Dublin University Fencing Club
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| Dublin University Fencing Club | |||||||||||||||
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| Founded | 1936 | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Dublin, Ireland,  | ||||||||||||||
| President | Rory Greenan | ||||||||||||||
| Head Coach | Dr. Colm Nouvian-Flynn[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Club Captain | Emma Murphy | ||||||||||||||
| Men's Captain | James McCartney | ||||||||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||||||||
| Club colours | |||||||||||||||
Dublin University Fencing Club (DUFC) is the fencing club of Trinity College Dublin, located in Dublin, Ireland. The club caters for foil, épée and sabre. Its members are students, alumni and staff from Trinity College with a small amount of visiting fencers from other clubs.
In 1730, a group of students from Trinity College formed a Gentleman's Club of the Sword, or the Gentleman's Society of the Sword as it has also been called.[2][3] This club, while initially hugely popular[3] fell out of use by the last quarter of the 18th century. In 1774, Provost John Hely-Hutchinson formally established fencing in Trinity by employing a fencing-master and designating the Senate House specifically for this purpose.[4] With the further decline of duelling throughout the 18th and no record of the club throughout the 19th century, it is not until the formation of the modern D.U. Fencing Club in 1936 that the sport was reestablished in the college.[5]
Present status
Since its foundation, DUFC has grown vastly. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, membership was about fifty fencers in general with an Intervarsities team of 8.[6] In contrast, the 2009/2010 season saw intake of approximately 300 new members with an Intervarsities contingent of 24 competing, with similar numbers maintained in the club since.
The club's most decorated coach, Professor Patrick Duffy, coached the club from 1952 until 1987.[7] Following his death in 1987, The Professor Duffy Memorial Team Épée tournament was inaugurated by D.U.Fencing Club.[5] This competition is still run today and attracts teams from Germany, Italy and the U.K. regularly.[8]
The club has maintained its status as a centre of excellence, consistently ranking at the top of the national club medal table in Ireland.[9] During the 2017/18 season, Dublin University Fencing Club became part of the Trinity Sport high performance programme, giving its first team access to additional strength and conditioning coaching, physiotherapy, anti-doping and nutritional expertise.
The club has been awarded Trinity Sport's Club of the Year award twice, first in 2017 and again in 2025.
Captains
Each year the club has a Club Captain who chairs the club committee and who also hold the relevant role of Men's or Women's Captain. There is also a second captain who holds the other Men's or Women's Captain role.
| Year | Club Captain | Women's/Men's Captain |
|---|---|---|
| 2000/01 | Nat O'Connor | |
| 2001/02 | Suzanne Clayton | |
| 2002/03 | Ken Suzuki | |
| 2003/04 | James Stratford | |
| 2004/05 | Colm Flynn | Kate Harvey |
| 2005/06 | Aoife Brown | Colm Flynn |
| 2006/07 | Colin Couper | |
| 2007/08 | Lachlan Sykes | Maria Treacy |
| 2008/09 | Louis Arron | Kate Harvey |
| 2009/10 | Declan Gibbons | Liz Fitzgerald |
| 2010/11 | Alexander Kelly | Helen Naddy |
| 2011/12 | Edward Mitchell | Hannah Lowry O'Reilly |
| 2012/13 | Conor Traynor | Clodagh McCarthy Luddy |
| 2013/14 | Maxton Milner | Emily Greenan |
| 2014/15 | Tadhg Garton | Rebecca Ryan |
| 2015/16 | Sean Healy | Olivia Murray |
| 2016/17 | James Bryant | Lucy Johnson |
| 2017/18 | Sam Mitchell | Manon Nouvian |
| 2018/19 | Bethany Rush | Donncdha Carroll |
| 2019/20 | Stephen Grogan | Dearbhaile Collins |
| 2020/21 | Angie Parissi | Luke Dowling |
| 2021/22 | James Cole | Crystal Percival |
| 2022/23 | Cathal Maguire | Isabelle Clarke |
| 2023/24 | Adri Hrabowych | William Mac Donald Hughes |
| 2024/25 | Katie Lynch | Cathal Maguire |
| 2025/26 | Liam Zone | Katie Lynch |
| 2026/27 | Emma Murphy | James McCartney |
Notable alumni
Since the formation of the modern club, a number of members have gone on to represent the club and their country in both fencing and the modern pentathlon.[10] Some of these members are listed below.
- Patrick Duffy, competed at the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics
- Harry Thuillier, competed in foil at the 1952 and 1960 Summer Olympics
- Shirley Armstrong, competed in the women's individual foil event at the 1960 Summer Olympics
- Brian Hamilton, competed in the individual foil and team épée events at the 1960 Summer Olympics
- Colm Murrogh Vere O'Brien, competed at the 1968 Summer Olympics[11]
- Natalya Coyle, competed at the 2012, 2016, and 2020 Summer Olympics in the modern pentathlon
Competitions
Hosted competitions
D.U.Fencing Club hosts a number of competitions on an annual basis.[12] Events currently hosted are listed below:
- The Professor Duffy Memorial Team Épée
- Trinity Cup
- Trinity Team Foil
- Dublin Épée
The Colours Match
Known colloquially as Colours, The Colours Match (the fencing equivalent of its rugby counterpart) is hosted yearly between Dublin University and University College Dublin with each club cycling hosting privileges yearly.
