| Glenmalure Park |
Website Links For Glenmalure |
Information AboutGlenmalure Park |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT GLENMALURE PARK | |
| sport in dublin | |
| shamrock rovers f.c. | |
| football venues in the republic of ireland | |
| buildings and structures in dublin | |
| st patricks athletic f.c. | |
| history of dublin | |
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Shamrock Rovers moved from the inner city area of Ringsend in the early 20th century to the then semi-rural suburb of Milltown. In Milltown, Rovers secured a long term lease of land from the Jesuit Order, who were based in the area. The club's ground there was largely built by their supporters, who constructed the main stand and banked the areas on the other three sides. It was opened in 1926, with a friendly game against Belfast Celtic . When the Cunningham family took over the club in the 1930s, the stadium was named Glenmalure Park in honour of the Cunningham's ancestral home in the Glenmalure valley in the Wicklow Mountains . The Cunninghams completed the ground by terracing the remainder of the ground and erecting a roof over the terrace opposite the main stand. Glenmalure Park remained almost unaltered from then until its demolition in 1990, aprt from the demolition of a small area of terracing beside the main stand and the erection of floodlights in the early 1980s. The capacity of the stadium was about 20,000 (with around 1000 seats) for most of its existence, its record crowd being 28,000 people for a game against Waterford in 1968. However it is said that bigger crowds than this were sometimes seen at the venue before this, but went unreported by the club's owners. In 1987, the Kilcoyne family, who had owned Shamrock Rovers since 1971 and had recently bought Glenmalure Park off the Jesuits, decided to sell the stadium to property developers. The last match there was an FAI Cup semi-final between Shamrock Rovers and Sligo Rovers in 1987. This game saw a pitch invasion and protest by fans objecting to the sale of the ground. After a lengthy appeals process, Glenmalure Park was demolished in early 1990 and a housing estate was built on the site. It is now marked by a memorial erected by Shamrock Rovers supporters in 1998. PHOTOS Glenmalure Park(1987) |
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