American Football Ireland Shamrock Bowls 1986-Present

Shamrock Bowl Results 1986-Present

SB	Year	Winners		Runners-Up
		All-Ireland Championship
	1986	Belfast Blitzers	7	Dublin Celts	0
		Shamrock Bowl
I	1986	Craigavon Cowboys	6	Dublin Celts	2
II	1987	Dublin Celts	43	Craigavon Cowboys	25
III	1988	Dublin Celts	34	Belfast Blitzers	6
IV	1989	Dublin Celts	7	Antrim Bulldogs	6
		Irish League Final
	1990	Craigavon Cowboys	54	Belfast Spartans	3
		Shamrock Bowl
V	1990	Dublin Celts	40	Craigavon Cowboys	0
VI	1991	Dublin Celts	66	Antrim Bulldogs	6
VII	1992	Craigavon Cowboys	14	Antrim Bulldogs	6
VIII	1993	Dublin Tornadoes	22	Dublin Celts	2
IX	1994	Dublin Tornadoes	21	Carrickfergus Knights	15
X	1995	Dublin Tornadoes	44	Carrickfergus Knights	12
XI	1996	Dublin Lightning	26	Dublin Tornadoes	8
XII	1997	Carrickfergus Knights	21	Dublin Bulls	0
XIII	1998	Carrickfergus Knights	22	Dublin Tigers	14
XIV	1999	Dublin Tigers	22	Carrickfergus Knights	6
	2000	No Competition
XV	2001	Dublin Rebels	28	Carrickfergus Knights	7
XVI	2002	Carrickfergus Knights	66	University of Limerick Vikings	0
XVII	2003	Dublin Rebels	24	Carrickfergus Knights	12
XVIII	2004	Dublin Rebels	24	Carrickfergus Knights	22
XIX	2005	Dublin Rebels	26	Belfast Bulls	19
XX	2006	Dublin Rebels	44	University of Limerick Vikings	12
XXI	2007	University of Limerick Vikings	22	Cork Admirals	14
XXII	2008	University of Limerick Vikings	14	Dublin Rebels	12
XXIII	2009	University of Limerick Vikings	9	Dublin Rebels	6 (OT)
XXIV	2010	Dublin Rebels	15	University of Limerick Vikings	0
XXV	2011	Dublin Rebels	14	University of Limerick Vikings	13
XXVI	2012	Belfast Trojans	16	University of Limerick Vikings	14
XXVII	2013	Belfast Trojans	48	Dublin Rebels	18
XXVIII	2014	Belfast Trojans	7	Trinity College Dublin	0
XXIX	2015	Belfast Trojans	28	Trinity College Dublin	14
XXX	2016	Dublin Rebels	12	Belfast Trojans	7
XXXI	2017	Dublin Rebels	12	Carrickfergus Knights	6
XXXII	2018	Cork Admirals	18	Dublin Rebels	16
XXXIII	2019	Belfast Trojans	24	South Dublin Panthers	10

Reference: [1]

Note 1: The 1986 season featured two Finals; The All-Ireland League and Championship based on an Irish / British League and Cup system were both won by Belfast Blitzers. Two months later in October 1986 sponsors decided there should be a big American-style Bowl game to finish the season, to which Belfast Blitzers and Dublin Celts – the top two teams – were invited, but the Blitzers as both League and Cup Champions declined to take part as they condsidered themselves already Champions. Craigavon Cowboys took their place and won Shamrock Bowl I by a score of 6-2 against the Dublin Celts.

Note 2: The 1990 Shamrock Bowl is disputed between the Craigavon Cowboys & Dublin Celts. There was a separate Irish League (Northern Ireland) & League of Ireland (Republic of Ireland) with the Dublin Celts electing to play in the NCMMA (British Second Level) as well as playing matches against Irish Teams. At the end of the Season a match was organised between the Winners of the Irish League (Craigavon Cowboys) & the Dublin Celts, which the Celts won 40-0, according to the AFI website.

Note 3: There was no League in 2000 or 2020

Composite Table 1986-2019

Team	P	W	L
Dublin Rebels	13	9	4
Belfast Trojans	6	5	1
Dublin Celts	7	5	2
Dublin Tornadoes	4	3	1
University of Limerick Vikings	8	3	5
Carrickfergus Knights *	9	3	7
Craigavon Cowboys	4	2	2
Dublin Lightning	1	1	0
Cork Admirals	2	1	1
Dublin Tigers	2	1	1
Belfast Blitzers	1	0	1
Belfast Bulls	1	0	1
Dublin Bulls	1	0	1
South Dublin Panthers	1	0	1
Trinity College Dublin	2	0	2
Antrim / A26 Bulldogs	3	0	3

Note: * Carrickfergus Knights are now the Belfast Knights.

Report

The Craigavon Cowboys won the first Shamrock Bowl in 1986, after that the Dublin Celts won 5-in-a-row from 1987 to 1991, a record winning streak that is still there today. Craigavon Cowboys won their second in 1992, before the Dublin Tornadoes won three in-a-row from 1993 to 1995, before being stopped short of four in-a-row by the Dublin Lightning in the Shamrock Bowl in 1996. The Carrickfergus Knights appeared in seven Shamrock Bowls in-a-row from 1997 to 2004, winning in 1997, 1998 and 2002, with the Dublin Tigers winning in 1999, and the Dublin Rebels in 2001.

From 2003 to 2006 the Rebels were Champions, with the University of Limerick Vikings winning their first of three-in-a-row in 2007. The Dublin Rebels then won in 2010 and 2011, before the Belfast Trojans won 4-in-a-row from 2012 to 2015, then it was another Rebels brace, winning in 2016 and 2017. The Cork Admirals won their first Shamrock bowl in 2018, before the Belfast Trojans won their fifth in 2019.

References:

Websites

[1] Irish American Football Association (2019) Shamrock Bowl Winners [Internet] Available from: https://www.americanfootball.ie/home/kitted-football/shamrock-bowl-history/ [Accessed 11 August 2019]

[2] American Football Ireland (2020) AFI Logo 2020 [Internet] Available from: https://www.americanfootball.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/AFI-Logo-200.png [Accessed 10 February 2020]

[3] Anon. (1991) “Bowl back in Dublin”Belfast Telegraph. Monday, September 30, 1991. pg. 18 [Internet] Available online at the Irish Newspaper Archive at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ which is a subscription service.

Images

[4] Dublin Celts American Football Team | Facebook (2017) [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10213260818544676&set=gm.457477981311995&type=3&theater&ifg=1 [Accessed 21 January 2019]

[5] Anon. (1986) “Sport in Brief: American Football” Sunday Press. August 17th, 1986. pg. 25.

[6] Anon. (1986) “Dublin Celts are Blitzed” Sunday Press. August 17th, 1986. pg. 25.

[7] Lucky Show (2016) Irish American Football [Internet] Available from: http://www.luckyshow.org/football/Shamrock%20Bowl.htm [Accessed 5 June 2017]

Social Media

[8] Belfast Blitzers | Facebook (2019) Comments on Post by David Turner, August 12-17, 2019 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/belfastblitzers/posts/2244208692356940 [Accessed 17 August 2019]

[9] Belfast Blitzers | Facebook (2019) Comments on Post by David Turner, September 7, 2019 [Internet] Available from: https://www.facebook.com/belfastblitzers/posts/2286790341432108?comment_id=2287705898007219&reply_comment_id=2292185984225877&notif_id=1568031304420635&notif_t=feed_comment [Accessed 9 September 2019]

[10] John Gunning Facebook Messenger (2020) Photo, 28 May 2020 [Internet] Available from: https://scontent-dub4-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-0/p280x280/101398127_273309810741077_3419163115760123904_n.jpg?_nc_cat=107&_nc_sid=b96e70&_nc_ohc=wsaKRaH1ceoAX8aOHLJ&_nc_ht=scontent-dub4-1.xx&_nc_tp=6&oh=2c729b8c4ca2f94c7d0a0dd28315098f&oe=5EF68C40 [Accessed 28 May 2020]

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Cillian Smith, Michael Smith, Ralph Schmeer and Michael Brophy of the Irish American Football Association and Irish American Football Officials Association;| Tony McDevitt; Tim Leadingham (Tallaght Outlaws); Joe Grey (Dublin Dragons); Sean Douglas (Dublin Rebels & UCD); and John Gunning (Tokyo Times, Inside Sport Japan and American Football International).

About this document

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | Irish North American and World Sports Archive

Last Updated: 28 May 2020

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2020

You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Resereved.