Foundation

University College Dublin Fencing Club was founded in 1954 and it would seem that at that time the only other clubs in existence in UCD at the time were the Big Four: Gaelic Games, Soccer, Rugby and Athletics. Whatever the actual details, UCD Fencing Club is one the oldest clubs in UCD and has compiled a rich history in it's more than fifty years of operation. The first club president was Rev. Fr. O'Doherty who, together with former Olympic fencer Patrick Duffy, coached the fledgling club to become contenders in the Irish fencing world. In the early years the college competed well for such a new club, but the more established clubs of Trinity College and the Royal College of Surgeons usually shared the honours between them. Gaelic games are the native sports of Ireland: principally Hurling, Gaelic Football and Camogie. ...

The first club captain/president was the author and screenwriter Brian Talbot Cleeve, in the season 1955/56. Records from this time are incomplete at best but it appears the club was forced into hiatus for a number of years until the season 1961/62 when Joe Long and then Michael Ryan began to revitalise the club. Michael Ryan's first task as captain was to claim the back-payments of funding to the club which hadn't been collected in a number of years and which when collected gave the club a healthy jump-start on the way to recovery. In an interview with the UCD Observer newspaper in November 2004 Michael recalled that "It was quickly clear that the club had not claimed its annual grant for either of the previous two years. The person who doled out these grants was the Deputy Bursar, Mr. Brian Farrell, of TV fame afterwards, so I went to see him, seeking payment for the previous two years plus the first moiety of the current year. At £40 per year this came to £100, a substantial sum at that time (multiply by about 25 for today's money).”[1] There are many prominent people with the name Michael Ryan: Michael Ryan (athlete), New Zealand long distance runner Michael Ryan (baseball), a baseball player Michael Ryan (comics), a comic book artist Michael Ryan (critical theorist), teaches English at Miami Unversity, Ohio Michael Ryan (hockey), American ice hockey player Michael Ryan...

In 1966, with Michael at its head, UCD became the National Team Epee champions, which entitled the team to compete in the European Cup in Heidenheim, Germany; an invitation tournament for all the champion epee teams in Europe. After Michael’s return from the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, the club presented him with gold cufflinks that he still keeps today as a reminder of the links between UCD and his training under Prof. Duffy that helped him reach the Olympics. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Intervarsity Success

UCD first secured the All-Ireland Intervarsity Championship (the Frank Russel trophy) came in 1966 under the captaincy of Alan Dukes, former Fine Gael leader and Irish finace minister. Alan Dukes (born April 20, 1945) is an Irish politician, a former leader of the Fine Gael political party and former TD for Kildare South. ... Fine Gael (IPA: , though often anglicized to (approximate English translation: Family of the Irish) and officially, Fine Gael - The United Ireland Party, is the second largest political party in Ireland, presently forming the largest opposition party in the Oireachtas (Irish Parliament), and claims a membership of over 34,000. ...

UCD were not to see success in the tournament again until 1972. This run of championship victories, which broke the dominance of Trinity Fencing Club, in the championship continued until 1978. This run of seven consecutive victories has been the longest run of success for UCD so far.

The 1990's onwards have seen UCD rise to dominance in the Intervarsity competition. Since 1992 UCD has won the tournament 12 times. In February 2007 the club secured it's 20th intervarsity title and sixth consectutive title.

Currently, 9 different universities take part in the Irish Intervarsity Championships: University College Dublin, Dublin University, National University of Ireland Maynooth, University College Cork, Dundalk Institute of Technology, Dublin City University, Royal College of Surgeons, Queens University Belfast and University of Ulster Coleraine. University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin - more commonly University College Dublin (UCD) - is Irelands largest university, with over 20,000 students. ... The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin or more commonly Trinity College, Dublin (TCD) was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I, is the only constituent college of the University of Dublin, Irelands oldest university. ... Queens University of Belfast Queens University, Belfast (QUB) - or officially Queens University of Belfast - is a university in Belfast, Northern Ireland. ...

Competitions

The flagship event in the UCD Fencing Club calendar is the hosting of the annual "East of Ireland Fencing Competition", which is usually held in mid-February. It attacts fencers from all over the island of Ireland as well as international fencers from England, Scotland, Holland, France, Switzerland, Germany and the United States.

In rotation with other clubs in the country, UCD Fencing club has hosted the 'Vinnie Duffy' Sabre competition, the Intermediates, the Junior Nationals and the Dublin Epee competition.

The Colours

This annual inter-collegiate fencing competition takes place in Spring/Summer solely between UCD and Trinity College (Dublin University). The historical rivalry and competitiveness between the two universities is similar to that of the Cambridge and Oxford rivalry. All 6 weapons are fenced - Mens Foil, Epee and Sabre; Womens Foil Epee and Sabre.

The Colours in fencing have been dominated by UCD, who have beaten their rivals on every meeting. 2007 saw UCD fencing club win its tenth (10th) successive Colours match defeating Trinty by 5 weapon victories to 1.

Club Structure

The club is administered through an elected commitee and raises finance through college grants and competition entry fees received. Major expenditures include equipment, coaching, and subsidising travel to competitions.

UCD Fencing Legends

Michael Ryan (Men's Epee). Olympian Image File history File links Flag_of_Ireland_(bordered). ...

Phillip Lee (Men's Foil). Reached World Top 100. National Captain Image File history File links Flag_of_Ireland_(bordered). ...

Annalise Mion (Ladies Epee). Reached World Top 200. National Epee Captain Image File history File links Flag_of_Ireland_(bordered). ...

Owen McNamee (Men's Sabre). Reached World Top 150. National Sabre Captain Image File history File links Flag_of_Ireland_(bordered). ...

Benedict Chambers (Men's Epee). Reached World Top 200 Image File history File links Flag_of_Ireland_(bordered). ...

Conor Nagle (Men's Epee). Reached World Junior Top 200. National Epee Captain Image File history File links Flag_of_Ireland_(bordered). ...

Aoife Lennon (Ladies Foil). National Foil Captain Image File history File links Flag_of_Ireland_(bordered). ...

Siobhan Silke (Ladies Epee). National Epee Captain Image File history File links Flag_of_Ireland_(bordered). ...

Sarah Drumm (Ladies Sabre). National B team Captain Image File history File links Flag_of_Ireland_(bordered). ...

UCD Fencing Coaches

2007/2008 Richard Noonan

2006/2007 Marcos Simpson, Richard Noonan, Doru Caldea

2005/2006 Marcos Simpson, Annalise Mion, Doru Caldea

2004/2005 Paul Bouchier-Hayes, Marcos Simpson

2001-2004 Tony Quinn, Marc Connolly

1994-1999 Shirley Duffy

Further Information

Current membership of the club stands in excess of 160 members.

For more history of the club and current news and events please visit http://www.ucd.ie/fencing