hammond from 2013; the 2020 Ladies' Day, with guest speaker Jonny Bell, raised funds for Pieta House and was one of the best attended in memory. The Ladies' Lunch of October 2021 was organised by Deirdre Stapleton and Cathriona Pender.
Strictly St Mary's
The club's Strictly Come Dancing night was launched in January 2014 as the main fundraiser of the season, linking every section of the club. On 15 February 2014, in front of about 750 people at the Croke Park Conference Centre, Darragh Fanning and Rachel Coleman were crowned the winners; Niall Rynne was MC, and Eileen and Steve Tracey danced an exhibition. A second Strictly followed at Croke Park on 21 March 2015, with 13 couples and a video message from Joe Schmidt; Graeme McInerney and Mairead Ryan won with their tango. Both nights were organised by Marie Hammond.
Video: Strictly 2014 launch · Strictly teaser, January 2014 · Joe Schmidt's Strictly message, March 2015
Golf
St Mary's has won the Lorcan Sherlock Cup, Leinster's inter-club golf competition played at the Grange, twelve times: 1962, 1963, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1978, 1982, 1989, 1994, 2003, 2004 and 2011. The 2011 win restored order after the club had once finished last, with the Golf Society team led by Rory O'Connor, Bobby O'Connor and Tommy McGovern.
The Golf Society plays several outings a year, with the Claret Jug, the Benny Lynch Trophy and the Paul Flood Cup as its majors. The Golf Classic at the Castle Golf Club, held every year at the end of August, is one of the club's main fundraisers; Frank Kennedy was its constant organiser for many years.
Fundraisers, shows and sevens
The Fashion Show (April 2011), Star Factor (December 2011), White Collar Boxing against Terenure (May 2012), the Nightmary on Elm Street Halloween party (October 2013), The Great Match (November 2014), when members picked the two greatest St Mary's teams, and the St Mary's OsKars at the Hilton, Charlemont, on 1 April 2017, with six spoof films starring club members. Monthly club draws have run since 2012, and Club Sevens and Tag Sevens bring the whole club together at the end of the season.
Video: OsKars: Bridget Jones's Diary · OsKars: Fawlty Towers · OsKars: 12 Angry Men · OsKars: A Few Good Men
Christmas, family days and coffee mornings
Carols in the clubhouse every December, a Christmas lunch on an AIL home day (more than 330 sat down on 13 December 2025), and Santa for the minis. Family Days and Open Days (2011 to 2014) brought the local community into the club, the 2012 Open Day with a Garden Fête and trade show. Since October 2019 the DAF Coffee Morning has met on the last Thursday of every month.
Video: Open Day, September 2012
Tours and trips
Video: Argelès-sur-Mer 2009
Junior tours (Cologne, Berlin, Toulouse, Carrick-on-Suir, Bruges, Wales, Paris, Glasgow, Barcelona) are on the Vets, J6 & Junior Tours page.
Reunions
The 1957-58 cup team's 50-year dinner (2007), the 1987-89 teams' reunion (November 2013), the J4-J5 reunions (2017 and 2021), the Junior Rugby Reunion Days of October 2017 and November 2019, and the J2 Reunion Day planned for November 2026. In July 2026 the club screened the film "Fourteen Years" about the 2025-26 All-Ireland League title. See the Reunion Booklets.
Visits and big occasions
Video: Leinster v Gloucester at Templeville Road, 2017 · Jonathan Sexton kicking practice, 2014
More club occasions
The club anthem and colours
"We are Mary's Boys" was written in 1953 by Rev Michael Wasser CSSp, a prefect at St Mary's College, to the tune of "Erika", and the club adopted it as its anthem. The colours are a royal blue jersey with a white five-pointed star, white shorts and royal blue socks. The story of the anthem →
The people who made it happen
A club is its volunteers. Among the many named in the club's histories: Paddy Branagan, Honorary Secretary from 1932 to 1960; Jimmy Ganter and Gerry Ebbs, who ran the dances; Matt Gilsenan, Colm Bevan and Paddy McGlade, who ran the Annual Dinner; Bill Gray, Bennie Lynch and Brian Whelan, who found Templeville Road; architect Tony Hickie; John Doddy, who drove the Centenary Bar; Frank Kennedy, of the Golf Classic, the 1999 rebuild and the Argelès tours; Eileen Tracey and the Ladies' Committee; Marie Hammond, Club Administrator for 16 years; Niall Rynne, MC of countless nights; Paul Brady, who decorates the club each Christmas; groundsman Peter "Pokey" O'Kelly; historian Dr D. O'Brien; and photographer James Maguire.
The club in the papers
Club-wide cuttings and features. Team-by-team cuttings are on each team's page, and the 1st XV's are in the 1st XV Archive.
The photo archive
The James Maguire Archive holds the club's team photographs from 1900 to 2000, season by season; the Team Photo Archive continues from 2001; and the season albums hold match and club photos from 2008 on.
This archive is a work in progress. If you have photos, programmes, menus, newspaper cuttings or memories — of any team or any club occasion — please email archives@smcrfc.com.