Castleisland Rugby Football Club through its Centenary Sub Committee have announced the key events which will run alongside the normal club activity for the upcoming rugby season. The subcommittee has the distinguished honour of being headed by two former Irish Rugby Captains namely Ciara Griffin and Mick Galwey.
Club statement:
The aim of the committee is for everyone that has ever been associated with the club to partake in some of the wide variety of events planned. These range from the family Fun Day to a day dedicated to remembering deceased past members. We also have a tag rugby day, a past and present players reunion, a corporate lunch event with some famous former Munster and Irish players attending, a club end of season social, a Pre Christmas visit from Santa, a week long exhibition in the Castleisland Museum, a golf classic and a get together to get behind the Irish ladies team at the Rugby World Cup when Ireland face the might of the All Blacks on September 8th. The Munster Men’s team will also train in our pitches in September and the club has applied to host an Interprovincial Junior Match during the season.
The key weekend of the centenary activities will be the first weekend of March 2026 which is the actual anniversary of when a group of men from the area decided to put a team together and play a match under the banner of Castleisland RFC.
We also hope to see new faces join us throughout these monthly events as we wish the legacy of the centenary year helps as we set off into the next hundred years. Hopefully, this will epitomise the same hope the original team had in March 1926 and see the club flourish into the future.
Little did this group of players, in 1926, know that the legacy they would leave behind would be the fine club that we have in Castleisland today. They could never have known how much enjoyment that would have generated from that first match. They also could never have envisaged the high level of performance Castleisland RFC have given over the years and how far some of our players have gone in terms of provincial, international, Barbarian and Lions Rugby. They could never have in their wildest dreams expected we would have the facilities we have today including our floodlit pitch. This is all down to the hard work of so many key individuals over the years who put so much effort into fundraising and running the club in general. These projects were achieved over various phases right back to purchasing the land culminating in the fine set up Castleisland RFC has today.
As mentioned already all the centenary events will run alongside the normal club activity which will include rugby across all ages for boys and girls and a busy year for our Mens First Team who are now being trained by our own William Casey and captained by Joseph Sheehy. There seems to be a buzz created already during the pre-season that will hopefully lead to a successful year ahead. The Youths and Mini Rugby will return as normal in early September and large numbers are anticipated again this year which argues well for the future of the club.
The most recent player we have selected on a Provincial team is Michael Griffin as he has just recently been called up to the Munster Youths Squad. Michael is a product of the youth structure and it will be great to see the tradition of Castleisland RFC players continuing this along with another product of the youth structure JJ Hanrahan having returned to the Munster Senior Team.
The youth have also been busy in that they had an art competition which was massively popular. The task was to create a commemorative crest for the centenary. The winners will be contacted through their schools and prizes awarded at the family fun day.
Tonight’s launch is also serving as an Appreciation Evening for the local businesses who have supported the club through the popular Split the Bucket initiative. We are indebted to these people for their on going support towards the club. This is something which we really want to formally say a big thank you to from all at the club.
The Newly Elected Club President Annie O’Toole is also looking forward to the year long celebrations and is quoted as saying that “Castleisland RFC is celebrating its centenary this season. The club played its first game of rugby on the 5th of March 1926 against Tralee under the direction of Edward Galway Foley. From this humble start, it has grown into a club that has produced many Munster, Irish, Barbarians, and Lions players. The club has had many great days on a local, provincial, and national stage. To mark this significant milestone for the club, we are launching our calendar of events, and I would encourage everyone to get involved in some small part. If you have ever wanted to find out what happens in our club, what better time than now to become involved”.
The centenary season calendar is:
