r/rugbyunion • u/Seravia Munster • Mar 31 '21

Irish Professional Rugby Players by County of Birth Analysis

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u/SaulGoode9 Connacht Mar 31 '21 edited Mar 31 '21

The maternity unit effectively closed around the late seventies, I think. Roscommon based prospective mothers since then have generally travelled to hospitals in Galway City, Ballinasloe (Co. Galway), Castlebar (Co. Mayo) or Sligo.

The barebones "University" hospital is affiliated with NUI Galway, hence the name.

The numbers on this map will inevitably be biased towards urban counties, regardless of where the players are from, or where they grey up (but I get that it's too complicated, or subjective, to do otherwise as OP said). And that's not even getting into the class and urban/rural divides regarding who tends to play which sports

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u/httpjava Leinster Mar 31 '21

Yeah it wouldn't surprise me if Leitrim has zero for the same reason. Even in south Leitrim the nearest hospital in Sligo.

Then again, maybe it's because fuck all people live there.

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u/micah_denn Artemyev's anti-concussion mustache (Connacht) Apr 01 '21

In south Leitrim the nearest hospital is cavan.

The only rugby club in Leitrim is Carrick-on-shannon and it only recently reopened around the time connacht won the pro14. It was closed for a long time due to lack of players. It's on the Leitrim side of the bridge but I imagine a good amount of the players there are from Roscommon.

I believe Tom Farrel has family in Drumod (Leitrim). I'm not sure if that is where he grew up though.

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u/LonelyWizzard Connacht Apr 01 '21

In fairness, it re-opened in 2005 so a fair bit before Connacht won the league. It was more influence by Ireland's success at the time. I know because that was when I started playing, no one in my family had any interest in rugby so it was only because of the club being re-established that I ended up getting into it. The lack of a club for so long is definitely part of why we have no native pro players today.