Trinity College Dublin has bought the 17-acre Iveagh Sports Grounds facilities from Diageo in Crumlin.
Facilities on site include GAA, rugby, bowls, tennis and hockey pitches as it is among one of the largest sporting grounds close to Dublin City Centre.
The University has ambitious plans to further develop the grounds for the benefit of their students sporting life.
TCD can now boast a combined total of over 50 acres of sports pitches across all it’s sporting facilities as the Iveagh grounds joins the campus.
College Park on the Trinity campus currently provides facilities for soccer, hockey and rugby while the 34-acre Santry Sports Grounds with natural grass hosts soccer, GAA, rugby and hockey pitches as well as floodlit pitches and training areas.
The Iveagh Grounds were originally established in 1928 for the benefit of Guinness workers but the grounds have not operated as part of the company or Diageo staff offering for more than two decades.
A joint announcement took place on Wednesday, December 6th by both TCD and Diageo.
Commenting on the purchase and development of the Iveagh Grounds, Trinity Provost, Dr Patrick Prendergast said:
“We look forward to presenting the development plans for the sports facility to our students, staff, alumni and external partners in the near future. We aim to develop Trinity as one of the best university sporting experiences in Ireland and leader in third level sports.”
Trinity Head of Sports, Michelle Tanner added: “Our vision is to create a hub of outdoor sports facilities that fulfils existing and future demand, engages, attracts and increases activities at participation and performance levels for students and serves the needs of the community sporting groups.”
