Malahide Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club recently celebrated its 130th anniversary, having being founded way back in 1879. Originally based in the grounds of Malahide Castle, Lord Talbot was the Club’s first President. MLTCC later moved to its present site, known locally as ‘The Square’. The Club then comprised of a few grass courts and a small, quaint, wooden pavilion. Tennis was very much a summer activity played between May and September in the way that the Grove LTC operates today.
Tarmac courts were laid in 1968 which was a very exciting time for all members back then as this extended our tennis to being all year round. The three tarmac courts were laid in an area originally known as the 'Band Gardens' which is where courts 3,4,5 are located today. The remaining grass courts later gave way to tarmac which in turn were replaced by the present 'synthetic grass'. For many years, the club was administered and maintained by Captain Eric Martineau who gave a substantial part of his life to MLTCC and played an important role in our club history.
The club first won the prestigious Mens Class 1 Summer League for the first time in 1986. This event is played by the top players in the country and was a real turning point for MLTCC as it announced our arrival as a serious club at the top table of Irish tennis. We'll never forget those happy days! The Dublin Lawn Tennis Council Summer and Winter Leagues are the biggest leagues of their type in Europe with huge numbers of players competing in 7 classes throughout the greater Dublin and feeder counties region.
Over the years, our club members and teams have won various local, provincial and national titles and others such as Michael & Stephen Nugent, Michael Cowhie, Mary O'Neill and, more recently Colin O'Brien, have proudly played for Ireland at international level. The Club actively supports players of all standards and levels of experience and recognises that there are many reasons why our members both young and old play tennis. The current clubhouse with its extensive facilities was opened in 1992 and is in fact the third building on the current site. To maintain the high standards expected by the members, the facilities are constantly monitored and upgraded as required. The courts, for instance, have been re-surfaced and replenished in the past and are due for renewal again in the near future. More recently MLTCC has invested in new floodlights and the latest smart technologies to help run our club and provide quality services to members. We have plans to enhance the club house and playing surfaces in 2009 as part of a continuous programme for maintaining and devloping facilities for our members.
While it is regarded as one of the country’s most modern and best equipped tennis clubs, and was voted National Club of the Year in 2006, MLTCC still proudly retains some of the traditions associated with the game, most notably the wearing of ‘whites’ during the summer months.....and gentlemen not hitting the first serve too hard to the ladies during mixed doubles matches!!
While no Croquet facilities remain at the club today, the club proudly retains croquet in the name of the club in respect to the almost 130 years of history of our club. There are now approximately 1500 members each of whom is privileged to share this wonderful location and facility among fellow members, friends and family.
Directions: Malahide LTC is situated in the heart of Malahide village, just opposite the Grand Hotel. The club is only a five minute walk from the DART/train station. (N.B. Make sure to get a DART to Malahide and not a Howth one!!)
Exit the station via the main gate beside the Church and turn left. Walk along the Main Street and straight through at the traffic lights. The club is 200 metres further on, on the left hand side.
Please note that there are NO parking facilities in the club. There is a pay-and-display system in operation in the village. All day parking bays are available on the coast Road just past the Grand Hotel at a special daily rate. There is also a large free public car park which is about 800 metres further on along the Coast Road on the left hand side, opposite the Island View hotel.
