One of Dublin’s oldest golf clubs has rejected a £65 million proposal – including £13 million to be given to its 1,400 members – to surrender its land for housing development and relocate to a new site on the city’s north side.
The deal would have been meant each member would have pocketed more than £9,000.
Clontarf Golf Club, founded in 1912 and located just over four kilometres from O’Connell Street, was approached by developers Cairn Homes and Green Land Capital with plans to build thousands of homes on its 72-acre site.
Under the proposal, the club would have moved to a new course designed by Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley on the former estate of former Taoiseach Charles Haughey in Kinsealy. The offer included more than £50 million to fund the new facilities — including a clubhouse, practice range and bowling green — plus more than £13 million to be distributed among members.
Clontarf Golf Club. Image from Facebook
However, following discussions between the management committee, officers and trustees, the offer was unanimously rejected. The club continues to operate under a long-term lease with Dublin City Council, which still has 62 years remaining.
Clontarf Golf Club, which has around 1,400 members, has previously turned down similar redevelopment approaches, including a proposal worth almost twice as much as this one in 2007 that collapsed during the financial crisis.
The club was originally established on the lands of Mount Temple under the guidance of Dr John Love Morrow, a Presbyterian minister from Antrim, and the current course was designed by renowned architect Harry Colt, who also worked on Royal Portrush and County Sligo.
The latest refusal underscores the tension between Dublin’s housing needs and the desire to preserve some of its most historic green spaces.
