5K Travel Limit

As this is written a 5 kilometre travel limit applies to the general public thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Sadly cricket does not fall into the essential travel category but the thought occurred about how many games Clontarf CC might be able to play within that 5K limit.  Nowadays, not very many, Trinity falls just outside the limit.  However, many clubs have existed within the travel limit over the years and on a couple of occasions we have snuck just outside the official limit.  This list is not designed to be definitive; we leave that to Pat Bracken and his incredible work on mapping cricket throughout the years (Twitter @club_irl).  Indeed we have deliberately avoided Pat’s work in compiling this list and it will be interesting to see how many more we might have noted.

With limited resources, we have used the Irish times Archive, Club records including archive fixture cards and most interestingly, personal memories.  As a result there are some clubs about which we know quite a lot and others we know virtually nothing other than a mention in a fixture.  We will concentrate on a small number about which we have some detail.

Dollymount (1)

To begin with we stay very local and head towards the sea. Our first stop is Dollymount CC. Dollymount was founded in September 1895 and began playing the following year.  Lord Ardilaun was asked to act as the first President of the club “and his lordship has kindly consented to”   IT 10/3/1896. Despite being near neighbours to Clontarf the initial membership was in excess of 60, a very healthy number.  The club entered the Junior cup in 1896 and were drawn to play their local rivals, Clontarf, a true local derby.  Quite where the club played is uncertain, however they advertised that their field was situated just 3 minutes from the tram terminus. Another newspaper entry from 1906 refers to a game against Mr. Borland’s XI which was played at the Bull.  The 1906 averages show that the club played 15 games winning 8, losing 4 and drawing 3.  We can find no trace of the club from 1906

Cremore (2)

Cremore Cricket Club was a thriving and successful club for the period 1935 to 1962.  It was based in one of the newly built suburbs of Dublin in the late 1920s and the club operated on the land that is now occupied by Tolka Rovers FC.  During the winter, hockey was played, cricket during the summer and the ground became the playground for a generation of children of the area. Former member Stan McMullen remembers spending his childhood in the ground, although he moved on to play in Clontarf where he would have a very successful senior career.  That unfortunately became a common theme as the club produced many fine players who would make their name in other clubs.  The ground unfortunately was not of the highest order and this may have been a factor. Stan remembers the club hiring a steam roller in 1944 in an effort to improve the surface, a good idea, until the roller sank.  The quality of the facilities may well have been one of the factors in the refusal of the Leinster Cricket Union to grant senior status in the 1950s and this may well have signalled the beginning of the end for the club.   However there can be no doubting the quality of the players produced, the previously mentioned McMullen was a fine player for Clontarf who also benefitted when Johnny Bell (whose family now are connected with Pembroke), John McGivern, Niall Broderick arrived and who all gave long service to that club. Pride of place though was Alfie Cooper who not only won 2 caps for Ireland but also represented and captained USA after he emigrated in later years.  Clontarf were not the only club to reap the work of Cremore, Jimmy Spencer (a player that McMullen to this day speaks of in hushed tones), the brothers Noel and Fergus Gilmore all played for Leinster while Bobby Harris had a Leinster Senior Cup Final to remember in 1968 when scoring 83 and taking 5 wickets (having bowled 40 overs!) in Leinster’s win against Clontarf.  Adam Begley moved on to play in YMCA.  Another Cremore player who made his name in areas outside of cricket was Denis Mahony, well known in Dublin as a motor dealer but as his obituary said in 2017, he was a superstar of Dublin GAA in the 1950s.  A young boy who ignored the “ban” to play some cricket with his friends in his local area.

Santry School (3) /Santry CC (4)

The area of Santry provides us with 2 clubs spanning 80 years.  Firstly was Santry School CC who we know operated in 1862.  What we do not know is who exactly they were.  Santry Charter School had ceased operating many years prior but the club may have been formed from that source.  However in the 1930s Santry Cricket club was set up by the Eustace family.  The Eustace family were originally a Quaker family who had for over 120 years been involved in the treatment of mental health – indeed their family history is one that is worth checking out in its own right. The Eustace family was the driving force behind Santry CC and the family played their part on the pitch as well.  They operated in the Junior Leagues and it is believed that played their games on the land now occupied by TCD Sport on Santry Avenue.  Of course, that is the same place where future Ireland and England cricketer Eoin Morgan spent his early life.

(Santry CC team in the 1930’s, colourised from original black and white)

 The club did not last far into the 1940s however we have some tangible proof of its existence in the form an engraved teapot.  William Davidson was a gardener for the Eustace family and he was also a talented sportsman in both football and cricket.  On the occasion of his marriage in 1934 he was presented with a teapot from the club, a mark not just of his standing in the club but also of the ethos of the club, an item which remains in his family to this day.

Raheny (5)

Raheny is just a 2 kilometre trip up the Howth Road and the indications are that cricket was played in Raheny prior to Clontarf CC’c foundation. An ordinance survey map dated 1869 shows a cricket ground on the St Annes’s Estate which had been owned by Sir Benjamin Lee till his death in 1868.

1869 Map showing cricket ground

 His eldest son was Arthur and he made his money in brewing, specifically the Guinness  Brewery.  As we have previously noted, Arthur (Lord Ardiluan after he was granted a peerage in 1880) had an involvement in cricket in Dollymount and this cricket ground may purely have been for family and private purposes. Lord Ardilaun died in 1915 but it was his wife Lady Ardilaun who facilitated the formation of Raheny CC when in 1919 she put a field on the estate at the disposal of the new formed club.  It is likely that this was the same field noted on the 1869 map, land now used by Raheny GAA teams.  In 1925 she provided a pavilion for the club, a pavilion that served the community for many years not just as a cricket pavilion but also later as a tennis pavilion and a parochial hall for the parish of All Saints Church until it was destroyed in a fire in 1981.  In 1939 the club had to move from St Anne’s after the estate lands were taken over by Dublin Corporation and they moved to a field known as Canon Drury’s Field, provided by the local church and which backed onto the rectory of the incumbent, Canon Drury.  The playing membership of the club was made up of locals and workers of the estate.  Cecil Dixon, later of Clontarf CC started his playing career in Raheny, there being no youth cricket in Clontarf. His connection to Raheny being that his aunt, Ella was a house keeper in the “Big House”.  Des Cashell also began his playing career in the club. Ian Jones was a good left arm spinner with the club while the Slye family well known in the area as fuel merchants were regulars.  The club ceased playing in 1943.

 

Roller believed to have been used on cricket ground in Raheny

St Mary’s - Howth (6)

It would be wrong to ignore the youth, they need to play in these difficult times and we have received special permission to go just a little beyond the 5k limit to cater for the younger player.  In the early 1970s there was little organised sport for young players.  The Leinster Cricket Union did not have a Schoolboy section until 1974.  So with great foresight, three parents, Cecil Jermyn, Cecil Rowden and Norman Wolfe decided that they would organise sport for the boys of Burrow National School and St. Mary’s Parish.  In the winter they ran rugby and cricket for the summer.  They decided to call themselves St Mary’s Ba Bas after the iconic nomadic rugby team The Barbarians.  So a letter, more in hope than expectation, was sent to the Rugby club and soon after a response was received from the club on headed papers confirming that they would be delighted for the club to use their moniker.  It was fitting that they should copy the nomads name for they had no home ground and played all their games away from home.  For a number of years they competed in the underage leagues.  Some fine sportsmen came from their ranks in the fields of rugby and hockey in particular but also in their more unusual field of comedy as Apres Match’s Gary Cooke was a regular performer.

There were many other clubs within our 5K limit, in no particular order:

Thoms CC (7)– a printing company who ran a league team for its employees (1936-1943) off Mount Prospect Avenue.  If locals remember the Belgorve FC ground (previously the grounds of Easons), Thoms played in the next field heading to the sea. Its most famous player was Joe Caprani who played there when employed by the company.

Killester CC (8) – we know a team was operating in Killester in 1865 when it played a game against an early version Clontarf CC. Indeed in the same year a Second XI played against Powerscourt so clearly it was thriving at that time

Clonliffe CC (9) – in 1862 Clonliffe played against a Clontarf team

North Strand Church Club (10) – were operating in 1894, a notice calling a general meeting a the Schoolhouse appeared in the Irish Times

Ierne CC (11)– played league cricket in Drumcondra 1935-53

Fairview CYM CC (12) -1929-32

Richmond/Richmond Asylum/St. Brendans (13)  – played in Grangegorman 1919-1964

Beaumont CC (14) – Appear in Clontarf CC fixture card 1901

Virginians CC (15) – the team of John Player Tobacco and an advertisement for their product

Drumcondra CC (16) – we have a number of references for this club from as early as 1883 till 1908

Sutton CC (17) – Irish times 22/7/1931

Postal Services CC (18)  – another workplace team operating 1932-54 based in Whitehall (near Viscount Pub, Whitehall). Had a successful team thanks in part to Engineers from Engand who located to Dublin to work in Post and Telegraphs. Also a strong hockey club which became Lorraine HC.      

Whitehall CC (18) – reference in IT 2/8/1864 game v Ormonde

Mt Joy CC (19) – reference IT 26/6/1876

Royal Hibernian Marine School (20) – appear as a league team in 1912 fixture card

Charlemont CC (21) – reference Irish times 30/7/1861 with 2 teams

Ger Siggins also provided references to Howth CC (22), Clare Hall CC (22), The Donahies CC (23), Bohemians (as in the football club) (24)

We must also consider schools in the area.

Royal Hibernian Marine School (25)

Mount Joy School (26) - grounds were in Clontarf at Strandville Avenue, where the original pavilion still stands.  Cricket in the school was run by Cyril Hughes, father of Podge Hughes

Mount Temple Comprehensive  (27) - cricket has been rejuvenated in the school and hopefully will continue with Robert Forrest and Andrew Poynter on the current staff. The school also is the site of Clontarf CC’s 2^nd pitch.

Ard Scoil Ris (28) – played schools cricket under direction of Cricket Leinster Developement officer Fintan McAllister

St. Pauls College (29) – played school cricket for a period in the 1970/80s

Santa Sabina (30) through the influence of Joan Burgess who was a PE teacher in the school, cricket was introduced and

Holy Faith, Clontarf (31)  - another feeder to Clontarf, played Santa Sabina in the final in 1981 (Santa Sabina won)

Manor House Girls School  (32) – also played in schoolgirls league of 1981

We cannot forget Primary School cricket and Springdale NS (33),  Scoil Mobhi (34), Belgrove Boys (35) and Howth Road (36) have all played in the CL competition the Leprechaun Cup, with the latter 2 both recent winners.  

So as we move around within our 5K limit there are plenty of places where cricket has been played over the years and maybe some ghosts of cricketers past.

Note: Many thanks to Evans Dexter and Stan McMullen for all the information provided for this article, they know so much about cricket from the 40s onwards in Leinster and love to talk about it.  Thanks also to Lesley Cahill and her family who provided all the information on Santry CC, which all started with a chance conversation about a mystery medal (still not solved).  David Jermyn provided the background on St. Mary’s BaBas and finally to Ger Siggins for his unending work in keeping cricket history alive.

Other references Through Countless Ages (Arthur Garrett), The story of the Guinness Estate (Joan Ussher Sharkey)

                 

 

Clontarf's first ever Trophy - 1898

Everyone loves a cup run.  This century, Clontarf have had huge success in the Leinster Senior Cup, but the first trophy ever won by the club was the Junior Cup back in 1898.  Clontarf were still a junior club at this juncture, only gaining senior status in 1908.  League structures did not exist and administration was a bit haphazard.  The competition which Clontarf won appears to have been run by the Leinster Branch of the Irish Cricket Union but it is likely that this was a fore runner to the Leinster Cricket Union that we now know. 

It would be lovely to be able to call on newspaper reports to track the cup run in detail, however, while newspapers gave good coverage to the senior clubs, news on junior clubs was hit and miss, miss largely.  We do know however that Clontarf beat Old St. Marys in the final.  Old St. Marys had beaten another Northside club Dollymount in the first round, defending their total of 54 by bowling Dollymount out for just 23 and qualified for the final in their first year of competition by beating Workingmen.  

Clontarf played Sandymount in an earlier round although their lateness in paying the entry subscription had meant that an apologetic letter had been penned to the Union.

Their semi final was against Knapton (who we understand were based in Monkstown area).  The game appears to have been mired in controversy of some sort. A minute in the Clontarf records of 16^th August 1898 suggest “that in consequence of what occurred on the occasion of our Cup match with Knapton on our ground on Sat. last, that club be written to for an apology failing which the matter be laid before the Union”.  A week later a response had been received from Knapton asking that Clontarf “state more specifically the charges we brought against them”.  A suitable response was drafted and a request for an apology, but their response was not deemed satisfactory and the Committee agreed to pass the correspondence to the Union.    

But let us get back to the cricket.

The final was played on the last weekend of September.  The Clontarf side was a mix of young and old. 

Players such as Bob Kirkwood, George Freehill, Bertie Coote, Jack and Herbert Boate had been playing for Clontarf for in excess of 15 years.

There were also plenty youth, Jack Leach and brothers, Sam and George Crawford.  Sam Crawford would become Clontarf’s first ever international cricketer when he was capped in 1903 against London County, who featured W.G. Grace, but at this stage he had just finished school in Wesley College and was waiting to begin studies in Trinity College.  George was his younger brother.    

In the game Clontarf scored 177 in their innings with Freehill top scoring with 54, made in just 26 minutes, Bertie Coote was also a half century maker but failed to get past that mark.  When Old St Mary’s came to bat, they were bowled out twice, with both Herbert and Leach taking 4 wickets, resulting in Clontarf winning by an innings and 12 runs.

F.H. Browning the Hon Secretary of the Irish Cricket Union presented a “handsome cup” to Miss Turpin for distribution.  Miss Turpin may well have been the daughter of the Hon Treasurer while George Porter responded on behalf of the victors.

It was the beginning of a productive period for Clontarf and after finishing runners up in the Junior League in 1904 and winning the same competition in 1905 and 1906, Senior Status was just around the corner.

Note: Thanks to Pat Bracken for his assistance in locating records and details without which this article would not have been possible

You have been selected.....

Text message, Whats App group sometimes even a mobile phone call.  The modern way to sort out a team for the weekend. In recent past i.e pre Facebook, teams were displayed on the noticeboard in the clubhouse and yes, there still is one in Clontarf. However, while sorting through some archives, a document was found which reveals how teams 100 years ago were organised.  A pre typed post card in which the relevant details were added was the method used in 1915.  Not only that, but the player had to confirm his availability "by return of post" to the Club Secretary.

It can be taken for granted that a return to these days is unlikely.

Leinster Senior Cup Final 1992 (and why we won)

The Cup Final in 1992 was a great day for those of us who were there. Finally we had beaten our arch rival YMCA, having been humiliated in the 1987 final in our own ground and run them close in Leinster in 1990 in a game that was there for the taking. The monkey was off our backs.

It could have been so different though.  The team that arrive in the Phoenix Park that morning were unusually quiet.  Yes, there was the small matter that the President, Mary Robinson would be visiting the ground ahead of the game, but it was more than that.  Here was a team that was allowing the occasion overtake them.  What was needed was something to lighten the mood.  Help was at hand. Unbeknownst to most, Peter Prendergast had been asked to contribute to the programme by way of Player Profiles of the Clontarf Team.  Someone had been asked to fulfill the same function for YMCA but I will not bore you with their version.  Suffice to say that on that day, Peter's profiles of his team mates became our 14th man - we had two 12th men that day.

Having arrived at the ground suffocated by tension, by the time we left the changing room we were ready for battle (and a few ready to kill Peter). The rest as they say is history.

  

1876 – the year we were founded?

1876 – the year we were founded?

It is generally assumed that Clontarf Cricket Club was founded in 1876.  Without documentary proof however, it is hard to verify the actual date.  The earliest written history was included in a brochure for a Fund Raising Fete in 1911 and it admitted that it was “hard to assign a date to its formation” merely confirming  that a healthy organisation existed in the middle 1880's. This is indisputable, we have a notebook from 1886 confirming a membership of over 50 and photographs exist from as early as 1883. What we do not have however is minute books or similar dating back into the 1870's.  So from where did the date of 1876 appear?  It is first mentioned in the Club’s annual fixture book in the 1950’s and appears in the history written for the opening of the new ground in May 1958 as a definitive date.  This history quotes from the Irish Sportsman from 27 July 1878 who “welcome the suburban Club, Clontarf, and wish them every success in their endeavor to promote so healthy and manly a sport in their own district”.  This quotation certainly makes a reasonable case for a foundation in the mid 1870’s. 

However, now that the Irish Times archive can be so easily accessed, we are able to see that cricket in Clontarf existed a long time before 1876 and indeed games involving a club going by the name of Clontarf C.C. were played early in the 1860’s.  The earliest mention found to date is from the paper printed on Wednesday 21 May 1862 involving a game against Clonliffe.  Clonliffe were comfortable winners as can be seen from the scorecard below, beating Clontarf by 10 wickets in a 2 innings game.   To put this date in some cricketing context, 1862 was the year of the first tour by an English side to Australia but it was 2 years before “over the shoulder” bowling was permitted by the rules.

The game was played at the Clontarf ground but it fails to state the location of that ground.  However another record found in the archive from 16 June 1865 reports on a local derby between Clontarf and Killester played at “the ground of the former club, North Bull”.  There would not have been any conflict with Royal Dublin Golf Club however as they only moved to Bull Island in 1889 having moved to that location from their original home at Phoenix Park. 

Once again the Clontarf XI were well beaten. The star of the Killester team was T. King who followed his 6 wickets in the first innings by taking a further 4 in the second. He also top scored in the Killester innings, scoring 27.  Interestingly, a T. King also played in the Clonliffe game for Clontarf but he was less successful in the earlier game with a pair of ducks and no wickets.

It should be no surprise that we can find cricket in the area before our “official” founding date, Ger Siggins, the well-known cricket journalist and author has traced cricket in the names of both YMCA C.C. and Strabane C.C well before their supposed beginnings.  It will be interesting to find if cricket in Clontarf (or indeed our near neighbour Killester) can be traced to before 1862 as more and more newspaper archives become easily available.

Clontarf from the air, 1952

What was Clontarf like in the 1950's?  Well thanks to a website www.britainfromabove.org.uk we can see how it looked from the air in 1952.  There are a number of aerial shots of Clontarf and a couple include the cricket club.  The best shot is copied below and the club is in the top right of the picture.  The cricket club was on what is now the rugby pitch and the square is clearly shown.
Note you can find more photos at the website but use the search of Clow Tarf (7 photos) abd Clontarf (1 photo)

1984 Marigold Ladies Senior Cup Win

Clontarf once again showed their strength in depth when they defeated Claremont in this year's Marigold Cup Final at a sun drenched College Park. Claremont opened the batting, but had no answer for the Clontarf bowling attack, with the Owens sisters Stella (5 for 18 in 13 overs) and Elizabeth (4 or 28 in 12) in superb form.

The only Claremont player to show any resistance was Caroline Watson who put on a brave 16 before being given out l.b.w. off Stella Owens. The Claremont total of 55 for 9 off 25 overs was never going to be enough against the powerful Clontarf attack and some fine stroke playing by Anne Murray who made 34 not out, laid the foundation for Clontarf's emphatic nine wicket victory.

On receiving the cup, Clontarf captain Elizabeth Owens paid tribute to Claremont's brave display in their first season in Senior cricket and the Claremont Road side got some consolation when Caroline Watson received the Woman of the Matach award

This report by Colin Kerr appeared in the Irish Cricket Magazine

Note 1. Tom Prior remembers that the Woman of the Match award was given to Caroline Watson by Clarissa Pilkington for "winning the toss"!

Note 2. The Clontarf side contained 5 cricket internationals, Elizabeth (Lily) Owens, Stella Owens, Anne Murray, Susan Bray and Tracey Skoyles.  It also contained 3 hockey internationals, Jacqui Potter, Deirdre Courtney and Fiona Manning.

Back L-R L Glen, F Manning, L Spence, M Murray, T Skoyles, A Murray, J Burgess
Front L-R J Potter, S Bray, S Owens, E Owens, D Courtney, J Cassidy.