Dean hoping St Mary's can end long wait for AIL title

The D6 side take on Clontarf in the Energia AIL Men’s Division 1A final this weekend.

Fri, 24 Apr, 2026 - 07:15

Simon Lewis

Conor Dean leads St Mary’s College into Sunday’s Energia AIL Men’s Division 1A final against Clontarf hoping the standard-setting example of fellow ex-professional Dan Goggin can continue to carry the not-so-surprise package to a long-awaited title at Aviva Stadium.

Former Munster centre Goggin has been one of the Templeville Road outfit’s leading lights in their two seasons back in the top flight. It was St Mary’s who helped him rediscover his love of rugby following his Munster exit at the end of the 2022-23 campaign. The Limerick midfielder’s departure after 81 senior appearances and 10 tries in seven seasons as a pro led a move to France’s Pro D2 Montauban and a season of turmoil at a club that at the time was in the midst of considerable dysfunction. Mary’s was the escape route and both parties have flourished, Goggin used in the back row of the newly-promoted club from Dublin 6 which reached the 1A semi-finals in their first season back, only to lose on home soil to eventual champions Cork Constitution.

Amends have been made this season with former Connacht fly-half Dean leading the side to first place in the league table and a D6 derby semi-final victory over Terenure in front of 5,000 supporters at Templeville Road last Saturday.

In Clontarf they face serial finalists and defending champions, but Dean is confident the professionalism instilled by Goggin amongst others, can lead to a first league title since 2012, before the play-off era.

“He's been unbelievable,” the Mary’s captain said this week. “I think his on-pitch performances speak for themselves, but I think the standards he drives individually, the standards he sets in training and the preparation that he goes through from Monday to Friday before games is second to none.

“So, leading in just what he's doing has definitely spurred on the whole squad, which has been great. And it's something you can't really coach or you can't teach. It's just his mindset and how he approaches day in, day out has been great.

“He's definitely brought a couple of people with him in terms of setting standards. So yeah, he's been unbelievable for us. He's set the standards and he's performed week in, week out, no matter whether he's playing 13 or No.8, whether he's taking over, kicking duties, loads of different areas, he's brought to the squad, which has been unbelievable.”

In addition to Dean, 28, and Goggin, 31, Mary’s also boast former Ulster forward Greg Jones among their ranks of former pros and the first-season skipper has been grateful for their presence.

“The likes of Dan Goggin and Greg Jones, who have some unbelievable experience at the pro level, it's great just to lean on them. There's another couple of key leaders across the team and the squad, which are great voices throughout the week, for weeks like last week and again for this week coming up. I suppose 14 years is an awful long time for a club to go without a 1A title.”