The Iveagh Grounds is a multi-purpose sports facility based in

Drimnagh Drimnagh () is a suburb in Dublin, Ireland to the south of the city between Walkinstown, Crumlin and Inchicore, bordered by the Grand Canal to the north and east. Drimnagh is in postal district Dublin 12. History Early to mediaeval Drimna ...

Crumlin, Dublin Crumlin () is a Southside suburb of Dublin, Ireland. Formerly a rural area, it became heavily built up from the early 20th century onwards. Crumlin is the site of Ireland's largest children's hospital, Our Lady's Children's Hospital. Location ...

. It is the home base of several sports clubs and teams who are associated with the Guinness Athletic Union. These include St James's Gate F.C. and St James Gaels GAA. It is named after

Edward Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh Edward Cecil Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh, (10 November 1847 – 7 October 1927) was an Irish businessman and philanthropist. A member of the prominent Anglo-Irish Guinness family, he was the head of the family's eponymous brewing business, ...

, who purchased the site and then donated it to the union. Other clubs that play at the Iveagh Grounds include a

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

club and a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

club. As well as St James's Gate F.C., two other

association football club A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all- ...

s, Bangor Celtic F.C. and St. John Bosco F.C., also play home games at the Iveagh Grounds. In 2017 Trinity College Dublin purchased the grounds for €2 million.

History

In 1905

John Lumsden Sir John Lumsden KBE (14 November 1869 – 3 September 1944) was an Irish physician. He was famous for his role as Chief Medical Officer of Guinness Brewery, during which time he founded both St James's Gate F.C. and the St John Ambulance Brig ...

, the chief medical officer at the

St James's Gate Brewery St. James's Gate Brewery is a brewery founded in 1759 in Dublin, Ireland, by Arthur Guinness. The company is now a part of Diageo, a company formed from the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan in 1997. The main product of the brewery is ...

, the home of

Guinness Guinness () is an Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in ove ...

, founded the St James's Gate Athletic and Cycling Union. This was later renamed the Guinness Athletic Union. From about 1912 Lumsden started campaigning for a permanent sports ground for the union. However, initially the Guinness board were reluctant to finance one. St James's Gate F.C. was the most prominent member of the union; however, by the early 1920s the membership had almost doubled and its activities had expanded to include

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 ...

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and handball branches. In 1926 St James's Gate Rugby Football Club was founded and 1928 saw the arrival of St James's Gate Hockey Club. This expansion highlighted the need for a permanent home base. In 1922 a twenty-five-acre site on the Crumlin Road owned by a Mr. Begg was identified as a possible candidate. Begg had been offered £5,000 by the Dolphin's Barn Brick Company but he eventually sold the site to

because "he did not like the idea of having a quarry in front of his house". Iveagh subsequently donated the site to the union. He also established a board of trustees, that included Lumsden, and donated a further £20,000 to develop and manage the site. However the 1st Earl of Iveagh died before work on the site was completed, so the Iveagh Grounds were officially opened on 14 April 1928 by

Rupert Guinness, 2nd Earl of Iveagh Rupert Edward Cecil Lee Guinness, 2nd Earl of Iveagh, (29 March 1874 – 14 September 1967) was an Anglo-Irish businessman, politician, oarsman and philanthropist. Born in London, he was the eldest son of Edward Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh. ...

and his wife

Gwendolen Guinness, Countess of Iveagh Gwendolen Florence Mary Guinness, Countess of Iveagh (''née'' Onslow; 22 July 1881 – 16 February 1966) was an Anglo-Irish aristocrat and Conservative politician. She was, by marriage, a member of the Guinness brewing dynasty. Early life Sh ...

References

{{League of Ireland venues St James's Gate F.C. Association football venues in County Dublin 1928 establishments in Ireland Sports venues in Dublin (city) Gaelic games grounds in the Republic of Ireland Association football venues in the Republic of Ireland Sports venues completed in 1928