CYM graced the pages of the Irish Independant of Friday, September 28th. Researched by CYM's own Monica Beresford and written by Brian Lowry, the article highlights the amazing history of CYM and the impact our small club continues to make on the thriving rugby community in Dublin.
Thriving adult rugby keeps small Dublin club on the map
Founded in 1924/'25 by eight members of the CYMS out of the original club in Harrington Street, Dublin, the club has progressed through the ages to stand today as a thriving organisation with a bustling membership.
In 1924, the house and orchard, known today as St Mary's Terenure, was purchased and became CYM RFC's home playing field for a number of years.
In the early years of the club, as today, the work of a few club people as players and administrators was central to their progress, most notably brothers Tommy and Billy Martin.
Through the activities of these men and their contemporaries were the foundations of what today is called CYM RFC.
From there, CYM moved to their current home at Terenure Sports Club.
A universal club in terms of sports, CYM RFC share the grounds with other sports such as soccer, bowls and tennis.
While today they are a proud junior club, they started out in the minor league before winning it in 1928/'29 elevated them to their current junior status.
Their first season at junior level saw them reach the final of the Metro Cup, losing narrowly to Bective Rangers.
One thing the club haven't been short on over the years is personalities and one in particular stands out - the late, great, Eddie Egan - former CYM RFC president and Leinster Branch president.
Eddie CYM RFC for years as a player and combined it with a strong administrative input, being president of the club from 1974-1976. Eddie began working within the Leinster Branch in 1975, and was appointed to the role of president in 1982-1983.
Underage rugby in the club hasn't really come to fruition. Despite numerous attempts over the decades to build an underage structure and having plenty of committed personnel to get involved in the running of it, only a brief period in the 1980s will show underage activity in the club.
During the mid 1980s club president at the time Tommy Keating had some success developing an U-18 and U-19 team.
Alan Dempsey, a stalwart on both of those teams of that era, subsequently played U-19 for Leinster which was a big achievement for a junior club.
Those teams were short-lived and since then they haven't managed to get an underage system back up and running owing to a lack of a natural supply of players and affiliated schools.
The women's section of the club came on stream in 2012 when current president David Cruddas identified this as a huge opportunity to expand.
Infancy
The women's team has had much success during their infancy and have worked their way up within the Leinster Women's Rugby League.
They have focused on building their player base and developing players, resulting in moving quickly through the ranks to Division 1 just last season.
Such was the popularity and success of the women's team, the club entered a second team in 2017 to cater for the demand.
The club are very proud of current women's senior team captain Rachel Horan who was capped for the Leinster Women's rugby team for the first time in 2017 and again in 2018.
Rachel is the second CYM RFC player over the course of the club's history to be representing CYM RFC at the highest level in the province.
One of CYM RFC's oldest traditions is the annual 'Friendship Cup' fixture with Haddington RFC, Scotland which coincides each year with the Six Nations tie between the two countries - making it the longest-running rivalry (and friendly) between an Irish and Scottish club.
The friendly fixture was arranged and agreed upon in the summer of 1948 when the late Tony Keating, president of CYM RFC at the time, met with Mr Frank Burnet, secretary of Haddington RFC, while holidaying in Scotland.
Next year marks 70 years of the fixture and to celebrate it, CYM RFC are travelling to Haddington and for the first time in the fixture's history, both a men's and women's team will travel.
The club have their largest membership ever and are fielding two teams in both men's and women's. They have no shortage of ambition and are always looking for new members to join their friendly atmosphere. There have been many changes throughout the history of this small club's existence. However, the friendly attitude extended to all visitors, the camaraderie between members and how that extends across all the sections at Terenure Sports Club, and the stream of people willing to serve as captains or committee, remains unchanged.
Founded: 1924
Grounds: Terenure Sports Club
Colours: Green and Purple
Divisions:
Men - Metro league Division 5 & Metro League Division 11
Women - Leinster League Division 1 & Leinster League Division 4
President: David Cruddas
Captain: Kevin Carty/Rachel Horan