Shankill Tennis
Club’s rise from modest beginnings has been remarkable. Established in
1986 and based on four Dublin County Council courts, the Club was
opened with 700 members and a small portacabin clubhouse. The
portacabin was burned to the ground in March 1989 and the members began
to fund raise for a new clubhouse. Having spent one year in a B & I
container, the Club in a productive joint venture with the County
Council and supported by the National Lottery, soon had permanent
Clubhouse facilities. These were opened in July 1990. Further
developments followed apace. Floodlights were erected in 1991 and three
new hard courts were added in 1995. A few years later in 1998, the
original four courts were extended, realigned and upgraded to an
artificial surface.
The
most recent (90,000 euros) development, completed in 2003 and financed
largely by the Club from its own resources, involved the provision of
floodlights and a new synthetic Omni-Pro surface on three remaining
hard courts. This now brings to seven the number of fully-lit Omni-Pro
courts available at the Quinn’s Road premises, and greatly expands and
improves the playing facilities available at the Club.
Success
off the court has been matched by success on it. The Club regularly
fields five men’s, five women’s and several junior teams in the DLTC
Leagues and has numerous pennants to its name. In 1991, it became the
first County Council-based Club to be given a permit by Tennis Ireland
to host a Junior Open Tournament. This popular Grand Prix Event is now
a regular feature of the Club’s packed tennis calendar. The Club
organises coaching for all standards, runs regular tournaments and
social events and has a very active Junior section. One of its members,
David Mullins, competed in Junior Wimbledon and later represented
Ireland in the Davis Cup (2003).