Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club is a

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and

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club in south Dublin, Ireland. Established in 1877, Fitzwilliam is one of the oldest tennis clubs in the world. It has held the Irish Open annually since the late 19th century.

History

In November 1877 ten men met to found the Dublin Lawn Tennis Club. This club was to initially consist of 30 members each paying an annual subscription of three pounds. They next met on 23 November 1877 and discussed leasing grounds in Upper Pembroke Street near to

Fitzwilliam Square Fitzwilliam Square ( ga, Cearnóg Mhic Liam) is a Georgian garden square in the south of central Dublin, Ireland. It was the last of the five Georgian squares in Dublin to be built, and is the smallest. The middle of the square is composed of a ...

Dublin, Ireland Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 cen ...

owned by Sir Francis Brady a judge on a lease of ten years for a rent of twenty five pounds per year. On 6 December 1877 another meeting was convened and the committee assembled and agreed to adopt the name Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club as recommended by one of its members. In 1879 the Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club staged its first Irish Lawn Tennis Championships at Wilton Square which remained the host location of that event until 1903. In 1880 the club had reached the point where there was not enough room for expansion at its current location. The club therefore purchased available land at Wilton Place and a building No. 6 Wilton Place that was converted to serve as the club's premises, in addition tennis courts were also constructed. Those grounds today form Wilton Park. In 1902 the club decided to build a pavilion at the club grounds which was financed through the sale of No 6 Wilton Place. In 1903 the Irish Championships venue was moved from Fitzwilliam Square to Wilton Place. In 1969 the members of Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club met to discuss a move to a site at Appian Way, Dublin which was concluded that year. During the moved the club replaced a Victorian building named Epworth Hall (previously Winton House), which was sold by

Wesley College Dublin Wesley College is an independent co-educational secondary school for day and boarding students in Ballinteer, Dublin, Ireland. Wesley College is under the control of a Board of Governors, appointed each year by the Methodist Church in Ireland. W ...

. The Irish Open Tennis Championships continued to played at Wilton Place until 1972, when they moved to the new venue at Appian Way,

Dublin 6 Dublin postal districts have been used by Ireland's postal service, known as ''An Post'', to sort mail in Dublin. The system is similar to that used in cities in Europe and North America until they adopted national postal code systems in the 19 ...

Current tournaments

* AIG Irish Open Championships (2017–present).

Former tournaments

The Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club has organised many notable tournaments throughout the years. * Fitzwilliam Club Championships * Fitzwilliam Plate * Fitzwilliam PurseDublin University Review * Irish Hard Court Championships * Irish Lawn Tennis Championships * Irish Open * Shelbourne Irish Open

References

{{Authority control Tennis in Ireland Sports venues in Dublin (city) Sports clubs established in 1877 1877 establishments in Ireland