Castle Avenue
It is almost impossible to think of Clontarf Cricket and Football clubs without thinking of the Castle Avenue ground shared by the clubs. The top class facilities are the envy of many. But Castle Avenue is not the original home of either club, indeed the Football club led a nomadic life in its early years, with their first pitch being in the Merchamp area of Clontarf and another at the back of the Yacht club in what is now the bus depot. The Cricket club’s origins are a little more shrouded in mystery and we can first place them in the early 1890s when they played their home games at the end of the Howth Road. Even the precise location is not certain, however we can assume it was very close to the Howth Road church at the very end of the thoroughfare, as a record in the minutes of 1894 record a complaint being received from Howth Road School that the sheep which grazed on the cricket club land had broken into the school premises. The Football Club at this time were winter tenants of the Cricket Club at this site.
The land, however, was owned by Col. Vernon, resident in Clontarf Castle and the largest land owner in the Clontarf area. In 1894, the Cricket club had sought a long term lease on the field being used; however they were rebuffed and told that the land was “liable to be taken up for building ground at any time”. As it turned out they were secure for two more years, but on 31st of January 1896, Thomas Franks, the solicitor who acted as land agent for Col. Vernon wrote to the club giving them notice to “give up occupation of the land” by the 14th of February. While this must have come as a shock as the Club prepared for a new season, the blow was slightly softened when a separate letter from Vernon himself suggested that the Officers contact Franks immediately to apply for use of another field. The Club’s officers swung into action and the Captain (G.F. Porter) and Secretary (G. Armstrong) set up a meeting with the Land Agent for the very next day. They were shown a 4 acre site at the stiles on Castle Avenue and they seem to have immediately seen the potential not just for the Cricket club but also for the Football club. It should be noted that the site being offered to them was just the portion of the current site occupied by the Rugby pitches, the site now occupied by the Cricket club would not come into their possession until the 1950s. Porter and Armstrong were given authority to deal with Franks the Land Agent and very quickly they had come to an arrangement for a 1 year lease on the ground at a rent of £30 per annum. While this was significantly more than the rent on their previous ground, the cost would be later offset by agreements with the Football Club and a local butcher Dawson who both paid £10 for the use as a rugby ground and grazing for sheep, respectively. Therefore, within 1 month of notice, a new ground had been found; all that was needed now was for the clubs to actually move in.
Firstly, the pavilion in the Howth Road ground had to be moved and “Connors” was paid £6 for that job, while “Fowler” was given the job to prepare the field for cricket while a fulltime groundsman was sought. As it turned out Fowler got the job but he didn’t last long, he was sacked on 14th April to be replaced by Patrick Harte.
And so to the cricket, well, the good weather of early 1896, meant that it was difficult to prepare the ground as planned but wetter weather later in the year meant that the ground was in “tolerably good condition”. Results were slightly worse than the previous year but not to any significant degree.
The two clubs now had a more permanent base from which to grow and develop. Indeed, they thrived and in a short space of time they had both secured “senior” status. The Football club would continue to be tenants of the Cricket club but that would come to an end in 1908 when the building of a new pavilion brought the clubs together to develop the ground even further.
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