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Ennis Shield
 
The Ennis Shield is the third division of the Leinster Leagues, run by the Leinster Chess Union. Commenced in 1926, it was originally the second division of the Leinster leagues with its top teams promoted to the Armstrong Cup. In 1971 another league, the Heidenfeld Trophy, was formed and took over as the 2nd tier of Leinster Chess, making the Ennis Shield the 3rd division. The league and trophy are named after Major Ennis who presented the trophy to the league.
 
Ennis Shield, pic: JL.
 
Teams in the league consist of six players, and there are twelve teams in the league. The winning two teams get promoted to the Heidenfeld Trophy and the bottom two teams get relegated to the O'Hanlon Cup. Players have to be registered with the Irish Chess Union. All games are rated by the ICU, and in 2018/19 for the first time games were rated by FIDE.
 
The first Ennis Shield season, in 1926-1927, was competed for by UCD and Irish Army GHQ (McKee Barracks), the lowest two teams in the previous season's Armstrong Cup. They were joined by teams from Rathmines, the Jewish Union (Harrington Street, Dublin), Dublin Corporation (Ormond Quay) and Non-Commissioned Army Officers.
 
Winners
Gaps in the winners listed below from the original wikipedia article were filled in thanks to [7], though some blanks or blank plaques remain.
Abbreviations: 1 = 1st, 2 = 2nd, both promoted. P = Promoted.
Number of Wins by Club
------------------------|------|------------------------------------------------
Club                    | Wins | Years
------------------------|------|------------------------------------------------
Dublin                  |   7? | 1936?, 1939, 1941, 1945, 1961?, 1962, 2004
UCD                     |   6  | 1927, 1929, 1948, 1993, 1997, 2020
Colmcille               |   5  | 1931, 1932, 1938, 1946, 1949
Rathmines               |   5  | 1933, 1934, 1957, 1967, 2011
Eoghan Rua              |   5? | 1950, 1952, 1953, 1961 (tied)?, 1981
Collegians              |   4  | 1966, 1968, 1970, 1971
Dublin University       |   4  | 1928, 1930, 1942, 1960
Kevin Barry             |   4  | 1954, 1959, 1963, 1969
Phibsboro               |   4  | 1958, 2001, 2008, 2009
Sackville               |   4  | 1940, 1944, 1955, 1964
St Benildus             |   4  | 1990, 2003, 2010, 2019
Skerries                |   3  | 1986, 1988, 1995
Clontarf                |   2  | 1951, 1956
CF na hÁrd Craoibhe     |   2  | 1943, 1947
Elm Mount               |   2  | 1994, 2007
Gonzaga                 |   2  | 1987, 2017
Lucan                   |   2  | 1998, 2013
Malahide                |   2  | 1996, 2018
Portmarnock             |   2  | 1974, 1980
Rathfarnham             |   2  | 1979, 1992
Dublin Jewish Club      |   2? | 1935, 1936?
Balbriggan              |   1  | 2024
Blanchardstown          |   1  | 2015
Bray/Greystones         |   1  | 2016
Curragh                 |   1  | 2006
Dalkey                  |   1  | 1978
Dean's Grange           |   1  | 1982
Dundalk                 |   1  | 1989
Finglas                 |   1  | 1991
Gorey                   |   1  | 2023
Inchicore               |   1  | 2014
Jobstown                |   1  | 2005
Kilkenny                |   1  | 1985
Knights of Éanna        |   1  | 2026
Master Club             |   1  | 2025
Naomh Barróg            |   1  | 2012
North City              |   1  | 1937
O'Hanlon                |   1  | 1965
Printers                |   1  | 1975
Rathfarnham/Tallaght    |   1  | 2000
St Columba's            |   1  | 1972
Tallaght                |   1  | 1999
Wicklow                 |   1  | 2002
Yellow House            |   1  | 1977
Cúig Cúigí              |   1  | 1961 (tied)?
Unknown winners         |   3  | 1976, 1983, 1984
References and Notes
  1. "Rathmines Chess Club Roll of Honour". Archived from the original on 2016-01-09. Retrieved 2015-07-17.
  2. Phibsboro Chess Club, facebook page, Link altered as www.phibsborochessclub.com not showing in 2024
  3. Roll of Honour St. Benildus Chess Club
  4. Leinster Leagues Leinster Chess Union.
  5. Leinster Chess Union Ennis Shield 2014-2015
  6. Leinster Chess Union Ennis Shield 2019-2020. UCD were leading the table when the season was abandoned due to Covid-19, and were promoted to the Heidenfeld Trophy along with Gonzaga for the 2022-2023 season.
  7. Thanks to Jim Kenny for the update on the winners Gonzaga. A blank plate was on the shield as photographed by Mark Gonnelly and John Loughran in 2023. Jim says that Skerries topped the table in the Ennis North section. The Ennis was regionalised the following year.
  8. Ennis Shield, Wikipedia, article deleted in 2024, salvaged before deletion.
  9. Phibsboro declined promotion from the Ennis in 2008, and won the shield again in 2009, Kevin Burke, 2024.
  10. St Benildus were promoted from third in the Heidenfeld in 2011/12 because Bray/Greystones opted for relegation from the Heidenfeld, Kevin Burke, 2024.
  11. Promoted to fill a gap left by requested relegation of Dublin from Div 2 to 3 - Kevin Burke email.
Source
Author unknown. Copied from Wikipedia in 2024 and edited by John Loughran. Mark Gonnelly sent a picture of the shield which filled in some missing winners [7]. Colmcille chess club was sometimes engraved as Cumann Fithchille Chuilm Cille.
Please send corrections and updates to John Loughran on skerrieschess.com/contact.