Ilen Rovers GAA Club was founded in 1973 and comprises of players from the parish of ‘Rath and the Islands’ and the parish of ‘Aughadown’ - the two parishes that bound the Ilen River estuary. Prior to this both parishes made efforts to field independent teams but a lack of success and insufficient playing numbers saw the two parishes amalgamate to great effect.  

The founding members and first club committee were: 

In the club's first year, three teams were affiliated, under 14, under 16 & minor.  Success was instant, winning the West Cork minor ‘B’ championship, in that first year.  This prompted the club to enter under 21 and junior ‘B’ teams in 1974, with the under 21's losing the West Cork championship final.  They were runners up in the same competition in 1975, before winning this championship at the third attempt in 1976.  

However the promising start failed to transfer itself to the junior team. In fact the club lost the first round of the junior ‘B’ championship every year from 1974 - 1982. Finally their championship jinx was broken in 1983, and the team went all the way to championship success.  Four fruitless years followed in junior ‘A’, before the club re-graded in 1988.  The Junior ‘B’ championship was won again that year and history was made when the team reached its first county final, only to lose to Abbey Rovers after a replay. 

The early 1990's were barren years for the club, at all grades, until 1995, when the minor team won a West Cork league and championship double, and followed this with county honors, beating Newtownshandrum in both league and championship finals.  

The achievement sparked new enthusiasm within the club and in the following year, 1996, the club won its first West Cork junior ‘A’ championship in its first final appearance.  A second junior ‘A’ title was won in 1999, sparking off a remarkable period of success for the club.  Three West Cork junior ‘A’ titles were won in a row, 1999, 2000 & 2001. It was a setback to lose the county junior ‘A’ final in 1999 by a point to Youghal, but 2001 yielded dividends capturing the title by overcoming Kinsale .

The first year up in the intermediate grade, 2002, was a fairly successful one, winning the county league title and also the All Ireland junior 7 a-side, however the team bowed out of the championship at the quarter-final stage to Newmarket.  They returned the following year to win the county intermediate championship, beating Carrigaline in the final.  This was followed up by winning the inaugural Munster championship in this grade, beating St Senans of Limerick in the provincial decider and the first All Ireland intermediate title by defeating St Michaels of Donegal.

Meanwhile the club made its senior championship debut in 2004 and the first few years in the top grade proved difficult with the club failing to get past the third round in the first 3 years.  This changed in 2007 when the club went all the way to the county final and lost gallantly to the vastly experienced Nemo Rangers. In 2008 the senior team reached the county semi-final only to be beaten after a replay by a more youthful, up and coming Douglas side.  

2009 proved a difficult year for the senior team, with retirements and injuries making the challenge all the more difficult, and the club found itself in the precarious position of trying to avoid relegation.  However they overcame Mallow in the relegation final and retained their senior status for another year. 2009 did however bring the club’s first West Cork U 21 ‘A’ championship title and with it, hope that these young players would maintain the club’s senior status into the future.  

Recent years have seen little progress in the senior championship but however the club won it’s first silverware at senior level in 2012 when the Tadhg Crowley Plate was won.  In 2015 more senior silverware was added with the winning of the Paddy Minihane Cup.  2016 brought the club’s second title in the West Cork U 21 ‘A’ championship and this was followed up with a first appearance in the County U 21 final.  However a physically stronger St. Finbarrs team proved too strong on the night and ran out comfortable winners.

The club has put in a lot of hard work at underage level over the years and has achieved championship success in all the different age categories at some point. Three U 14 West Cork and County titles from 2012 to 2014 being the highlight in recent years.  The last success being in the ‘A’ grade.  2014 also brought the club’s first county championship minor title in the ‘A’ grade.  The club introduced Hurling at underage level in 2006 and this culminated with the club’s first hurling titles being won in 2008 when both the U 16 and U 12 teams achieved championship success.  A lack of sufficient playing numbers saw the club struggle to maintain hurling teams and in 2013 the club amalgamated with O’Donovan Rossa, Kilmacabea and Tadhg MacCarthaigh to form St. Patricks Hurling Club. 

In the late 1970’s the club set about developing a playing pitch and dressing rooms in Church Cross in conjunction with Aughadown Community Council.  These facilities served the club well for over 2 decades.  

In the early 2000’s the club developed a second playing pitch and sports hall in Rath.  In late 2011 the club set about renovating the main playing pitch and dressing rooms in Church Cross.  Inclement weather slowed down this work but eventually it was completed in the summer of 2014.  The club can now boast of two quality playing pitches and clubhouses in either parish.