Spectator stadiums and their history in Ireland

jonniebgood1

I've always had an interest in stadiums and facilities for spectators to watch an event. This usually involves sport but not always and it could do no harm to look into the history of some of these places. Local GAA stadiums often have history behind them and this is often unknown beyond a famous name or patron. Hopefully there might be something interesting to look into.

Pairc Tailteann in Navan is home to probably the best and certainly one of the proudest GAA teams that everyone admires- Meath:D (OK -tongue firmly in cheek!). The name 'tailteann' comes from the ancient games that were held in royal meath.

Of the old seven wonders only the pyramids of Egypt are older than the Tailteann Games, which was an annual sports festival that lasted 30 days and is said to have begun back in 1829 BC

The site of the Games was in Royal Meath and in what is the townland now known as Telltown. There was a half-hearted effort in 1924 and 1932 to revive the Games when a modern Tailteann was staged in Croke Park but the affair was never pursued. http://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/tailteann-games-place-in-history-going-for-a-song-1037527.html

The actual area of ground where Pairc Tailteann, Navan site was originally a showgrounds that the GAA acquired-

In 1920 Sean Giles was elected Secretary of the County Board. Together with Joe Curran of Castletown and John Newman of Bohermeen he approached the Agricultural Society and began negotiations with them regarding the purchase of "The Showgrounds". The G.A.A. had been using the venue for years but despite that the deal was brokered with difficulty. Finally in September 1935 Páirc Tailteann was officially opened as the county ground. http://meath.gaa.ie/grounds.htm

The Showgrounds (now Pairc Tailteann) staged its first game in December, 1903 when Dublin beat Louth by 1-6 to 0-2 in a Leinster championship clash.

The Brews Hill venue hosted the Leinster finals of 1910 and ’12 with Louth defeating Dublin in both deciders. The first Meath senior football final to be played at the Showgrounds was in February, 1905 when Castletown beat Kilmessan in a replay to take the 1904 title.

The grounds then known as the Jumping Enclosure (now the Navan O’Mahonys home patch) were opened in June, 1910 but for many years the GAA had to depend on the generosity of the Royal Meath Agricultural Society and the Co Meath cricket club before fixing games for either venue. It was not until 1933 that the present county grounds became the property of the Meath GAA board.
The official opening of Pairc Tailteann took place on September 8th, 1935 with the then GAA president Bob O’Keeffe performing the duties. Two inter county football challenge matches were staged with Meath defeating Kildare by 5-5 to 2-4 and Cavan conquering Louth on a 4-8 to 2-3 scoreline.

For the bigger part of the first hundred years of the association, Meath had few grounds in their own possession and clubs depended to a large extent on the generosity of local farmers for playing facilities. Players changed under trees or hedges and there were occasions when after games they found their trousers having been chewed by a hungry cow! Kitbags were still a few years further down the road.http://www.hoganstand.com/Meath/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=51324

In 1935 Pairc Tailteann opened , known as the Dukes Field because the Dukes of Bedford owned much of Brews Hill. http://www.shopinnavan.ie/v1/page.asp?pg=137

pedroeibar1

jonniebgood1 wrote: »

..........There was a half-hearted effort in 1924 and 1932 to revive the Games when a modern Tailteann was staged in Croke Park but the affair was never pursued. http://www.independent.ie/sport/othe...g-1037527.html

That’s a most unimpressive article in the Indo. It does not even mention J.P. Boland, the Irish gold medallist at the 1896 games quoted.
I mentioned an attempted 19th c. revival the Tailteann Games here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=74537698&postcount=11

There are some great photgraphs showing a comely Irish youth in cloak and kilt leading a wolfhound at the head of a parade for the 24 (32?) Games

jonniebgood1 wrote: »

............on the generosity of local farmers for playing facilities.

That is well-known and documented in several old clubs around the country.

Less documented are the 'competitions' for the ball when the match was over - 'We lost the match but we won the ball'. Must have been close to faction fighting, when the 'stadium' was a big field!

While more dimunitive that stadia, the humble handball alley often played a pivotal role in the rural community. There is an interesting site on them here http://www.irishhandballalley.com/p/more-about-this-project.html
Rs
P.

jonniebgood1

Thurles has strong links with the GAA that are quite obvious. Semple stadium in Thurles is also a strong part of this history with many hurling all Irelands taking place there. Some background info

The grounds on which Semple Stadium is built were formerly known as Thurles Sportsfield. The site was offered for sale in 1910 at the wish of Canon M.K. Ryan and was purchased by local gaelic games enthusiasts for £900. To meet the cost of the purchase, an issue of shares was subscribed by the townspeople. The grounds remained in the hands of the shareholders until 1956 when they were transferred to the Gaelic Athletic Association.

In 1934 in anticipation of the All-Ireland Hurling Final being held in the grounds in commemoration of the golden jubilee of the association, extensive improvements were made to bring the field requirements up to the demands which a crowd of up to 60,000 would make. The embankments around the field were raised and extended and the stand accommodation was also extended. However, the jubilee final was held in Croke Park and it was another 50 years before the Stadium would host the long-awaited All-Ireland final as a showpiece to mark the centenary.

In 1968, further developments took place when the Dr Kinane Stand was completed and opened. In 1971 the stadium was named after Tom Semple, famed captain of the Thurles "Blues". He won All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship medals in 1900, 1906 and 1908. The "Ardan O Riain" opposite the Kinane Stand and the terracing at the town end of the field was completed in 1981 at a cost of £500,000. This development and the terracing at the Killinan end of the field were part of a major improvement scheme for the celebration of the centenary All-Ireland Hurling Final between Cork and Offaly in 1984. http://www.enotes.com/topic/Semple_Stadium

The stadium was named after the hurler Tom Semple who played for Thurles Sarsfields and Tipperary and was involved in the purchase of the ground.

The legendary hurler Tom Semple, after whom the stadium in Thurles is named, is buried in St Mary's Church of Ireland churchyard in the town http://www.belfastlive.net/_news/article.asp?NID=79790&NCID=13

Tom Semple (1879-1943), in hurling lore, is one of Irelands most famous sports persons. Born in The Glebe, Drombane, County Tipperary in 1879 Tom received a limited education at his local national school, and at the age of 16 he left his native Drombane, moving to Thurles where he worked as a guardsman with the Great Southern and Western Railway.

He played hurling with his local club Thurles “Blues” (Now Thurles Sarsfields) and with the Tipperary senior inter-county team from 1900 until 1912. He captained Tipperary to two All-Ireland titles in 1906 and 1908. He rose through the club serving as captain of the team for almost a decade. Semple captained the club to their first senior county title in 1904. Two years later in 1906, while still captain he captured a second county victory. These victories were to lead to the famous four-in-a-row for Thurles. Semple won an unprecedented eight county championship, with just two defeats for Thurles during his reign.

In 1910 Tom Semple and others organised a committee which purchased the showgrounds in Thurles, as part of their vision to develop a local hurling playing field. This field later became known as Thurles Sports-field and is regarded as one of the best surfaces for hurling in Ireland. In 1971 it was aptly renamed Semple Stadium in Tom’s honour, and is still referred to lovingly in some quarters as ‘Tom Semple’s field.’ http://www.thurles.info/2011/05/08/international-hurling-festival-thurles-sarsfields/

jonniebgood1

The creation of Lansdowne Road Stadium was the vision of Henry William Dunlop, an outstanding young athlete who organised the first All Ireland Athletics Championships. His vision was to create a purpose built sporting venue and this he did at Lansdowne Road where the Stadium first opened for athletics in 1872. http://www.avivastadium.ie/history.aspx

Landsdowne road has possibly the longest history of any of the Irish large stadiums. It was also the site of the first ever athletics international in 1875.

The original Lansdowne Road was a multi sports venue including as it did a cinder track for athletics, a cricket pitch, a croquet green, three football pitches and facilities for archery and lawn tennis. The first rugby match played at the ground was an inter provincial between Leinster and Munster in December 1876. In 1878 Lansdowne held its first international rugby fixture. While Dunlop had conceived Lansdowne as a multi-purpose venue the ground soon became synonymous with rugby - although even in the 1950s a crowd of 40,000 witnessed Olympic gold medallist Ronnie Delany run there in an international athletics meeting. In its old incarnation the Lansdowne Road Stadium was the oldest sports stadium in Europe.

The first rugby match as above was in 1878 and the arrangemnets were as follows:

On March 11th 1878 Lansdowne held its first international rugby fixture, Ireland vs. England (15-a-side) with Dunlop hiring it out for £5, and half of any profit over £50 after the deduction of expenses. England ran out winners by two goals and a try to nil. This was in fact the second such international but the first was played at Leinster Cricket ground in Rathmines after Lansdowne road was rejected by the then rugby authorities. Since that time every senior rugby international played in Dublin has been played there.

Dunlop eventually sold the lease to Harry Sheppard (secretary of the IRFU) but he died shortly afterwards in 1906 and his mother sold it on to the IRFU for 200 pounds. The IRFU signed a new lease for 50 years paying £50 a year ground rent (they finally purchasing the freehold in 1974 and the plot is now worth approximately £600m). http://www.rugbyfootballhistory.com/lansdowne.html