One hundred
years of the Gar
Founded in October 1925, quiet for eight years in the thirties, and at Cullion since 1977. A hundred seasons of rugby in Westmeath.
- 1925
- Founded
- 1944
- Reformed
- 1977
- Home at Cullion
- 2
- Towns Cups
A Century of Rugby – The Story of Mullingar RFC 1925–2025, by Denis McDermott and John Keane, was published for the centenary. It is the club’s own account and goes far beyond this page.
A hundred seasons
- 1925The club is founded
A group of young men meet on 2 October and form Mullingar Rugby Football Club. The founders are named as J. E. Wallace, J. Doyle, Dr J. O’Sullivan, J. Brophy, J. M. Winckworth and S. K. Brabazon, and Berchmans Hannin of the Hibernian Bank becomes the first president. Accounts differ on the room: the Greville Arms Hotel in one telling, the Central Hotel on Oliver Plunkett Street in another.
Westmeath Examiner, 28 January 2025 - 1925/26First season at the Showgrounds
The club plays its first matches at the Showgrounds, part of the racecourse at Newbrook, against Cavan, Kells, Ballymahon, Kilbeggan, Trinity and Shannon Buccaneers. Sgt J. Brophy captains the side.
Westmeath Examiner, 28 January 2025 - 1935The club goes quiet
Short of players, Mullingar stops playing in the 1935/36 season. It would be eight years before a ball was thrown in again.
Westmeath Examiner, 28 January 2025 - 1944Reformed, and never stopped since
The club is reformed in April 1944. From that date it has gone forward without another break.
Westmeath Examiner, 28 January 2025 - 1947A first run at the Towns Cup
Mullingar reach the semi-final of the Leinster Provincial Towns Cup.
Westmeath Examiner, 28 January 2025 - 1954Towns Cup winners
The club wins the Provincial Towns Cup for the first time, beating Naas 3–0 with Milo Cox as captain.
Westmeath Examiner, 28 January 2025 - 1956Towns Cup winners again
A second Towns Cup, 6–3 against Kilbeggan, captained by Mick Nugent.
Westmeath Examiner, 28 January 2025 - 1977Home at Cullion
The club buys and opens its own grounds at Cullion — the ground that is now Shay Murtagh Park.
Westmeath Examiner, 28 January 2025 - 1978Youth rugby starts
The underage section begins. It is now the largest mini academy in Leinster.
Westmeath Examiner, 28 January 2025 - 1989Back to the final
Mullingar reach the Towns Cup final, having beaten Enniscorthy along the way, with Fred Butler as captain. Further finals follow in 1993 and 1996.
Westmeath Examiner, 28 January 2025 - 1991Joe Schmidt comes to Mullingar
Joe Schmidt is appointed coach, playing and coaching at the club in the early 1990s alongside John ‘Banjo’ Quinn. He would go on to coach Leinster and Ireland, and returned to celebrate with his former team-mates after Leinster’s Heineken Cup win.
Westmeath Examiner, 28 January 2025 - 2025One hundred years
The centenary. More than 550 people attend the Centenary Ball at the Mullingar Park Hotel on 2 February, with former Ireland and Munster player Alan Quinlan as guest of honour. The club publishes A Century of Rugby – The Story of Mullingar RFC 1925–2025 by Denis McDermott and John Keane, and Noel McIntyre’s documentary, eighteen months in the making, is screened.
Westmeath Examiner, 28 February 2025 - 2025Two world records, in one weekend
Shay Murtagh Park hosts a rugby marathon for the charities Wooden Spoon and LooseHeadz. Starting at 8am on 18 June and running through the night, the women’s game reaches 26 hours 33 minutes and the men’s 34 hours 48 minutes — two Guinness World Records, and around £150,000 raised.
Irish Rugby, 18 June 2025 - 2026The new clubhouse opens
Minister of State Charlie McConalogue cuts the ribbon on the new clubhouse on 18 April, with Robert Troy and Peter Burke in attendance. The dressing rooms are rebuilt with dedicated, safe spaces for women and girls — and the week before the opening, the ground hosted an underage international between Ireland and France.
Westmeath Examiner, 24 April 2026
The Towns Cup
Two wins in the fifties, and four more finals since. The 1954 side beat Naas by a single score.
- 1954Provincial Towns Cup
Beat Naas 3–0 · Capt. Milo Cox
- 1956Provincial Towns Cup
Beat Kilbeggan 6–3 · Capt. Mick Nugent
- 1947Towns Cup semi-final
- 1989Towns Cup final
Capt. Fred Butler
- 1993Towns Cup final
- 1996Towns Cup final
Names worth knowing
- Joe Schmidt
- Player and coach at Mullingar in the early 1990s, appointed coach in 1991. Later coach of Leinster and of Ireland.Westmeath Examiner, 28 January 2025
- Katie Heffernan
- The club’s most recent international. A former Loreto College Mullingar student who came through at Mullingar, played Sevens for Ireland and was named in the Ireland squad for the 2025 Six Nations. She keeps her dual status with the club.Westmeath Examiner, 13 February 2025
- Milo Cox and Mick Nugent
- Captains of the 1954 and 1956 Towns Cup winning sides.Westmeath Examiner, 28 January 2025
Scarlet and grey
Rule 3 of the club’s own rules sets the jersey: scarlet and grey jersey, navy shorts, red socks. Members must play in complete club colours. The club is known as The Gar, and is affiliated to the Leinster Branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union.
The club rulesShay Murtagh Park
Bought and opened at Cullion in 1977, a second pitch added in 1990, and four full-size pitches there today. The clubhouse was rebuilt and opened in April 2026, with dressing rooms designed to give women and girls dedicated, safe space.
What happens to it next →The club’s previous website carried no history, so this page was assembled from published reporting — chiefly the Westmeath Examiner’s centenary coverage — and each entry links to its source. Two accounts of the founding are in circulation, the Greville Arms and the Central Hotel, and both are noted rather than one being chosen. Corrections are welcome, and A Century of Rugby – The Story of Mullingar RFC 1925–2025 is the authority.