In 1924, the Galway Agricultural & Sports Society was formed, a group of visionary people, mostly businessmen from the town, with the aim of providing amenities for the citizens of Galway and environs. They purchased 17 acres of land from the Erasmus Smith Foundation, the owners of the Grammar School. These 22 men, together with five trustees, began to develop the ground to let to various sporting bodies which included greyhound racing, rugby, hurling and football, camogie, ladies hockey, drill displays etc. The first president of this group was CJ Kerin, 1925-1955 and he was followed by John D Whelan, 1955-1964. It was always intended to be a multi-purpose venue and was variously known as the Sportsground, the Sports Field or the Galway Greyhound Stadium.
It formally opened in 1927. The first game played there was a soccer match. The first rugby team to play there were Galwegians, after moving from the Grammar School.
It was HJ Anderson who managed to steer the Irish Rugby Football Union to invest in this new sports facility. The first Connacht Senior Cup Final to be played there was in 1929. The following year, it hosted all of UCG’s senior cup games as well as inter-varsity matches.
In 1932, the new greyhound track, complete with electric hares, was finished, 500 yards in circumference with two straights of 140 yards each. The course to be run would be either 550 yards or 525 yards with a 325 yards race for sprinters. The Connacht Tribune reported that two stands had been erected, one in the cheaper enclosure and one in the dearer enclosure which would accommodate 2,000 people. There was a fence placed around the track to separate it from the public.
In 1932, the All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship final was played here.
In the 1930s, the Bish organised drill displays here. Sergeant Brennan was the drill master and everybody brought a penny for him. For one drill you had to stand to attention, on the command of “A h-aon” you had to raise your left arm 45 degrees. On the command “A dó” you held it straight out, on “A trí”, you raised it another 45 degrees. This was then repeated with the right arm. What many of the participants remember about the proceedings was the new elastic striped belt with the S-hook. As you can see from the photograph, it would appear most of the school was involved.
In 1942, the County Senior Hurling Final was played here. Also, that year, the first Gymkhana and Horticultural show was held here. The children’s fancy dress parade on ponies attracted the greatest interest as did the horse jumping and the musical chairs. The local clergy gave great support to the event which attracted a large crowd. The committee were complimented on the smooth running and stewarding of the show which “was a difficult task on account of the very large attendance”. It was run under very strict rules, the use of the pitch was forbidden, all hurdles and jumps had to be removed without delay, grounds levelled and returned to their former state.
By 1945, this show was being described as ‘one of the premier sporting events of the year’.
In 1952, display sheds were built along the left and wall for several years, various products were shown there during the annual show – cottage industries, farm produce, flowers, cookery, photography, local businesses such as Kenny’s Bookshop or Ó Máille’s tweed shop. Stables were built at the
Bohermore end of the complex. In 1954, the show had over 800 entries, 40 trade stands and included Motors on display in the Grammar School fields. The show was held on College Road until 1973.
These sheds were used as cover from the weather by rugby and greyhound spectators. The kennels for the dogs were stacked up against the back wall where the only heating system was two half barrels with turf and timber burnt in the winter according to Paddy O’Gorman who was employed by the Greyhound Stadium as a greyhound jockey – he led out the greyhounds – and a race starter for many years. In the early years, they held two nights of dog racing, Tuesdays and Fridays. Today, some of Ireland’s richest races take place on this track.
When you came in through the gate there were primitive dressing rooms on the left, famous for cold showers. The side pitch was home to Our Lady's Boys Club for many years and they were later involved in running the car park. A few generations of the Holland family from College Road were employed as caretakers of the Sportsground.
In 1963, President John F Kennedy alighted from a helicopter here. In the late sixties, the covered stand was built which included a restaurant. In 1993, when Terryland was being renovated, Galway United played the first part of their season here and also their first match against European opposition in the 1985/86 European Cup Winners' Cup.
Rugby is the sport most associated with this ground, countless school and club games, provincial finals and interpros have been played here. Three international matches have been hosted here — in 1984, Ireland B beat Scotland A by 23 points to 20; in 1994, the Ireland Development team drew 13-all with USA; and in 2013, Irish Wolfhounds lost to England A by 14 points to 10. Connacht have played many times against National Touring sides at this venue.
Our images today are of some of the activities that have taken place in the Sportsground over the years. First (A ) was taken before the Sportsground existed. It shows a British Army military tattoo taking place on the land with the Grammar School and some College Road houses in the background. Photograph (B ) is of Bish boys going through some drilling exercises c.1932.
Photograph (C ) is of the Galway Show c1960 and includes, among others, Pat Crowe, Tom Fahy, Peter Griffin with a dairy cow, Michael Dunne, Tom Clancy, Pat Kenelly, Martin Divilly, Frank Cosgrove with a cow, Paddy Fahy with a cow, Peter Codyre, Luke Small, Pat Broderick and Danno Fahy. Photograph (D ) is of spectators at a rugby game in1970 and picture (E ) is of Paddy O’Gorman who worked at the greyhound track for nearly 60 years. Our final image (F ) is of a rugby match between two great city rivals in the 1960s showing wing forward Mick Hackett (Corinthians ) blocking a clearance by scrumhalf Danno Heaslip. Notice the crowd in the background, a sight we will never see again after this weekend.
