Lansdowne Football Club was founded in 1872 by Henry Dunlop, a noted athlete of his time. From its earliest days as the Irish Champions Athletic Club, Lansdowne emerged from quite modest beginnings – it was widely regarded as Trinity’s second string for several years – to establish itself as one of the top clubs in Ireland, attracting players from all corners of the country and beyond.
The Club’s playing colours are black, red and yellow hoops, with navy shorts. To date, 105 Lansdowne players have won international caps, including many famous names in Irish rugby, including: Moss Keane, Eugene Davy, Ernie Crawford, Ned Lightfoot, Mick Dunne, Jack Arigho, Morgan Crowe, Robin Roe, Mick English, Pat Casey, Sean MacHale, Gordon Wood, Alan “Dixie” Duggan, Barry McGann, Mick Quinn, Noel Manion, Eric Elwood, Philip Danaher, Michael Kiernan (dropped the goal to win the 1985 Triple Crown), Conor O’Shea, Donal and Dick Spring (former Tanaiste), Michael Gibson, Des Fitzgerald and, of course, the great Con Murphy (the only player to represent Ireland both before and after the 2nd World War).
Con was captain of the famous Irish team which defeated England 22-0 in the first official post-war international in 1947. The Lansdowne Club has also supplied 14 British and Irish Lions, from Lawrence Bulger in 1896 to Shane Horgan and Gordon D’Arcy in New Zealand in 2005. Felipe Contepomi of Argentina became the Club’s 99th overall and first Overseas international. More recent internationals include Devin Toner, Marty Moore, Jordi Murphy, David Kearney, Dominic Ryan and Matt Healy, while Cian Aherne, Tom Daly, Ian Fitzpatrick, John O’Donnell and Mark Roche have all been capped at 7’s international level in the past few seasons.