A small south Dublin GAA club has bought a five-acre playing field in one of the city’s prime residential zones that could have been worth as much as €10.5 million to a property developer.
Geraldines P Moran, known as “the Gers”, is one of the oldest clubs in Dublin, with origins going back to 1886. Its delegates attended the first meeting of the Dublin County Board that year and its team contested the first Dublin senior county championship final back in 1888, the nearest it has come to winning the senior county title.
Like many Dublin clubs, it does not own its own playing field. For the past 65 years, it has played rent-free on a parish field located next to Dunnes Stores in Cornelscourt and managed by Foxrock Catholic parish for a Dublin diocese trust. Under the agreements in place over many years, the club routinely accepted it had no legal rights to the land or access to it.
About a year ago club officials approached the parish with plans for some upgrades to the facilities, as required given they did not own the land. Much to their surprise, the church representatives said they were looking to divest the land and asked were they interested in acquiring it.
“We hadn’t expected that at all but when it was raised, it was clearly something we were keen to pursue,” said one senior club official.
The church’s main requirement was that it continue to be used for sport and community purposes and that all existing users would be accommodated.
A local minis rugby club, St Brigid’s RFC, has shared the ground for many years. It is also used by the local primary school, St Brigid’s Boys National School which is based on nearby Mart Lane in Foxrock.
Fronting on the main Dublin-Wexford N11 road, the site would be in high demand if it had come on to the general market. It has been an open secret in the area for many years that Dunnes Stores was interested in acquiring the site to allow it expand its Cornelscourt retail facility, one of the biggest in the State.
“Back of the envelope” calculations by one Dublin commercial real estate specialist suggested that, “conservatively”, the site could be worth €10.5 million with residential zoning and better site access. That would involve the purchase of two or more houses backing on to the playing fields and fronting on to the Old Bray Road at Cornelscourt, next to Dunnes Stores.
No price has been disclosed for the ground’s acquisition but it is understood to be a fraction of that valuation.
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The club says it will fund the transaction through debt financing and club fundraising. Some bridging finance has been provided by the GAA.
It is understood the contract between the church and the club contains a clause that would mean any excess over the sale price returned to the church if the land were sold on for purposes outside “sporting, leisure and ancillary activities” for members of Geraldines P Moran and the other current users of the site.
Geraldines P Moran has 850 members with 30 teams playing football, hurling and camogie across adult and juvenile age groups.
“This is a very exciting day for our club and will allow us to develop facilities to meet our members’ needs and those of the wider community into the future. We are extremely grateful to Foxrock parish and of course its outgoing Parish Priest Fr Gerry Kane, for taking this community-focused decision,” said Geraldines chairman Ger Moffatt.
“We also very much appreciate the support of the Dublin County Board, Leinster Council and the central team in Croke Park for assisting us in completing this transaction.”
The deal requires the approval of adult club members at a special general meeting, which has yet to be convened. The motion will require a simple majority as long as it is attended by at least 15 per cent of the registered adult members. The club is confident of securing approval.
