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| Full name | Cork Constitution Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Union |  IRFU | |
| Branch | Munster | |
| Nickname | Con | |
| Founded | 1892 | |
| Ground(s) | Temple Hill, Ballintemple, Cork (Capacity: ~5,000) | |
| League | All-Ireland League Div. 1A | |
| 2024–25 | 3rd. (Runner-up) | |
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| Official website | ||
| corkcon | ||
The Cork Constitution (CC) is a rugby union club based in Cork in Ireland that plays in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League. Also known as "Cork Con" or simply "Con", the club is based at Temple Hill, Ballintemple.
The club was founded in 1892 by staff of the Cork Constitution newspaper. Since the paper did not publish on Sundays, the staff were looking for activities to pursue on Saturday afternoons. In the summer, cricket was played, while in the winter, rugby was the designated activity. The rugby club developed from the newspaper staff's cricket club, with H.L. Tivy serving as its first president. By 1898, four players from Cork Constitution had represented Munster, including Edward McCarthy, who also represented Ireland.
Due to the introduction of professional rugby union, and its success at producing players who go on to obtain Munster contracts, Con, like several other senior rugby clubs in Ireland, has been unable to field a full strength side for a number of years.[original research?] Con, however, remained competitive and reached the final of the All-Ireland League on six occasions since 2001 inclusive; losing in 2001 to Dungannon RFC, losing in 2002 to Shannon RFC, again losing in 2004 to Shannon and losing in 2007 to Garryowen FC, winning an elusive third title in 2008 on beating Garryowen in Musgrave Park and capturing a fourth title when beating St. Mary's by 17 points to 10 after extra time in Dubarry Park in May 2010.[citation needed] This 2010 league victory completed an AIL double as Con had already won the AIL Cup earlier in the season. Their most recent[when?] AIL victory was in 2023-24, their seventh title.
The All-Ireland Bateman Cup, played between the Provincial Cup winners, was re-inaugurated in 2005-06, and Cork Constitution have now won it on seven times.
