RLI Premiership

The RLI Premiership is the top tier of domestic rugby league in Ireland founded in 1997.

The competition was founded as the "All-Ireland Challenge Cup", and has undergone many name changed in history having also been named the "All-Ireland League", "Irish Elite League", "All-Ireland Championship", and "All-Ireland Rugby League Championship" before being named its current title.

History

The first domestic rugby league club in Ireland were the Dublin Blues. They were a club founded in 1989 by Brian Corrigan.

Following the formation of the Ireland national side in 1995 a league competition was mooted to aid further development. In 1997, the first Rugby League tournament began in Ireland. Under the title "All-Ireland Challenge Cup" eight clubs, Belfast Buccaneers, Tallaght Tigers, Churchtown Warriors, East Coast Panthers (from Bray), Bangor Vikings, Dublin Blues, Northside Saints, and Cork Bulls chased the first ever title. Fittingly the oldest club Dublin Blues lifted the trophy.

Northside Saints (from Dublin) won the following season before Dublin Blues won the title for the second time. 2000 brought victory for another Dublin club in Churchtown Warriors before Cork Bulls briefly ended the Dubliners dominance. Dublin City Exiles won the first of two consecutive titles, both against Dublin Blues in 2002.

Clontarf Bulls were surprise winners in 2004, the next campaign saw the emergence of Treaty City Titans (from Limerick) as a truly dominant force they would go on and win six of the next seven championships, many of which saw them go undefeated. In the season they didn't win they were runner-up to Carlow Crusaders in 2008 a side they had beaten in the previous two finals.

During this time, in 2006, the competition moved away from the provincial league system with national playoffs to pursue a single national league.

In 2010, the field Country Cowboys won their first title in 2012, it was back to the norm in 2013 as Treaty City Titans lifted their 7th title.

The Titans had to settle for runners-up the next season as Barnhall Butchers won for the first time. Treaty City Titans after an indifferent campaign won again in 2015 and in 2016 we were guaranteed a new name on the trophy as debutant finalists Galway Tribesmen overcame 2012 runners-up Ballynahinch Rabbitohs.

In 2015, only 56% of fixtures were completely, with a slight rise to 67% in 2016. Several clubs returned from hiatus in 2017 due to a financial boost caused by the national team qualifying for the 2017 World Cup.

Current teams (2025) ClubLocation Dublin City Exiles Dublin Banbridge Broncos Banbridge Galway Tribesmen Galway Longhorns RL Dublin Cork Bulls Cork

List of finals

+YearWinning teamScoreLosing team1997 Dublin Blues – Tallaght Tigers 1998 Northside Saints 48–24 Dublin Blues 1999 Dublin Blues 24–18 Cork Bulls 2000 Churchtown Warriors – 2001 Cork Bulls 16–12 Dublin City Exiles 2002 Dublin City Exiles 26–18 Dublin Blues 2003 Dublin City Exiles 28–26 Dublin Blues 2004 Clontarf Bulls 32–30 Dublin Blues 2005 Treaty City Titans 36–30 Kildare Dragons 2006 Treaty City Titans 24–10 Carlow Crusaders 2007 Treaty City Titans 38–22 Carlow Crusaders 2008 Carlow Crusaders 24–8 Treaty City Titans 2009 Treaty City Titans 33–26 Carlow Crusaders 2010 Treaty City Titans 52–24 Dublin City Exiles 2011 Treaty City Titans w/o Carlow Crusaders 2012 Country Cowboys 28–24 Ballynahinch Rabbitohs 2013 Treaty City Titans 36–16 Dublin City Exiles 2014 Barnhill Butchers 25–24 Treaty City Titans 2015 Treaty City Titans 28–18 Longhorns RL 2016 Galway Tribesmen 36–34 Ballynahinch Rabbitohs 2017 Longhorns RL 46–6 Belfast Met Scholars 2018 Longhorns RL w/o Belfast Stags 2019 Longhorns RL 38–16 Dublin City Exiles2020 Longhorns RL 24–10 Galway Tribesmen 2021 Galway Tribesmen30–16 Dublin City Exiles2022 Dublin City Exiles 38–8 Longhornshttps://www.facebook.com/rugbyleagueireland/videos/15263938244852062023 Banbridge Broncos 30–22Galway Tribesmen2024 Longhorns RL 32-16 Galway Tribesmen 2025Banbridge Broncos30-12Longhorns RLhttps://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0cv7HSsnhx2USH1UQ2wEkbZAZyWxAREcg2737NBzbmdpQnVHV6vMJJynF4Tn3JQJxl&id=61577983274704

Winners by club # Club No. Year(s) 1 Treaty City Titans 8 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 20152 Longhorns RL 5 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 20243 Dublin City Exiles 3 2002, 2003, 20224 Dublin Blues 2 1997, 1999Galway Tribesmen 2016, 2021 Banbridge Broncos 2023, 20257 Barnhill Butchers 1 2014 Carlow Crusaders 2008 Churchtown Warriors 2000 Clontarf Bulls 2004 Cork Bulls 2001 Country Cowboys 2012 Northside Saints 1998

RLI Premiership

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