Ottawa Irish Rugby Club (est. 1963)

Our History

Early in the 1960s, there were three rugby clubs in the Ottawa area: the Bytown Beavers, Deep River (formed by scientists working at the Atomic Energy centre at Chalk River), and the Ottawa Indians. Some members of these clubs saw the need for a fourth club in order to provide additional games and reduce the need to travel away so often. As a result during the period, 1962-63, the Ottawa Irish was formed. It consisted mainly of Canadians with Irish ancestry, ex-Ottawa Indians as well as players from local football clubs. The first President was Ken Gibson while George Jones was Captain in the early seasons. Through the efforts of Con Sheehan and others, the new club was able to attract a host of great young football players to the game. In particular, the team included a large number of Ottawa Sooners and, renamed as the Ottawa Timbermen, made the Club's first overseas tour to Jamaica.                  

Progress through the formative years was difficult with only a small number of local teams to play. In order to avoid forfeiting away games in the Montreal area, Mike Hogg, the Club's general organizer in the mid 1960s would appear at Billings Bridge to assure the assembled eight or nine players that there was no problem in fielding a full team, as "one carload has already left and gone on ahead." Hitchhikers were occasionally recruited to make up numbers for these away games. Early in the Club's history, the shortage of experienced players resulted in a number of bizarre incidents, including one member receiving a life ban from playing rugby on two occasions!

Under the guiding influence of Bob Elder, the late sixties saw the Club develop into a more coherent force both on and off the field. The Club came of age in 1971 with a successful tour to Bermuda. Strengthened by guest players from the Irish Canadians and Montreal Irish, Bermuda was defeated, their first ever loss to a club side. The next overseas tour was to Britain in 1977 with games in Scotland and England. Although not so successful on the field, the tour provided younger players with experience against stronger opposition. The year following the tour, the Irish became the first Canadian club to win the Saranac Lake Can-Am Trophy. Up to 1979, the Irish were members of the Quebec Rugby Union, with most away games being played in Montreal. In 1980, the Club became a member of the Ontario Rugby Union and the focus moved from Montreal to Toronto with the best players representing Ontario rather than Quebec at the provincial level. The early eighties saw a strong influx of young players who had learned to play rugby at local high schools. These players made rapid progress in part due to the full-size fields available at Twin Elm Rugby Park. The Park opened in 1976 and is jointly owned by the Irish and three other local clubs.

These players along with the experienced veterans from the QRU days, laid the foundation for success throughout the 1980s. The efforts of these younger players led to a winning tradition in both the ORU League and Cup competitions, and secured the Club's reputation as one of the top clubs in Eastern Canada. At this time, the Club was fortunate to be coached by David Roberts while he was the CRU Technical Director. On the administrative side, Nancy MacLeod and Peter Sloan were invaluable assets ensuring that the day- to-day organization and finances were in order. With the Club's strong influence in local high schools, the nineties also proved successful, particularly in the Ontario 7s Championship, won each year from 1991 to 1998. The ORU 'triple crown'--McCormick Cup, League and Sevens-- was achieved in 1991 and again in 1996.

In 1995, the Club expanded to introduce the Irish Women's team and it has enjoyed considerable success since its formation. Under the watchful eye of coach Billy Foster, the team entered the Quebec B League after winning the Eastern Ontario (EORU) Division in it's first year. In 1999, a second team was initiated in the EORU and in 2002 a third "recreational" team was added.

Over the years, many players have represented EORU, Quebec, Ontario and Canadian teams. This contingent of players is led by Al Charron, a long time member of the National Men's Team (over 70 caps, some which have been as Captain) as well as playing for the British Barbarians and other invitational World teams. He played professional rugby in Britain and France since December 1997 – and made a remarkable comeback from a serious knee injury to Captain the Canadian side in the 2004 World Cup. Al is arguably the most recognizable face in Canadian Rugby.

Despite their shorter history, Women players have also received recognition at the representative level. On the junior side, Jodi Powell was named captain of the first Under-19 national Team in 2000. On the Senior side, there were three women on the first World Cup team in 1998, with Sherri Sparling returning for a second World Cup in 2002, this time as Captain, together with two fellow Club members. On the eve of their 40th Anniversary, the Ottawa Irish perhaps had a unique claim to fame--Captains of both Canada's Rugby World Cup squads.

There had been talk for two years before the club decided that it would start a women's program in 1995. Bill Foster had not coached high school rugby since St. Pius boys came in second at OFSSA in 1989. When he had agreed to coach the newly formed Irish women, he decided to coach women's high school rugby at St. Paul in 1995. At that time in the school system, there was a work to rule strike in the public board and so although Catholic School St. Paul's was able to field a team, no public schools were.

With his handful of high school keeners, a few from public schools such as Colonel By, and some University players, the Ottawa Irish Women started in April 1995, and before anyone knew it, Bill was leading a team of 21 girls into the Quebec Division 3 League and winning in their inaugural 1995 season. In 1996, with the momentum behind him, Bill went onto lead the lasses to a Russell League Championship. After winning a playoff game against Beaconsfield, the team qualified to play in the more competitive Quebec Division 1 League in 1997. With an influx of quality players from the high school and University systems, the team won the competitive Division 1 in 1997 and 1999, and were finalists in 1998, 2000-2002. Due to high numbers and increased need, the OIRC Women's 2nds started in 1999, and demonstrated that they could compete with the 1sts in the newly established EORU Premier League. A 3rds (recreational side) was formed for a short time, and a formal U19 League was established in 2003, making the number of women’s teams equal to the men’s in the Club within eight years!

Since 1995 the Irish Women have proudly worn the Green and Gold, and have established themselves as the top rugby team in Ottawa. The Irish have produced many Provincial level players and over the years, several National calibre players including:

National Under19 Women

2000 - Jodi Powell (Captain), Michelle Tremere

2006 – Julianne Zussman

2007 – Lisa Gauthier

National U-23 Women

National Senior Women

World Cup 1998: Judith Begin, Bethany Johnson, Sherri Sparling

World Cup 2002: Danielle Goulet, Sherri Sparling (Captain), Sherri Tanner

Churchill Cup 2003/2004: Jennifer Boyd, Danielle Goulet, Leslie Hurst   

National 7s

1998 Hong Kong 7s – Bethany Johnson