Dublin City Sports Archive
Dublin has a rich sporting heritage, with sport also playing an central role in the city’s social and cultural identity. Every local sports club or organisation produces its own original records; photographs, programs, minute books, financial records, correspondence, lists of membership, results of competitions, social events ephemera, and scrapbooks. These records demonstrate the significance of sport at local and national level.
The Dublin City Sports Archive aims to demonstrate this significance and to safeguard the legacy of Dublin’s term as European Capital of Sport.
Our Guidelines for Dublin City Sports Archive provides advice to sports clubs and organisations who may wish to donate sports archives to us.
Please contact us at [email protected] for more information.
DCSA/001 Maids of the Mountain Hockey Club
The Maids of the Mountain Ladies’ Hockey Club was founded in 1918 by Hilda O’Reilly (1898-1962; later Martin). It merged with Three Rock Rovers Men’s Hockey Club in 1999 to become Three Rock Ladies, having shared facilities at the Rovers’ Grange Road, Rathfarnham complex since 1988. The collection relates to the administrative, social and sporting history of the club. It includes minute books, annual reports and financial records, photographs, press-cuttings and other documents.
History of Maids of the Mountain Hockey Club by Hilary McDonagh
DCSA/005 Shelbourne Supporters Development Group
Photographs, programs, oral histories and other records relating to Shelbourne Football Club, its fans and players, mainly collected by Shelbourne Supporters Development Group.
DCSA/007 City of Dublin VEC: Sports & Cultural Committee
Digital copies of the Minute books of Sports and Cultural Council, City of Dublin Vocational Educational Committee (1935-2006) were donated to Dublin City Sports Archive.
DCSA/008 Rathfarnham Golf Club Records
The Rathfarnham Golf Club (RGC) was founded in 1899 and was located in the area of the Butterfield House in Rathfarnham until 1966. The Club moved to Newtown in 1966. In 1999 the RGC celebrated its centenary year with various celebratory events. The members of the RGC had successes over the years including victories in the Barton Cup (1962), Irish Times Shield (1962) and Leinster Championships Mixed foursomes (2012). The RGC still exists and is located in Newtown.
The collection relates to the administrative and sporting history of the club. It includes minute books, annual reports and financial records, photographs, competitions books, rules and bye-laws and other documents.
DCSA/009 Records of Miss Harriet Celenia ‘Ena’ Brooks (1921-2013)
Ena Brooks was born on 27 August 1921 in Dublin. Her sports career began as a hockey player at the Alexandra College Dublin and Dublin University. Later, she became a successful female golf player. She was a member of the County Louth Golf Club and the Rathfarnham Golf Club and won a number of international caps. During her career, she won several national and international competitions. Ena Brooks died in January, 2013.
The collection relates to the golf career of Harriet Celenia ‘Ena’ Brooks. It includes photographs, papers relating to various golf clubs, letters, golf sport material like score cards or fixture lists and other documents.
DCSA/013 Irish Hockey Association Archive
The Irish Hockey Association (Hockey Ireland) is the National Governing Body for the sport of field hockey in Ireland. Governing the 32 counties of Ireland, the Association is responsible for the management and overall development of all areas of the sport. The Association was formed in 2000, as a result of the merger of the (men's) Irish Hockey Union (founded 1886) and the Irish Ladies Hockey Union (founded 1894).
The Irish Hockey Association archive has been established at Dublin City Sports Archive with the support of honorary hockey archivist Peter Agnew and aims to collect preserve and make accessible records relating to the organisation. Material donated to date include programs, publications, photographs, minute books, administrative records and financial records relating to over 130 years of Irish hockey history. Each series will be made accessible to the public once catalogued and in accordance with data protection requirements.
DCSA/016 Irish Hibernian Athletics Association
The Irish Hibernian Athletics Association was established to preserve and promote the history of Irish athletics. The collection consists of material mainly gathered by Association secretary Larry Ryder and includes programs, press-cuttings, scrapbooks, photographs, biographical notes on Irish athletes, and printed ephemera from Athletics Ireland and predecessor bodies.
DCSA/022 The Irish Ramblers Club
The Irish Ramblers Club was founded in 1964 by a group of like-minded individuals who shared a passion and love for hiking and hillwalking. From the beginning their mission was “to enjoy, explore and protect our beautiful countryside”, and they have remained committed to this ever since. Throughout their history they have evolved and grown into a club through which as many as four thousand members have passed through and one that currently boasts more than 700 current members. The sporting activities of the Ramblers include six different hikes undertaken each Sunday. In addition to the sporting aspect of the club there is also a strong social element which is apparent through much of the collection. Incorporating the sporting with the social is commonplace.
This collection contains 12 boxes of records which relate to the establishment, administration, and sporting and social history of the Irish Ramblers Club since its foundation in 1964. It was formally donated to Dublin City Sports Archive in November 2017.
DCSA/026 Muckross Hockey Club
Muckross Hockey Club was founded in 1917 by the past pupils of Muckross Park College. Over the past 100 years it has won over 30 Leinster league titles, an unparalleled 29 Leinster Senior Jacqui Potter Cup wins, a strong representation at international and provincial level and a record seven past players inducted into the Irish Hockey Association Hall of Fame.
The collection of 70 photographs includes material donated via international player Joan Priestman and was transferred via Peter Agnew and the Irish Hockey Archive. The photographs have been digitised and catalogued by Library Assistant, Finola Frawley. View the photos online.