St. Mary's College RFC & The Moran Cup

Inaugural Moran Cup Winners, 1948–49.
Back: C. O'Neill, P. McDermott, R. Burke, Fr. A. Seagrave, M. Murphy, A. Cusack, F. Fennel
Centre: J. Ryan, D. O'Sullivan, J. Fearon, M. Gilsenan (Captain), W. Scott, R. Maher, M. Clancy
Front: K. Gilmer, M. Cronin

Until the 1948–49 season there had been no competition for the Third As. P.V. Moran, President of the Leinster Branch, decided to fill the gap and put up the Moran Cup for competition at the end of the season. It attracted a huge entry — including the free-scoring and unbeaten St. Mary's 3rd As, captained by Matt Gilsenan.

This was the first public evidence of the leadership qualities of Gilsenan, who would go on to hold almost every administrative office in the club, having enjoyed an illustrious playing career as a wing forward and club captain. Still fresh out of school, he was hugely influential in leading the 3rd A XV to that unbeaten run, averaging 30 points per game. Gilsenan's captaincy inspired a brand of exciting rugby that saw them overcome Old Belvedere 12–8 in the final.

A national newspaper columnist who was there wrote that the “unregarded 3rd A teams of Belvedere and St. Mary's”, playing before just a few people, had produced football that shamed their seniors.

(Team photo caption, result and season narrative from the club's Centenary Book. The final score is from its Moran Cup records table.)

Still needed: any further match detail from the 1949 final.

Moran Cup Winners, 1949–50.
Back: K. Wall, M. Murphy, P. O'Beirne, J. Connaughton, J. Sullivan, R. Burke, S. Doughan, R. Maher, J. Ryan
Front: D. Duffy, A. Bolger, W. Scott (Captain), L. Downs, C. O'Neill, M. Gilsenan

St. Mary's retained the Moran Cup in 1950, beating Wanderers 22–0 in the final. The early days of the '50s brought meagre rewards elsewhere in the club, with the 3rd As under Willie Scott keeping the flag flying by retaining the trophy.

(Team photo caption and season detail from the club's Centenary Book.)

Still needed: a fuller match report from the 1950 final.

Club's first win in the J3 League / Moran Cup after 29 years — 1978–79.
Back: J. Carvill (Manager), P. Dean, C. O'Hagan, E. Wigglesworth, K. O'Doherty, J. O'Connor, C. Shanley, B. Laigey, T. Kennedy, P. Moran (Coach)
Front: P. McCarthy, P. Opperman, M. Joyce, N. Woodcock (Captain), T.W. Brooder (President), F. O'Donnell, T. O'Rourke, L. Naughton

The J3s did the club proud under the captaincy of Niall Woodcock. Coached by Paddy Moran and managed by John Carvill, they completed the J3 League and Moran Cup double for the first time — and it was all the more welcome because the Moran Cup had not been won by St. Mary's since 1950, a gap of 29 years.

Both finals were against Aer Lingus: St. Mary's won the J3 League final 27–3 and the Moran Cup final 25–6.

(Team photo caption, results and season narrative from the club's Centenary Book.)

Still needed: a fuller match report from the 1979 final.

Captained by Jim Curran, the J3s won the double in 1982. They beat Blackrock College 24–6 in the J3 League final and Barnhall 11–3 in the Moran Cup final.

The side was managed by Paul McInerney and coached by Rodney O'Donnell, with Tony Burke Moran as touch judge and Brian Garvey also closely involved.

(Captain and results from the records tables in the club's Centenary Book. Management from “A Conversation with Glenn Tracey”, the club interview series with the J3s’ long-serving bagman.)

Still needed for 1982: team line-up (a caption for the photo above) and a match report.

St. Mary's reached the Moran Cup final in 1985 but finished as losing finalists to Old Belvedere.

Glenn Tracey, bagman to the J3s for fourteen years, remembered that season's side as captained by Dave Ellison and coached by Ciaran O'Connell, and recalled how a game against Belvedere got away: St. Mary's scored two tries but missed both conversions, and Belvedere won it with a drop goal in injury time. “I remember several lads crying because we were sure we had won it.”

(From “A Conversation with Glenn Tracey”, the club interview series with the J3s’ long-serving bagman.)

Still needed for 1985: confirmation of the details above, the final score, a match report, team photo and line-up.

J3 XV, 1987–88. President: J. Murray. Captain: J. Boyle.
Back: B. Spring, D. Hooper, C. Quinn, P. Conlon, N. Kenny, D. Donohoe, A. McEvoy, G. McGibney, J. Curran, J. Ebbs, P. McGiolla Riogh, G. Tracey
Front: R. Lyons, C. Cooke, J. Carvill, J. Boyle (Captain), J. Murray (President), B. Shortall, K. Conboy, J. Lynch

Captained by John Boyle, the J3s added the Moran Cup to their third J3 League title in a row. They beat Greystones 13–9 in the league final and Blackrock College 31–16 in the Moran Cup final. Brendan Spring and Denis Hooper ran the side.

(Captain and results from the records tables in the club's Centenary Book. Team photo and caption from the James Maguire Archive, where it is filed as the Junior 3 League winners.)

Still needed for 1988: a match report from the final.

Donnybrook, Wednesday 27th April 1994, kick-off 6.00pm. St. Mary's beat Monkstown 19–6 to win the Moran Cup and complete a J3 League and Cup double, having beaten Blackrock College 16–8 in the league final at Anglesea Road.

The next day's newspaper report gave the credit to out-half Dermot Quigley, who kicked two penalties, two drop goals and a conversion for 14 of the 19 points. St. Mary's led 13–6 at half-time and then had to hold out under heavy Monkstown pressure in the second half.

Team — the final

Coaches: Brendan Foley and Patsy Fogarty. Manager: Bobby Coan. Referee: David Nelson (A.R.L.B.). Touch judges: Bernard Boland and Paul Hickey.

(Team from the match programme and the newspaper report of the final, both in the club archive. Coaches and manager from the club honours record for 1993–94. Captain and results also in the records tables of the club's Centenary Book.)

Still needed for 1994: the try scorer, the replacements and a team photo.

St. Mary's reached the Moran Cup final again in 1996 but lost to Monkstown. It came at the end of a long season in which the J3s, captained by Niall Rynne, had already won three trophies: the first Leinster Branch 10-a-side competition at J3 level, the Old Wesley 15-a-side Festival Trophy (retained) and the J3 League, where they beat Old Wesley 15–7 in the final.

The club's report on the season said the team “unfortunately ran out of steam at the end of a long, hard season, losing in the Cup Final to Monkstown”. The coaches were Paul Flood and Pat O'Brien and the manager was Robin Bailey.

(From the club's season report for 1995–96. League final score from the club's Centenary Book.)

Still needed for 1996: final score, match report, team photo and line-up.

Moran Cup Winners, 1999–2000.
Back: C. Costello, A. Costello (Manager), J. McGettrick, P. Gilbourne, D. Bagnall, C. Kelly, S. O'Reilly, C. Egan, M. Neary, P. Power, K. McGinley, P. Lane, D. Swift (Coach)
Front: S. Brennan, E. Conway, C. Smyth (Captain), B. Spring (President), A. Graham, C. Kearney, G. Fanning
Absent: G. Ebbs, P. Tucker, A. Shirley, G. Walsh, A. Harrison

St. Mary's beat Wanderers 17–12 to win the Moran Cup in 1999–2000, in the season the 1st XV won the All Ireland League. The J3s were captained by Colin Smyth, coached by Donal Swift and managed by Arthur Costello, and were also winners of their league section.

(Team photo caption and result from the club's Centenary Book.)

Still needed: a match report from the 2000 final.

Energia Park, Donnybrook, Friday 23rd April 2010. St. Mary's beat Terenure 10–0 in the final to win the Moran Cup, keeping their opponents scoreless. The J3s came through an unbeaten campaign, scoring 107 points and conceding just 26 across four matches. Alex Mullin scored the first try and Ian Kelly the second, his third of the cup campaign. The J3s were also runners-up in their league section that season, to the same Terenure side.

The captain was Brian Young. Ruaidhri Moran ran the team, with Donal Joyce working with the forwards, Des Jackson with the backs, Donal Swift on conditioning and John Ayling giving match-day support.

Path to the final

Match report

“After ten years the Moran Cup has returned to Templeville Road. The team from 15 to 1 put in an exceptional performance from the kick off to the final whistle, they hounded Terenure in every aspect of the game and gave them no respite.

Terenure started at full tilt and put us under sustained pressure from the off and were camped on our line but our defence was resolute and we drove them back from our line. They were awarded an early penalty and instead of taking their points went to the corner, and then their line out was not straight! A great cover tackle by Niall Sheedy saved a certain try and the danger was lifted. That was the last time in the game that we were seriously threatened. We dominated from the 10th minute onwards; a great try by Alex Mullin put us 5–0 up. At half time we regrouped and upped the pressure and eventually we scored a close-in try after a number of phases when Ian Kelly crashed over for our second try and his third of the cup campaign! 10–0 and we were in total control of every facet of play: lineout, rucks, mauls and scrum. The game finished with St. Mary's running out 10–0 winners and a well deserved victory for a disciplined, committed, determined and skilful team that had suffered two defeats in the league to this Terenure team early in the season.”

(Ruaidhri Moran's J3 Moran Cup Final report, April 2010, from the club archive.)

Photos from the final, 23 April 2010 →

Still needed for 2010: the winning XV line-up and a caption for the team photo.

Energia Park, Donnybrook, Friday 17th April 2015. St. Mary's beat Terenure 32–9 to win the Moran Cup, scoring five tries to none in a dominant final display. It capped a superb campaign in which the J3s won all four matches, scoring 135 points along the way — including a 43–0 opening-round shutout of CYM and a two-point thriller away to Lansdowne.

The club's 125th anniversary booklet remembers “a superb J3 team, with many stars of other years, such as Hugh Hogan, Phillip Brophy and Gareth Logan playing”, and says the cup “was won in some style”.

Path to the final

Team — the final

Replacements: 16. Sean Carroll, 17. Garreth Hennessy, 18. Conor Hurley, 19. Caolan Smith, 20. Peter Timmons.

(Results and team sheets from Leinster Rugby Sportlomo.)

Still needed for 2015: captain, coach/manager, a match report and a team photo.

Energia Park, Donnybrook, Friday 13th April 2018. St. Mary's beat De La Salle Palmerston 18–13 to win the Moran Cup for the tenth time — the club's most recent success in the competition. The J3 captain that season was Jonathan Ellis.

Path to the final

Team — the final

Replacements: 16. Christopher Kane, 17. David Balfour, 18. Padraig Nestor, 19. Peter Timmons, 20. Brendan Flood.
The David Lyons at 10 and 15 are two different players.

(Results and team sheets from Leinster Rugby Sportlomo.)

Still needed for 2018: coach/manager and a match report.