The plantation of Ulster marked the introduction of golf to this fair land. Scotland's Hugh Montgomery, the sixth Laird of Braidstane, is credited with the missionary deed in 1606, when he acquired land at Donaghadee on the Ards Peninsula.
A report on his early days in Ulster, noted how the Laird had built a quay or harbour at Donaghadee "both for public and private benefit." Then there was a school at Newtown, endowed to the tune of £20 per year for the teaching of "Latin, Greek and Logycks." And there was a green, where the scholars could indulge in recreation at football, archery and "goff."
According to Bill Gibson, in his seminal work Early Irish Golf, this is the first mention in an Irish context of what was to become the Royal and Ancient game. And there is evidence that a golf club actually existed in Bray as far back at 1762.
That was when Faulkners Dublin Journal carried the notice: "The Goff Club meet to dine at the house of Mr Charles Moran at Bray on Thursday, the 28th October, at half an hour after three o'clock. Elias De Butts, Esq. in the chair."
The identity of Moran is not known, but De Butts was a descendant of a Huguenot family which settled in Castlemaine, Co Kerry. Born in 1726, he was educated at Trinity College and was married three times. We can only speculate as to whether being unlucky in love had to do with his golfing activities. Either way, he is credited with being the first known member of an Irish golf club.
In an earlier piece, we wrote of David Ritchie, and the part The Irish Times played in discovering his grand-daughter, Christina Adams, in 1982. He was the Scot who built a course at Donnelly's Hollow at the Curragh in 1857, at a time when two Scottish regiments were stationed there.
Indeed golf at the Curragh makes a fascinating story, not least for the fact that the then Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, indulged his love of the game there, among other things. This was in the course of undergoing 10 weeks' training with the Grenadier Guards "under the strictest discipline that could be devised. . . and learn the duties of every grade from ensign upwards."
The discipline clearly applied to golf. We are told that after the Prince had attempted to give the ball a push towards the hole, his caddie, a certain Tom Brown, observed publicly: "His Royal Highness maun learn, for if he dune that in a match, he would hae lost the hole. . . ["]
But another crucial area in which Master Brown was unable to exert control, culminated in a scandalous report in The Illustrated London News of July 13th 1861. It read: ". . . . the Prince formed a most disreputable liaison with a vivacious young actress named Nellie Clifden. She was already a favourite at the Curragh and knew her way round the camp in the dark."
It went on: "Some of the Prince's fellow officers were intrigued by his sheltered life and saw the precautions designed to protect him as a challenge. Most of them thought nothing of keeping a mistress or two in their baggage, so it was not very surprising that after a wild evening in the mess, when General Bruce had retired for the night, Miss Clifden was shown into HRH's quarters.
"Admittedly, the Prince took the opportunity offered, but there is nothing to suggest it was a serious affair. The thing had been intended as a practical joke and he accepted it as such. But when rumours of these happenings reached Windsor, Her Majesty (Queen Victoria) was not amused, and what started in fun ended in tragedy . . . ."
It seems that Albert, the Prince's father, was shattered by the news from the Curragh and died a few weeks later, ostensibly from typhoid fever. But Queen Victoria blamed Edward's dalliance with Nellie Clifden, however brief, for the death of her beloved husband.
This episode, however, didn't result in any long-term royal antipathy towards the Curragh; quite the opposite in fact. On September 24th 1910, the royal title was conferred on the golf club, which means that it stands alongside the Portrush, Co Down, Belfast and Dublin clubs to be so honoured.
When the British Army evacuated the Curragh on May 16th 1922, the royal charter appears to have been relinquished, though it was not rescinded. At the end of that year, a new committee took office and the name of the club reverted to Curragh GC, its status prior to 1910.
Meanwhile, golf throughout this island was flourishing. A crucial lead was given through the foundation of the Belfast Club - later Royal Belfast - in 1881. In its issue of November 19th, The Irish Field reported: ". . . . At a meeting held in the Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday last, under the presidency of the Mayor (Edward Porter Cowan), the club was formally constituted and, if local influence, unanimity and enthusiasm avail anything, Belfast Golf Club ought to have a successful career. The Kinnegar at Holywood, permission having been kindly granted by Capt Harrison JP, will be headquarters . . . ."
It is now acknowledged that the Curragh is the oldest club in the Republic, with an institution date of November 1883. Royal Dublin comes next, having been founded by the banker, John Lumsden, in the Phoenix Park in 1885. Portrush came in 1888, and Co Down, with a course designed for four guineas by Old Tom Morris, was launched a year later.
By the end of 1889, the country had seven clubs - four in Ulster and three in Leinster - with a total membership of no more than 500. In view of the staging of the Murphy's Irish Open there in 2001 and 2002, it is fascinating to note that an attempt was made at launching a club in 1883 at Fota Island, where a course was laid out by Lady Barrymore. But it seems to have been a short-lived venture.
Still, there was tremendous activity elsewhere. As many as 103 clubs were founded from 1890 to 1899, including some of the country's most distinguished establishments, like Lahinch and Co Louth (1892), Cork, Co Sligo and Portmarnock (1894) and Ballybunion (1896). Indeed no other period of the country's golfing history has witnessed such growth.
