St. Mary's College RFC & The Guilfoyle-James Cup
The Guilfoyle-James Perpetual Cup — five wins in six seasons, and the club's search for the memories behind them.
The Guilfoyle-James Perpetual Cup began in 1976, when it was presented by Seapoint RC. It is the current name of the old Guilfoyle Cup.
The competition is contested by the club's lower Junior sides. In more recent times it has been a Metro J6 competition, though the club's Centenary Book records the original Guilfoyle Cup as a J8 competition.
St. Mary's College RFC won the Guilfoyle Cup on 5 occasions — 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982 & 1983 — a remarkable run of five titles in six seasons, and enough to make the club the competition's joint most successful, level with Blackrock.
Very little is recorded about these wins. If anyone has any information, memories or photographs from these cup runs, we would love to hear from you — please send them to archives@smcrfc.com and they'll be added below.
Click any year to expand what we know so far. Most of these finals are barely recorded — anything you can add would be very welcome.
1978 Guilfoyle Cup winners Won
The first of five Guilfoyle Cup wins came in 1978, in what the club's Centenary Book describes as the richest harvest of silverware St. Mary's had ever enjoyed. That season also brought the Leinster Senior League, the Winters Cup and the Greenlea Cup, along with three seven-a-side victories — Old Belvedere's International 7s, the Galwegians' Blake Sevens and the Omagh Academicals Sevens.
(Season context from the club's Centenary Book.)
Still needed for 1978: opponent, final score, venue, captain, team line-up, match report and a photo.
1979 Guilfoyle Cup winners Won
St. Mary's retained the Guilfoyle Cup in 1979.
Still needed for 1979: opponent, final score, venue, captain, team line-up, match report and a photo.
1980 Guilfoyle Cup winners Won
A third consecutive Guilfoyle Cup for St. Mary's in 1980.
Still needed for 1980: opponent, final score, venue, captain, team line-up, match report and a photo.
1982 Guilfoyle Cup winners Won
St. Mary's regained the Guilfoyle Cup in 1982, having missed out in 1981.
Still needed for 1982: opponent, final score, venue, captain, team line-up, match report and a photo.
1983 beat Palmerston 3–0 Won
Played at Seapoint against Palmerston. St. Mary's won 3–0, the only score of the game coming from a drop goal in the closing minutes.
A player's memory
We won the 1983 final. I still have the medal. We played in Seapoint against Palmerston and won 3–nil.
I don't have any photos. I just remember getting the drop goal from the side in the last minutes and putting it over the upright posts.
The referee was one-eyed! Johnny Kennedy was the youngest member of the team and will know all the details.
John Dennehy
Still needed for 1983: captain, team line-up, the date of the final, and a photo. John Dennehy suggests Johnny Kennedy — the youngest member of the team that day — would know the full details.
St. Mary's reached the final again in 2019, losing out to Stillorgan-Rathfarnham. This preview was published ahead of the game.
2019 Lost to Stillorgan-Rathfarnham Lost
Guilfoyle-James Cup Metro J6 Final Preview
St. Mary's College R.F.C. v Stillorgan-Rathfarnham R.F.C.
Energia Park, Donnybrook Stadium — Wednesday 17th April 2019, 8pm
Despite the great recent successes of the J4 / J5 squads in the league in recent years, the Cup has generally proved more elusive. Until this year, you would have had to go back to 2014 for the last time the team had reached a semi-final, in that year losing out to neighbours Terenure. For the last time St. Mary's tasted cup success at this level, you will have to go back to 2012 when they beat Clontarf in extra time in the O'Connor Cup. A few players from that campaign are still around this team, and you can read the report from that great night on the St. Mary's website.
The route to the final this year for St. Mary's has been a little unusual. In the first round they produced an excellent display to defeat Monkstown in Sydney Parade. In the quarter-final they were paired with their old friends Kilkenny Normans, who unfortunately had to concede the game due to injuries. In the semi-final they faced Coolmine in Templeville Road and were defeated 30–17 — however, in the following days it transpired Coolmine had fielded ineligible players, and the game was awarded to St. Mary's.
Stillorgan-Rathfarnham have had some very strong wins against Railway Union and Clontarf to reach this final, and their J4 team are competing in the O'Connor Cup final, so they are chasing a cup double. St. Mary's and Stillorgan have not played this season but have had several encounters in the previous season, with several closely contested games.
Captain James Casey and his squad know they are going to have to put in a top performance on Wednesday to secure victory. They have been given a great chance to cap off the hard work put in by the squad and coaches all season, and will need great support from the sidelines to cheer them on. The team are looking for a strong St. Mary's presence in Donnybrook to get past Stillorgan. In one of the final competitive games of the club's calendar, we need everyone to come along to Donnybrook!
Path to the final
| Round 1 | St. Mary's beat Monkstown (Sydney Parade) |
| Quarter Final | Kilkenny Normans conceded (injuries) |
| Semi Final | St. Mary's 17–30 Coolmine (Templeville Road) — game subsequently awarded to St. Mary's, Coolmine having fielded ineligible players |
| Final | 17.04.2019 — St. Mary's v Stillorgan-Rathfarnham (Energia Park, Donnybrook) |
Still needed for 2019: the final score, a match report, the team line-up, and the scores from Round 1 and the quarter-final. A photo from the night would also be very welcome.
Recorded J5 progress in the competition.
| 2010–11 | Round 1 |
| 2011–12 | Semi-final |
| 2016–17 | Knocked out by MU Barnhall |
| 2018–19 | Runners-up — lost the final to Stillorgan-Rathfarnham |
Source: 2017 J4/J5 Reunion Day booklet.
Every winner since the competition began in 1976. St. Mary's wins highlighted.
Most successful clubs in the competition's history.
Totals exclude 1994, 1995 and 1998, where the winner is not yet recorded.