About Us

Instonians started life with the Rugby Club as a section within the Belfast Old Instonians Association (BOIA), an old boys society of the Royal Belfast Academical Institution (RBAI) dating back to 1911.  The Rugby Club itself was formed on 23rd May 1919.  They started to play in the Ulster Junior League in the season 1919-20, moving into the Senior League the very next season after impressing with their quality of play.

Soon after the Instonians Ladies’ Hockey Club was formed as an individual entity in 1921.  Made up of wives, sisters, daughters and girlfriends of Inst old boys and staff, they became the second club to be formed.

Instonians Cricket Club was the third club to be formed as a separate entity after a meeting of the BOIA on 22nd October 1931.  They began to play in the summer of 1932 with friendlies and cup matches.

The Instonians Men’s Hockey Club had its roots within RBAI itself with teacher Ralph Spearman being the catalyst to start a hockey club from schoolboys and past pupils in 1959.  They started playing Intermediate League hockey in the 1959-60 season.

In April 1962 the Rugby Football, Cricket and Athletic Clubs merged to be known as ‘Instonians’.  In 1979 this club changed its title to be ‘Instonians Rugby Football and Cricket Club’ but when the Men’s Hockey Club joined in 1988, the title of the club reverted once again to ‘Instonians’. 

The three men’s sections of the club were closed to only current and former pupils or staff of RBAI from their inception right up to 1990 when Rugby and Cricket became fully open to Non Instonians.  The Hockey Club finally opened its membership in 2008 with a restriction on Others nominated (Non Instonians) to 25% of the Adult, the same percentage applied to the Juvenile membership of the Club.  At the AGM in May 2012 the Hockey Club joined Rugby and Cricket as a fully open club without restrictions.

The Ladies’ Hockey Club joined the Instonians Executive in 2023, and a Ladies Cricket team was formed within the cricket club in 2016 to complete the current club line up.

In the beginning and for many years the club used RBAI’s grounds at Osborne Park, Bladon Park and Orangefield before moving to their own grounds at Shane Park in 1965.  Shane Park was sold for redevelopment in 1999 and the club now groundshares at the Shaw’s Bridge Sports Complex with Cooke. 

Today the Shaw’s Bridge Sports Association pitches, play host to rugby, cricket and hockey all on one site and feature some of the most picturesque grounds in the whole of Ireland.

CLUB News