Chicago Hounds Signs Dave Kearney

The Chicago Hounds signed Ireland international Dave Kearney for the 2024 Major League Rugby season. The 34-year-old wing/fullback (35 in June) is 5’11” and 200 lbs.

Dave is from Dublin, Ireland, and attended Clongowes Wood College from 2001 through 2007. He also attended the Dublin Institute of Technology, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Studies.

Dave joins the Chicago Hounds after spending the previous 14 years with Leinster, where he played with the Hounds’ recent signing Nick McCarthy. He made 13 appearances for the club in the 2022-2023 season, starting all 13 contests while adding three scores in his 973 minutes of action.

Dave played his amateur rugby with the storied Dublin club, Lansdowne, a team which I played against when Monmouth Rugby Club toured in 1979.

Dave’s brother Rob also played fullback for both Leinster and Ireland. Both are listed by The Rugby Pass “among the franchise’s creators – the Chicago MLR Founders Group.”