Events
Founded in 1875, City of Armagh RFC is one of the oldest in Ireland and is planning a series of events throughout 2025 to celebrate its 150th Anniversary. A small team of volunteers has been working on activities since August 2023.
The highlight of the club’s anniversary year will be a black-tie Gala Ball in the Armagh City Hotel on Saturday June 7th. City of Armagh RFC is delighted that principal club sponsor, Taranto Ltd, will be the headline sponsor for the Gala Ball. Additional event sponsors are the Derry Group, Bank of Ireland and SOS Sales.
During the evening, MC, Tommy Bowe will host a Q&A session with a panel of VIP guests which will include former World Rugby Player of the Year, Bryan Habana. A World Cup winner, Bryan will be travelling to Armagh from South Africa for the event and is looking forward to the special occasion. Joining Bryan on the panel will be Rob Kearney, former Irish International player, with 95 Irish caps and two British & Irish Lions tours to his name. The final panellist will be Su Carty who represents Ireland on the World Rugby Executive Board and chairs the referee selection committee for women’s internationals. The evening will come to a close with dancing to local band, Stonewall.
To launch the programme of events for 2025, Club President, Tim Taylor, will be hosting a President’s lunch on Saturday January 4th. All Past Presidents and Club Captains will be receiving a special invitation to the event.
The club is also producing a top-quality book to cover 150 years of rugby in Armagh and work is well under way to have this ready to launch in the new year.
In May, the club will be arranging a family fun day and with entertainment planned over the weekend.
Other events include a charity Golf Day in August and a Festival of Rugby in September. This will feature the City of Armagh over 35s squad and the Perennials RFC with a number of overseas touring teams also expected. A corporate breakfast event is also planned for autumn time.
The launch event concluded with Club President, Tim Taylor thanking Willie Boyd and his organising team of Don McDowell, Evan Morton and Karen Graham for the tremendous amount of work they had done to plan and prepare the calendar of events and activities for 2025.
