Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club is a

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

and squash 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,

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

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 The Irish Open and originally known as the Irish Lawn Tennis Championships and for sponsorship reasons also known as Carroll's Irish Open was a men's and women's tennis tournament held at the Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club in Dublin, Ireland. Bef ...

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. 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 The Fitzwilliam Club Championships also known as the Fitzwilliam Club Tennis Championships was a combined men's and women's grass court tennis tournament founded in 1884. The championship was an open club event organised by the Fitzwilliam Lawn Te ...

Fitzwilliam Plate The Fitzwilliam Plate also known as the Irish Championships Consolation Plate was a tennis competition held at the Irish Championships. The tournament consisted of players that lost in the second round of the all comers singles event. The first ...

Fitzwilliam Purse The Fitzwilliam Purse, was a tennis competition held at the Irish Championships. The tournament consisted of players lost in the first round of the singles event. The first edition, for male players only, was held in 1884. The event was discontin ...

Dublin University Review *

Irish Hard Court Championships The Irish Hard Court Championships was an early combined men's and women's clay court tennis tournament founded in 1924. The first championships was played at the Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland. The tournament ran an ...

* Irish Open *

Shelbourne Irish Open The Shelbourne Irish Open was a tennis tournament held in Dublin, Ireland between 2006 and 2008. The event was part of the ''challenger series and was played on outdoor carpet courts. Past finals Singles Doubles External links * ITF s ...

References

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