As we are at the start of a new year, Christmas give us a chance to reflect on the progress, people and the passion that makes our club what it is. From packed touchlines on a Saturday or Sunday mornings, to landmark achievements on and off the pitch, 2025 was a year of real momentum for our club. 

The Executive Committee would like to take this opportunity to wish every member a happy New Year and to thank every member for the contribution and continued support of the club and of club activities. 

Thanks to all the Volunteers, Managers, Coaches Committee members who work tirelessly to turn teams out week in and week out. 

Thanks to all the club, team and player sponsors. Without your generous support we would not be able to pursue our ambitions on or off the pitch. 

We are delighted to announce that the Club has been successfully granted planning permission from Clare County Council for the redevelopment of the Clubhouse and grounds. This has been granted on the back of many, many months of work by club members. The Executive Committee would like to thank these club members for their time and dedication to ensure this successful outcome for the club.

The design will consist of the following elements:

-          Upgraded club house

o   Additional dressing rooms (6 in total)

o   Additional Referee facilities

o   Extended Gym area

o   Additional large multi functional room

o   Extended toilets facilities

o   Accessibility upgrades

 -          Pitch upgrade

o   Match quality flood lights

o   Upgrades to pitch surface

-          Parking & Traffic improvements

o   Additional car parking spaces

o   Improved access with the main gate being widened and footpath for pedestrians

o   EV Charging and additional disabled parking

-          Additional Facilities

o   Gym Upgrade

o   Two Padel courts

This Development represents one of the most significant milestones in the clubs history and will benefit players, members and the wider community for decades to come.

The club, as ever, is seeking financial support to facilitate the expansion of the club, both in redevelopment and in membership & competing teams. This year a large number of companies have come on board as Team and player sponsors without which our club could not operate. The Executive Committee would like to take this opportunity to thank local businesses and individuals for their continued support over the past 12 months and hopefully into the future. 

The Club ran a successful Lions Tour draw earlier this year that raised much need funds for the development of our clubhouse and grounds. Congratulations to Mike Gleeson on winning the trip to Australia for two weeks. In October we wound up the Split the Pot draw which had been successfully running for a number of years. We would like to thank Richard & Dermot for their time in operating this draw. 

 Team Updates

The first AIL game against Tullow, being our first game as a Senior Club, the first Try in the AIL, scored by Saher, our US International. And then, Unbelievably and Unforgettably our first win in the AIL. Then followed our first time to host an AIL game , against Ballincollig which became our first home win. Our first time being joint top of the table. After the dream start, there had to be the wake up. A narrow defeat to Wicklow and a big defeat to UL Bohs showed the women the challenge that lay in front of them. 

They came from behind to earn a draw against Old Belvedere, one of the top teams in the country, in the final game of the year. This was despite the Belvo squad being stacked with provincial and international players and despite our squad being decimated with injury on the day.

They now have three wins and a draw from the first half of the season. With players returning to the squad from injury and our international players returning from abroad. confidence is high that we will show the league what this squad is made of in the second half of the season. 

With an excess of 60 players from Ennis and surrounding areas, our Senior Men operate two teams, competing in Munster Junior League 2 and Gleeson League Division 2, facilitating rugby across all abilities.

Or 1st XV team have won four games and are lying in 6th position in Munster Junior League 2 in a very tight group with little points between all teams. Our 2nd XV team are lying in 5 th position in Gleeson League Division 2, having played four games. We wish continued success to the lads in the second half of the season and welcome all support at both home and away games.

As always the Senior Men’s team are open to new players, with registration and transfer window opening in January. Former players, including former senior and youth players, who are now in a position to return and restart their time with the club are always welcome.  

For the 2025/2026 season, Ennis RFC has entered Youth Teams at u13,u14,u15,u16 and u18.5 level to represent the club in North Munster Leagues and Pan Munster Competitions.

U13 Boys - To date the u13s played in the North Munster Development League and are currently playing in the North Munster League facing Thomand/St.Marys, Garryowen, Old Crescent, Bohs and Nenagh.

U14 Boys -  finished top of their pool in the North Muster League and have qualified for the semi final following a victory over Shannon in a playoff. They qualified for the Cup section of the Pan Munster and face away trips to Clonmel and Tralee will be at home to UL Bohs and Garryowen in the New Year.

U15s Boys -  competed in the u15s Conference of the first phase of Pan Munster which doubled as the North Munster League. They qualified for the Pan Munster Bowl with a trip to East Limerick club Galbally and will host Clonmel in Ennis.

U16 Boys - qualified for the North Munster League Cup Final after a hard fought victory in the semi final over Newport/Garryowen at Drumbiggle Christmas Week. They also topped their group in the first phase of the Pan Munster and qualified for the Cup. They will face the above opposition along with Ballincollig and Waterpark in home and away fixtures in the coming weeks.

U18.5 Boys -  finished behind Shannon and ahead of Charleville in the North Munster League, Kilrush withdrew from the competition without fielding. Following a playoff they have qualified for the Pan Munster Plate where they have started off with an away win against

Killorglin. They will face Kanturk and Bruff in Ennis and take the trip to Fermoy in the remaining games.

U14 Girls - A new crop of players and a new coaching ticket have created a fun environment for bringing new girls into Ennis Rugby Club. Hugh O’Malley and Liam Ryan have built a team with some great new talent and lots of enthusiasm. Thay have played games all over the province and are having a great season. The squad is always on the lookout for new players and recently hosted a Give it a Try event with our minis section to attract new players.  

U16 Girls - The U16 girls have put in some very good performances this season. Their first outing in the league saw them put a huge score up against a combined team from Nenagh/ UL Bohs/ Old Cresent. They were very unlucky not to take points from their next two games against Garryowen/ Ballina- Killaloe and Bruff losing out by the minimum of margins. They followed this up with a great away win against Shannon, always a tough game, and a hard place to earn points. 

With the league campaign over, the Ennis girls are setting their sights towards the Munster cup in February. 

U18.5 Girls - Our U18.5 girls have had a solid season, with some results not reflecting the quality of rugby they played. There have been a few narrow defeats, often down to a single point or two where on another day the result could have gone the other way. But this has not deterred the girls from playing some great rugby and achieving some great scores.

There have been notable performances this season from several key players and this was reflected in Aoife Martin and Sarah Keavey being involved with Munster , and Abbie Kelly being called into the National Talent Squad. Niamh McManus was also called into the Senior Women’s set up as part of their AIL Squad, and Alana Foudy made her AIL debut against Galwegians.

It has been a wonderful year of growth for Ennis RFC Mini Girls and with large numbers attending training each week, the club is now running girls-only training sessions and blitzes with new girls joining training every week. 

We ended this year on a high with a home blitz in December, where we fielded full u10 & u12 teams. The future is bright for this group of girls with lots to come in 2026.

Reformed this year as a way to keep older club members playing and active in the club, this social group has had a great year with a tour to Spain in May to compete in an international tournament against teams from Spain, England, France & Argentina. This bunch of players again togged out in November when London Irish travelled to Drumbiggle for what was a keenly contested drawn game. It is hoped that this group will run out again a couple of times in 2026.

As the New Year starts we take this time to remember club members and families who have lost loved ones over the past year. We also remember past players who have died over the past 12 months including

Captain 66/67, President 80/82. Aidan oversaw the introduction of youth rugby in the club in the late 70s

 

Captain 01/03, Capped by Munster Juniors and coach to many of our past and current senior players

 

Played through the 70's, a generous sponsor and supporter of the club, his pub on O'Connell Street played host to a multitude of after-match postmortems