A History of Elm Park Golf and Sports Club 1925-2025

The vision of a Dublin auctioneer, Louis F. McMullan, for an exclusive country club became a reality in 1925. McMullan set about pursuing his dream of establishing a Golf & Sports Club on the land. He formed the nucleus of his new club by calling on former members of the Stillorgan Park Golf Club (1909-1918) which failed due to accessibility issues and the outbreak of WWI. The prospect of a new golf and sporting venue beside the tram-lines on Merrion Road and within a ear shot of Sydney Parade Railway station was very attractive to Stillorgan’s former members and so, at a meeting on 29 October 1924 the new club was established. Elm Park (‘Old Merrion’), Nutley and later Bloomfield houses and lands formed the basis for the course layout with Nutley House used as the majestic clubhouse. Old Merrion was demolished to make way for St. Vincent’s Hospital.

The club was established in 1924 with the purchase of Elm Park House and its surrounding lands. It opened as a 9-hole golf club in 1925, later expanding to 18 holes. The land has a rich history, including its use as a Command Grenade School during World War I and grazing sheep on the course. It was only two years into the life of the club when a receiver was appointed by the Munster & Leinster Bank and a new five year lease agreement was put in place from 1929. Subsequent attempts to renew or purchase the lease fell on deaf ears and the club closed on 31 December 1933 following the purchase of the lands by the Sisters of Charity for St. Vincent’s Hospital. Afterwards a golfing society was set up of Elm Park members and outings arranged at different courses with the intent of sourcing land to resurrect the club. By 1936 they managed to negotiate a new lease of Nutley House and the lands adjacent to the relinquished Elm Park House, which was eventually demolished in 1958, these lands being surplus to the new owners requirements. The hospital wasn’t opened until 1970, it was originally intended to replace their St. Stephen’s Green hospital.

Nutley House, a late neo-classical Georgian mansion was built c.1820 and is thought to have been designed and built by Richard Morrison of Cork, a prominent master-builder and architect of the period and responsible for Fota House in Cork and likely the Elm Park House which are similar constructs. The house had sixty five acres and its entrance was through an ornate gateway on Stillorgan Road, with an avenue running across our present first fairway.

Elm Park is a nursery for multiple tree varieties including: Redwood, Cedar, Yew, Oak, Birch, Maple and Ash amongst others. The Sisters of Charity who owned the Elm Park House and Lands took back some of their land for their planned hospital (St. Vincent’s) in 1955 and it returned to a 9-hole course having built an 18-hole course since the early forties.

The original course design was by Fred Davies, a scratch golfer and founding member and first captain of Milltown Golf Club. The first professional, Daniel Mahony, was charged with landscaping the course amongst his other duties at the princely sum of £3 p.w.  In 1936  John McAllister, a Scot, prominent in golf course design in Ireland at the time, was appointed to design a new golf course. The official opening was performed by Lord Mayor Alfie Byrne on 13th June 1936. The purchase of the Bloomfield property in 1960 allowed the club to extend the course to 18 holes with the help a course architect John Bealey and subsequently in 1965 Commander John Harris was brought in to report on the sequencing and layout. In 2002, the course was redesigned by Patrick Merrigan together with European Golf Services, focusing on drive placement and second shot value and to upgrade to greens to USGA specifications. Jeff Howes was engaged to redesign two new greens in 2017. There is currently a sixty year sporting lease connected with the property which runs out in 2049,

The club has hosted  the Irish Women’s Amateur Open Championship (2008,2011) and the Irish Dunlop Tournament in 1962. Elm Park can count notable golfers like Eddie Dunne, Pádraig Hogan, Brian Malone, Ita Butler (new Burke), the two-time Curtis Cup captain, and Anna Foster, Emma Fleming and Jake Foley amongst their numbers. Other members included the economist Ken Whitaker and freedom fighter Major General Tom Ennis who was charged with burning the Custom House and played a pivotal role in the assassinations leading to the retaliation in Croke Park on Bloody Sunday. Finally the Hon. Ms Justice Mary Irvine, the first female president of the High Court, and an accomplished golfer in her own right.

The history takes in the Tennis, Bridge and Bowls clubs which form an important part of the Sports Club. Elm Park has played host to many legends including Bobby Locke, Henry Cotton, Max Faulkner and Ken Bousfield.