Club Focus: Newcastle West

Munster Junior League Division 1 club Newcastle West continued their remarkable start to the season last weekend with a thumping 64-17 win over Our Lady’s Boys Club Galway, to advance to the quarter-finals of the All-Ireland Junior Cup.

The game marked the Limerick club’s first ever appearance in the competition and the side certainly didn’t disappoint the biggest ever crowd at a game in Cullinagh.

The attendance was boosted by a very successful Family Fun Day that took place before kick-off with barbecues, bouncy castles and face painting.

Following that win, they have been drawn to face Dundalk at home in the quarter-finals of the All-Ireland Cup in three weeks time.

The Cup win follows a superb start to the league season that sees the Men in Black top the Division 1 table with three wins from three games.

The club are now pushing to join the senior ranks despite competing in Division Three of the Munster Junior League just eight years ago.

Aside from the promotion-chasing J1 side, they also boast a thriving underage section with 250 players involved between the minis and the youths every weekend.

Tim Mulcahy is the Fixtures Secretary, and he’s hopeful that Newcastle West can improve on last season when they finished joint second : “The aim is to win the First Division,” said Mulcahy.

“We’ve made a phenomenal start with three matches played and 14 points.

“We’ve generated most of the players ourselves, the majority of them have come through our underage structure,” he added.

Newcastle West RFC are very proud of the quality young players they produce year in, year out. This season has seen another three players selected on the Munster U-18s Clubs squad.

Seán Murphy, Tomas Darcy and Seán Ivess (pictured below) were the chosen three as Munster won two out of their three Interprovincial games last month.

Newcastle West RFC has invested heavily to promote rugby in the area with high quality pitches and excellent facilities in both the Cullinagh and Killeline grounds.

The club was founded in the winter of 1924 when a few local enthusiasts called a meeting in Raymond K. Sheehy’s newspaper shop in Bridge Street, and the rugby club was formed.

Most of the early games were lost, but the enthusiasm and potential was there. In November 1925 the Limerick Leader described the team as ‘a brawny collection of men, but requiring practice to become formidable in their strength’, and in December added, ‘Newcastle West are making wonderful progress and next year will be a formidable team.’

1927 marked the beginning of the golden age of Newcastle West rugby as they went unbeaten for an entire season and finished on a high note by winning the Garryowen Cup.

Around 1933 the club disbanded for several seasons but in 1937 the team was revived and an outstanding panel of players was assembled.

A very high standard of rugby was played by Newcastle West throughout the 1940s, and in the early 50s, a strong panel was still available but 1954 saw the club fold once again.

Newcastle West RFC returned in the 1965/66 season and success was immediate on the playing field with the team embarking on an unbeaten run that lasted a number of months.

1970 proved to be a momentous year for the club as it finally found a home, after years of moving their posts from pitch to pitch, when the club established its headquarters in Cullinagh.

The 1976/77 season saw their fortunes on the field of play improve as the McElligott Cup was won for the second time, 31 years after the club first claimed the trophy.

The ups and downs continued for the club throughout the 90s as the Junior team gained promotion to Division Two of the Munster Junior League in 1994.

They also won the McElligott Cup for the third time that year along with reaching the semi-final of the Munster Junior Clubs Challenge Cup.

In 1997, the club were relegated from Division 2 of the Munster Junior League but a successful club lottery began on August 21, 1997 and has been the mainstay of club finances ever since.

The 1998/1999 season was one of the most successful in the club’s history when the junior team won their first Munster title, capturing the Munster Junior League Division Three title.

Two years later, however, they were relegated from the Second Division of the Munster Junior League.

The underage section of the club enjoyed an incredible season in 2003 when the U-12 team won the Brian Fitzgerald trophy, the U-16 team won the Munster final and the U-20s team reached the All-Ireland final.

Recent years have seen Newcastle West RFC go from strength to strength and the Junior team clinched the Munster Junior League Division Three title for the second time in 2007. After five years in Division Two, they then secured promotion to the First Division in 2012.

The success continued last year when they won their first Transfield Cup and they are hoping to continue their ascent up the leagues this season.