Athy Embracing Energia Junior Cup Adventure

They will be writing the next chapter in a story that stretches back nearly 150 years, one that has weathered lean decades, enjoyed golden eras, and been reborn through the vision and hard work of generations who refused to let the flame go out in the Kildare town.

In the 1970s and early 1980s, Athy were a powerhouse of the Leinster junior game. Their name was etched on the Provincial Towns Cup multiple times, their jerseys a familiar sight in finals across the province, one that would strike fear in any team that they played.

But with success, a decline followed. After reaching the Towns Cup final in 1991, Athy battled away in Leinster, but soon drifted into the lower tiers. In the last number of years though, they have risen like the Phoenix from the flames.

For Athy’s director of rugby, Ollie Henry, whose own family is woven tightly into the fabric of the club, with two sons and two nephews following in the family footsteps, this weekend’s clash marks something deeply personal.

It is the culmination of years of investment in the club’s foundations, a reward for those who believed Athy could once again stand among the best in Leinster rugby, and now, for the first time, test themselves beyond it.

“We’re kind of a very old club,” Henry told IrishRugby.ie. “We had a lot of success back in the 70s and 80s, won a number of Towns Cups back then, and we were kind of one of the strongest junior clubs in Leinster back in those generations.

“But then from the mid-80s, we fell away. Up to around 2020, we were operating at the lower level of Leinster rugby. We were down in Division 2B, which is the fourth division, and we were really going nowhere.

“About 15, 20 years ago, we put a huge effort into our minis and youths, and really built the numbers in the minis and the quality, and in the last couple of years, we’ve had a lot of successful youth grades.

“For one or two seasons there we were the biggest provider of underage players to the Leinster Boys and Girls squads. We’ve won a good few Leinster underage cups and leagues.

“The last couple of years, we’ve been coming well, producing a lot of good players. Then we had three promotions in four years through the divisions to get us up to Division 1A.”

Last season marked Athy’s first ever campaign in Division 1A of the Leinster Junior League. Expectations were modest – survival, a few good performances, and perhaps a run in the Towns Cup if things broke their way.

It began slowly. The club took time to adjust to the pace and physicality of the top flight. But as winter turned to spring, something clicked.

Wins began to come, belief began to grow, and a group of young players who had come through together started to show their potential on the biggest stage they had yet seen.

Then came the Towns Cup, the competition that had defined Athy’s golden years, and that had eluded them for more than four decades. A strong run saw them beat Tullow, one of the competition favourites, in the semi-final, before claiming a famous and quite dramatic win over County Carlow in the final.

“That was our first Towns Cup win in 41 years, and it was massive,” Henry admits, his voice still carrying the pride. “There was a huge crowd at the game, really gave us a shot in the arm. Then we finished fifth in the league.”

For the club, it was more than a trophy. It was validation. For those like Henry, who have been on the rollercoaster journey during that tough spell, it was emotional.

“By a country mile, it was the best day in a long time. I was only seven when we won in 1984, I was there in 1991. It was the culmination of 15, 20 years of work. To see the crowd that was there, to see the amount of young players and scenes after, and how they connected.

“Seeing kids going up and asking the players for autographs. My son and nephew were playing, and they said that was the bit that blew them away, was that there were kids asking for their autographs.”

It is no coincidence that so many of those moments are shared within families. Henry’s two sons, Aidan and Daniel, and his nephews Jack and Matthew have all come through the same pathway.

In many ways, they represent the living embodiment of Athy’s development philosophy – nurture your own, and success will follow.

In the last number of seasons, 91 players have featured for the Athy senior Men’s team. Only two have not come through their underage system, but still call Athy home. That statistic shows that Athy’s success is not just homegrown, it is home-rooted.

From that development that was put in place decades ago, their ethos has yielded more than local success. The club has quietly become a production line for professional and international rugby talent.

Joey Carbery, Jeremey Lougman, Martin Moloney, Andrew Doyle, and Amy Larn are just some of the players that have flown the Athy flag across the globe.

Henry proudly says: “That’s why we put all the work in, to see our homegrown players coming through. Joey Carbery and Jeremy Loughman played in the same underage team. Their dads were key early drivers of getting the minis going and driving standards and belief in Athy.

“Martin Moloney’s playing with Exeter. We had Andrew Doyle last year with the Ireland Under-20s, and we have one or two guys hoping to maybe get into an Ireland U-20 squad this year as well.

“We also have Amy Larn, she’s played for the Ireland Sevens teams, played in the Olympics (last year), and she’s in the Ireland 15s extended squad also.”

When Athy lifted the Towns Cup earlier this year, few outside the club realised just how much that victory would change the course of their season and their history.

Their fifth place finish in Division 1A was not quite enough to qualify for the Energia All-Ireland Junior Cup. But when Bective Rangers earned promotion to the Energia All-Ireland League, a cup place opened up and Athy were next in line.

“We’ve never played in it before,” Henry said of the All-Ireland Junior Cup. “We’re really excited. We have a lot of people making the trip to Tuam because it’s something totally new for us.

“We’ve never played in the competition. Up to last year, it wasn’t even something we paid much attention to, because it was just, it was out of reach for us.

“The Junior Cup is certainly something we would be eager to go well in. What’s new for us this year, these are extra games, and the depth of our squad has been tested now with injuries. Obviously, there’s excitement and there’ll be nerves as well for the lads.

“We do a lot of analysis on ourselves. We don’t do a lot of analysis or focus on opposition. We generally try and look after our own performance and back ourselves.”

He continued: “We think we have good players and if we can play to the limit of our potential, we don’t worry too much about the opposition. Obviously, when we’re playing teams there’ll be a certain level of that and you might tailor your approach a little bit, particularly defensively.

“But for this competition it’s going to be a case of very much entering the unknown. We have no knowledge of anything about how Tuam play.

“So really, even more so than normal, the focus is going to be on our own performance. You’re in bonus territory. You go out and you give it your best. You get the win. You’re on to a new adventure. It doesn’t have the same do-or-die mentality about it.”

The jump into the Junior Cup brings new challenges. The club’s depth is already being tested by injuries and the demands of a packed fixture list. However, the spirit that has carried them to this point, the focus and the hard work, and trust in their own, remains the same.

For a club that once drifted in the lower leagues, to now stand among Ireland’s top junior teams is a remarkable transformation. Whether the journey ends this weekend or carries deeper into the competition, it is already a victory, one that honours their past and builds toward an even brighter future.

Notably, it was a moment of quiet reflection that first opened Henry’s eyes to what Athy could aspire to. A few years ago, while visiting Ashbourne, the three-time All-Ireland Junior Cup champions, for a Towns Cup match, something caught his eye in their clubhouse.

“About three years ago, we were in Division 1B. We made a decent run in the Towns Cup, got to the quarter-final. And I remember going up to Ashbourne, who were a well-established 1A team,” he explained.

“Like every other club, they had all the pennants up on the walls and all these blue pennants. We have loads of blue pennants on our wall, but my eye was drawn over to one side of the bar where they had their green pennants up. I was just blown away by how these green pennants jumped off the wall.”

Just a few years later, Athy’s blue pennants tell a proud story of their Leinster rugby history. Now, they are ready for this next step as they make their long-awaited All-Ireland competition bow at Garraun Park.

“This year, definitely getting into the Junior Cup was a bonus. It’s put us on the map a little bit. It’s for the players.

“I know the guys all want to play this weekend. They want to be in that first Athy team to ever play in the Energia All-Ireland Junior Cup. So, some guys are going to be disappointed.

“But at least now it’s something else to aim for. Each year we’ve kind of moved up the league. You always need to have some new goal to stretch it and aim for. So, that is why it’s been kind of really exciting for us too.”

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