A Chara, - In the last week of May 1890, 110 years ago, two athletes in their prime stepped into a marble-clad court in Dublin to play for the oldest world championship in sport, that of Real Tennis.
The court which had been built five years earlier by Sir Edward Guinness at his city residence , 80/81 St Stephen's Green (now Iveagh House, the Dept of Foreign Affairs), was chosen as a neutral venue between Pettitt (Boston) and Saunders (London), who played to packed galleries on the Monday, Wednesday and Friday, when the former retained his title in a match which is still regarded as one of the classic encounters.
Ireland can boast of few world championship venues, and the necessary facilities and associated costs in attracting such events make them an increasingly rare proposition in any sport.
The Dublin court, famed over all others because of its exotic construction was given as a gift to Ireland in 1939 by the then Earl of Iveagh, himself an athlete of some renown having won the Henley Diamond Sculling title. Players at the court offered to run the facility as a club without burden to the State. The offer was rejected, the internal playing features dismantled and play had to cease, since when no ball has been cut (sic) in 60 years.
What a pity that in this time of Celtic affluence, much talk of heritage and stated Government policy to promote participation in sport, that it is left to voluntary enthusiasts to battle the same Government's plan to convert the court building to a recital hall, and just as a purpose-built one is due to be vacated by UCD next door!
Real Tennis is enjoying a decade-long worldwide resurgence - what a loss to Ireland's sportspeople that they cannot partake in their native court. Who's to say that we could not produce our own world champion just like the present holder, Robert Fahey of Australia, who's great-great-grandfather left Co Galway after the Famine. Those were poorer times. Can we not now respect and seek to enjoy the richness of our fortunate inheritance? - Is mise,
Ted Neville, Secretary, Irish Real Tennis Association, Carrigaline Road, Douglas, Co Cork.