This is the 125th Anniversary Season of the founding of Donaghadee Rugby Football Club back in the year 1885. To celebrate this wonderful milestone a special match has been organised between Donaghadee and an Ex. Irish International XV to be played on Saturday, April 16th, 2011 at Donaldson Park, Donaghadee in County Down.
This match will be followed in the evening by a Gala 125th Anniversary Dinner which will also be held at Donaldson Park, Donaghadee. The dinner will be strictly limited to 200 places and with a large amount of playing guests and supporters already booked in for this dinner any rugby club member wishing to go is advised to book with the organizer, Hans Arthur, sooner rather than later. Hans can of course be contacted through Grace Neill’s Pub & Restaurant in Donaghadee.
Donaghadee Rugby Club – A History of Rugby in the ‘Dee
DONAGHADEE RFC 1938-39; Winners of Ulster’s Minor League, Harden Cup & Provincial Towns’ Cup Finalists
Back Row: E. Hamilton, E. Alexander, S. Cardy, Dr. Geo. Gibson, J.P., Hon. Sec. J. Mairs, H. L. Taggart, J. J. Costella, R. C. Stuart, Jas. A. Reid.
Middle Row: F. Kennedy, J. Kimm, Wm. McNarry, Captain, W. Milliken, President, Wm. Eady, Vice-Captain, H. Torney, J. Bell.
Front Row: R. Foster, J. D. Montgomery
Absent: J. A. Clarke, F. C. Humphreys, Geo. Bunting
Rugby was first played in Donaghadee in 1885; in 2010 the club celebrates its 125th anniversary!
The formation of a rugby club in Donaghadee in 1885 came during a period of rapid growth for the game throughout Ireland. A review of sport in the Newsletter in December that year concluded; “Football has rapidly worked its way into the very front rank of our outdoor sports. The two codes of football – rugby and association – can claim a very large and increasing constituency in this country and the first half of the season has afforded ample evidence that, apart from the increasing numbers, our players are making remarkable strides in the science of the game.”
It was against that background that Donaghadee Rugby Club, formed by the Rev. Coote, played its first match against Bangor on November 7, 1885. The game was played in Donaghadee, possibly on the field behind the Church of Ireland Rectory – on the very same place the club uses to this day. The game ended in a draw.
In the 125th anniversary year of Donaghadee Rugby Football Club a few members have been reflecting upon the real significance of their club having been around for a century and a quarter. Sometimes the older members contrast their still lively memories of the players shown in the above picture (and others) with the more casual interest of the younger players who sometimes only see guys with funny haircuts and wearing old-fashioned shirts and shorts. Eventually the realisation comes to the youngsters that the players whose images have survived for over seventy years were their predecessors in almost every way, and that their club really does have a proud tradition.
The All-Blacks and the Lions have realised the benefits of having a great rugby hero of yesteryear present the team jerseys to the heroes of today. Appreciating that men long gone and much older than their grandfathers have brought trophies back to the very same ground where they still play their home games can be invaluable to a club’s spirit. That is what the above photograph says to me and many others. In fact I and many clubmen know that if it had been technically possible to take the picture in full colour it would show the men proudly resplendent, as their successors still are, in red and green.
This writer was not born when the photograph was taken, but he did have the pleasure to meet some of the men pictured and indeed gain much from that meeting.
Donaghadee Rugby Football Club would be delighted to hear any anecdotes, family connections or other snippets that can add a little to what is known about the above gentlemen.
For instance: In its 125-year history DRFC has only ever had six Presidents, the club often being run largely by an Executive Chairman and Council. Three of the six are in the photograph – Dr. Geo. Gibson, R. C. Stuart and of course W. Milliken. Many will remember R C Stuart and it is a proud boast that the club’s second Life President was the grandfather of a fairly handy footballer called Cameron Michael Henderson Gibson, the player who kept this club’s current Chairman David Monson out of the Campbell College Schools’ Cup team, the Ulster team, the full Ireland team, and the British Lions (5 times!!).
But maybe you know some stories about the other gentlemen shown above. If you have any tales to share, please let us know and we can mention them here. Email Harry Allen – allengenealogy@hotmail.com – or speak to him on a Saturday – he is usually patrolling the touchline with a dictaphone fairly close to his mouth!
