John O'Brien presents "Anyone for tennis? - Early lawn tennis in the Dublin 6 area"
This talk explores the development of tennis in the Dublin 6 area, focusing particularly on developments at Rathmines Park, Kenilworth Square, and Grosvenor Square from the 1870s into the early 20th century, when tennis declined in popularity.
The second half of the nineteenth century saw considerable real estate development in the Dublin 6 area. With this came green space, and squares such as Kenilworth, Grosvenor, and Belgrave. Around the same time, a number of technological innovations led to the development in the UK of outdoor variations of sports such as lawn tennis, bowls and croquet. Tennis had previously been played in other formats in Dublin, but the affluent and eastward-looking populations of the Rathmines, Ranelagh, and Rathgar areas were quick to embrace these new sports. A dizzying number of clubs quickly emerged to fill the green space, each with their own social scene. The healthy rivalry between the clubs led to a brief period when Ireland was on top of the international competitive landscape. However, the earliest references to tennis in the area do not relate to the clubs but rather the opportunism of skating rink owners seeking to lure crowds.
About John O'Brien
John is a keen historian and genealogist, originally hailing from a stationmaster's house on the abandoned Sallins-Tullow branch railway line in east Kildare. He studied mathematics in Trinity College, before embarking on a career in investments and financial consulting, which has included lecturing on several postgraduate programs in the Dublin universities. He recently completed a Certificate in Local History in Maynooth University, for which he wrote a dissertation on the origins and decline of Kildurrihy, a clachán townland in the Ventry parish in Kerry. He has studied for an MA in History of Family in the University of Limerick. Besides people and events west of Dingle, John's interests include the experience of Kerry emigrants in the US Civil War, the Sallins-Tullow branch railway line and its stationmasters, the Eustace and La Touche families of Harristown, Kildare, along with early tennis and real estate development in Dublin 6. He has spoken on several of these topics, in particular to the Ballymore Eustace historical society, and runs a social media blog for Harristown railway station. John lives today in Rathmines, Dublin, and for a number of years, was chairman of the Stratford Lawn Tennis Club.
The talk was originally presented to the Ireland Branch of the Society in November 2021. It is now released for all members to view by kind permission of the author and speaker.
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