Berkley Center

The island of Ireland is divided into the four provinces of Leinster, Ulster, Connacht, and Munster, each with their own distinct flag and culture. Leinster, whose symbol is the harp, consists of the southeastern area of the island and includes the Republic of Ireland’s capital, Dublin. Ulster, is symbolized by the Red Hand of Ulster (which has very interesting origins) and makes up the majority of the United Kingdom’s territory in Northern Ireland. A banner split in two, with the left half bearing a black eagle and the right an arm with a sword, represents Connacht, the western province of the island. Finally, three gold crowns on a background of blue epitomize Munster, the southwest region of the island. The Four Provinces Flag, which is quartered to include all four of the banners, is popular around Ireland.

Today, these provincial denominations have no political significance; rather, they serve as sources of cultural and historical pride for the Irish and their families. This cultural identity runs deep in Ireland, and it has been brought to the forefront of Irish life with the help of the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU). Prior to 1886, the union included branches in Ulster, Leinster, and Munster, but the creation of the Connacht branch in that year helped to seal the quadripartite nature of the IRFU, in line with the four cultural provinces that make up the island.

This subdivision of the IRFU, based upon these cultural areas of Ireland, rather than the country’s administrative areas, like the 26 counties in the Republic and six counties in Northern Ireland, illustrates the unity between provincial association and rugby allegiance in Ireland. According to the IRFU website, there are currently 56 clubs in the Ulster branch, 71 in Leinster, 59 in Munster, and 19 in Connacht, a huge network in which approximately 60,000 Irish players identify with not only with their particular club, but also with the province that they implicitly represent.

The top side in each of these provinces is the eponymous professional team. These teams compete with teams around Europe, primarily in the Guinness Pro12 League, with a total of 12 sides from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Italy. Moreover, many of their players double as players for their respective national teams in tournaments like the Rugby World Cup, played every four years, and the Six Nations, played every year. It has been interesting to experience the dynamic created by multiple memberships of the players. For example Rory Best of Ulster and Jack Conan of Leinster both represent Ireland in the Six Nations tournament, and while they may earn support from a fan of IRFU, a fan of a different province may also criticize them.

Save for the symbolic use on government buildings in each province, the flags of Leinster, Ulster, Connacht, and Munster are inextricably linked with their rugby teams, whose logos and banners incorporate the imagery of each of the provincial images. In the days and weeks surrounding games, like Leinster’s upcoming match with England’s Wasps of Coventry, it is very common in pubs and residential areas (for example, Dublin 4—where I live) to see flags representing both the province and the team being flown. This adherence to sub-cultural identity brought about through the prism of rugby in Irish life enriches the identity of the island, and I have had the opportunity to see it at play both in team loyalty at game watches and in discussions on the TV network Sky Sports.