By Paul O’Brien & Helen Johnston
The domestic hockey season finished on May 12th with local club Railway Union capturing their fourth Women’s National title of the season as their 2nd XI won the prestigious Irish Junior Cup. This added to the victories by the club’s 1st team over the prior two weekends where they captured the world’s oldest club hockey trophy, the Irish Senior Cup, as well as the National League EY Champions Trophy title. These three outdoor titles added to the club’s Women’s National Indoor title which they secured in February for the fifth consecutive season. The hockey club will now be Ireland’s representative in European Club Hockey competition in both the women’s outdoor and women’s indoor competitions in 2025. The Sandymount-based club is keen to partner with local companies wishing to support this successful and progressive club that has a national and European profile.
Railway Union Sports Club is very much a community and family orientated club with many of the current players, like 1st team captain and former international Emma Smyth, having been involved in the club from underage teams right up to the senior adult teams.
These outstanding performances by the Women’s hockey teams are due, in no small part, to the work, commitment and talent of the players in the squads but also to the direction, mentoring and technical development provided by the coaching teams led by Una McCarthy, Gareth Myburgh, Ellie McLaughlin and Rob Devlin, along with manager and inclusion hockey coordinator Margaret Shaw.
It’s been a successful season for the club right through their teams this past season. The Men’s 1sts captured the Neville Davin Cup and the club invested in a programme to engage and develop their young teenage female players. Through that work, the club expanded last season by adding two new senior women’s teams to specifically accommodate the additional number of teenage playing members. It was a really successful initiative as the group, led by their coaches Georgia Weir McErlean and Brandon Kruger, won both their Leinster League and also the Leinster Cup.
The club fields 12 senior adult teams and thereby caters for members who have ambitions to be high performance players (the club has five of the current Irish Senior National Team) as well as those who are more social sports participants. The club has ambitions to continue to grow and add new members and as well as the new (2022) water-filled hockey pitch at their primary grounds on Park Avenue in Sandymount, the club has also a multi-year licence to use the new pitch on Claremont Road as its second club venue.
Alongside the adult teams, the hockey club has a thriving youths section providing hockey coaching from preschool age right up to under 16s. Success was achieved here also with the Under 16 team winning the blue riband title of the Leinster Under 16 title.
With club values of Develop, Excel and Enjoy and an open membership policy, the Hockey Club is actively welcoming new members, youths and adults alike, of all ages and abilities. The club is currently running Summer Social Hockey twice a week on Tuesdays and Saturdays for those aged 15 and over.
For more information about the club, check out www.railwayunionhockey.ie or email: comejoinrailway@gmail.com or railwaysocialhockey@gmail.com The hockey club is part of the Railway and Steampacket Athletic & Social Union (“Railway Union Sports Club”) which was founded in 1904 and supports seven different sports (bowls, bridge, cricket, hockey, rugby, soccer and tennis) to their members, schools and the local community. For those wishing to know more about the club, whether that be youth or adult membership or the facilities available, you can contact Amy at railwayunionbarandvenue@gmail.com
