There is a newspaper report of a rugby match in November 1874 between Portora and Armagh Royal School; Portora lost by four goals and three touchdowns to nothing.

The 150th anniversary of this event was celebrated on Friday, August 30 starting with an exhibition match against Armagh on the Eisenhower Playing Fields.

Unfortunately, Armagh were again the victors, but this time the margin of victory was only two points. This match was watched by a large crowd including Mr. Declan Madden of Garryowen Rugby Club who has recently been elected President of the Irish Rugby Football Union; the IRFU is also celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. Mr. Madden very kindly also attended both the following events before driving to Belfast to attend the Women’s Interprovincial Championship finals.

The match was followed by a well-attended launch of Robert Northridge’s '150 Years of Rugby'. 

Robert gave a PowerPoint presentation highlighting some events chronicled in the book. Soon after the first match against Armagh Portora, were one of the eight clubs which attended a meeting in Dublin, the result of which was the founding of what was to be later named the IRFU. Early in 1875, there were three Old Portorans (out of 20 players) on the first Irish International team which played England. Some years later, Emily Valentine, daughter of William Valentine the deputy head of Portora, became the first female ever recorded as playing rugby.

In the early years of the 20th century when Alaster McDonnell, a full rugby International, was headmaster, Portora won the Ulster Schools’ Cup four times in five years, with the 1908-09 season being one of the outstanding seasons for any school rugby team. Portora played 23 matches, winning them all and scoring 912 points while their opponents only managed to score 34. Nine of the team played for Ulster Schoolboys that season and their captain, Dickie Lloyd, is Portora’s most capped international player.

It is a little-known fact that Nobel laureate, Samuel Beckett, played at out-half in the 1923 Cup final in which Portora lost to Campbell College. Ian Stuart, another rugby International, was headmaster when Portora next won the Cup, this time for three successive years, 1940, 1941 and 1942, with their being joint winners with RBAI in the last of these years. The tragedy of these winning teams was the number of players who went on to serve in the War with several being killed, including Oliver Duncan who played on all three teams, being captain in the last of the three years. There were many notable victories the following decades and in both 2006 and 2007 Portora reached the semi-final of the Cup with Ashley Finlay, the current Head of Rugby at the school, playing in both semi-finals. Over the years there have been notable runs in the subsidiary competitions, the Shield, Bowl and Trophy, with the school being winners of the latter two competitions.

Since Portora amalgamated with the Collegiate in 2016, girls’ rugby has been a feature of the school, and the teams have several times been winners of the Ulster Schols’ Cup and have competed with distinction in the All-Irelands.

Robert Northridge finished his presentation by thanking the 50 people who had sponsored his history; their generosity had enabled the full cost of designing and printing 600 copies of the book to have already been covered with the excess money going to the funds of the school rugby club.

The day of celebration ended with a Gala Ball attended by 150 supporters and organised by the Parents’ Support Group. At the Ball, Declan Madden emphasised how much the IRFU appreciated the work of the volunteers in all the schools and clubs in Ireland, and wished the club every success over the next 150 years.

Robert’s book, 150 Years of Rugby, 1874-2024, is available for purchase at the schools’ Lough Shore site. The books cost £20 each with all the money going to the rugby club.