The North of Ireland Championships was an early

Victorian period In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardian ...

men's and women's

grass court A grass court is one of the four different types of tennis court on which the sport of tennis, originally known as "lawn tennis", is played. Grass courts are made of grasses in different compositions depending on the tournament. Although grass c ...

tennis tournament founded in 1879. The championship was played at the Cliftonville Cricket Club,

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The tournament ran annually for fifteen editions until 1894. It was the precursor tournament to the later Ulster Grass Court Championships.

History

The regional tennis tournament the North of Ireland Championships tournament was established early as 1881, at the

Cliftonville Cricket Club Cliftonville Cricket Club was a cricket club in Northern Ireland, playing in the NCU Senior League. The club was formed as Enfield in 1870, using a pitch in Clifton Park, now Clifton Park Avenue in north Belfast, disbanded in 1873, and reformed ...

on Cliftonville Road in

. Some time later the club was renamed as the Cliftonville Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club. The North of Ireland Championships tournament ran until 1894 when it was abandoned. cancelled after 1894. Following World War One in 1919 new regional lawn tennis was established representative for

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

called the

Ulster Grass Court Championships Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: si ...

staged Belfast Boat Club, South Belfast. This

tournament ran until at least 1980. In 1928 a second regional tournament was established known as the Ulster Hard Court Championships that was played on

clay court A clay court is one of the types of tennis court on which the sport of tennis, originally known as "lawn tennis", is played. Clay courts are made of crushed stone, brick, shale, or other unbound mineral aggregate depending on the tournament. ...

s that was staged through to the 1950s. The former tournaments were both amateur events, but in the mid-1960s a professional event was staged in Belfast called the Ulster Professional Championships. Notable male players who this championship includes

Manliffe Goodbody Manliffe Francis Goodbody (20 November 1868 – 24 March 1916) was an Irish tennis and football player. Career Goodbody was born on 20 November 1868, at Dublin, the son of Marcus Goodbody and Hannah Woodcock Perry. He represented Ireland at foot ...

Baily's Magazine of Sports and Pastimes (1889). Volume LI. January - June. Vinton & Co Ltd, London. p. 129. who won it three times (1889, 1890, 1893).

References

{{Reflist, 2

Sources

* Baily's Magazine of Sports and Pastimes (1889). Volume LI. January - June. Vinton & Co Ltd, London. * Routledges Sporting Annual (1882) George Routledge and Son. London. * The Belfast Telegraph (3 July 1965), Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Defunct tennis tournaments in the United Kingdom Grass court tennis tournaments