Eoghan Ruadh Hurling Club was founded in 1917 by Rev Pat Flanagan to cater for the school league teams in the Aughrim Street Parish. The club rapidly reached adult status graduating through Junior and Intermediate ranks achieving Senior status in the early 1930’s. From its earliest days the Ruadh played its home games at the Hurling Ground in the Phoenix Park.

In its formative years the boys for the various teams were recruited mainly from St Gabriel’s N.S. and St. Paul’s CBS, North Brunswick St and this remained the case until the amalgamation with the St Oliver Plunkett’s club.

Over the years the Ruadh won every competition possible from Juvenile up to Senior, culminating with the Dublin Senior Hurling Championship in 1951.

 
Eoghan Ruadh

The Ruadh were Dublin’s representatives at the inaugural Féile na nGael competition in Thurles in 1971 where they won through to the final only to be beaten by 1 point by Blackrock from Cork.

Although originally all the Eoghan Ruadh players were Dublin born, the passing of years and the Club’s growing popularity brought an influx of players from other counties notably Sean Cronin (Kerry), Jim Donegan (Kilkenny), Sean Coughlan (Cork) and Pat Dempsey (Wexford) to mention but a few. These helped to keep the wonderful hurling tradition of the Club to the forefront.

Several of the Ruadh players have won All-Ireland honours down the years. Jim Byrne who won the honour in 1938 holds the distinction of being the only Dublin born player to have won a Senior All-Ireland hurling medal with Dublin. Jim Donegan won the honour with Kilkenny in 1947. On the successful Dublin minor teams of 1945 and 1946, the Ruadh had nine medal winners. Fran Whelan was the last to win an All-Ireland medal when playing with the successful Dublin Minor team of 1954.

Throughout its history the Ruadh have supplied many players to the various Dublin teams, in addition to those mentioned above Dixie O’Brien, Kevin Matthew, Mickey Banks, Tommy Norton, Sean Óg O’Ceallacháin, Patsy Devine. Others to have represented the club at County level in more recent times include Joey Towell, Bernard Mc Mahon, Michael and Jim O’Riordan, Michael Stone, Larry McGowan, Donal Byrne and Kevin McCormack.

With changing demographics in the Aughrim Street area in the 1990’s fielding teams became difficult for the Club so after much discussion a decision was taken to amalgamate with the St Oliver Plunkett’s Club in 1996. One of the key factors in this decision was the agreement to include the Eoghan Ruadh name in the new setup.

Winning honours and competitions, however, was not the chief aim of the Ruadh. The aims of its founder were the playing and fostering of the grand old game of hurling. The present committee and players of the St Oliver Plunkett’s Eoghan Ruadh GAA Club are proudly continuing along the road set by him way back in 1917.