Knockanally golf club Kildare

Members Achievements

Anne McDonald teamed up with Ned Kelly of Newlands Golf Club at City West in the regional qualifiers of the Spar-Irish Independent National Mixed Pairs challenge in June 2001. They finished tied for second but were placed 3rd on a count-back. Ann playing off 26 and Ned playing of 12 returned 56 points and booked their place in the National Final at Adare Manor Golf & Country club in August.

History of Knockanally

Knockanally Golf Club was designed and built by Noel Lyons in 1983 and in 1985 it affiliated to the GUI and Golf Course owners Association. The clubhouse is a Palladian style, which was built in 1843, giving an old world atmosphere.

The first owners of the land on which Knockanally House is now built were the Aylmers, who owned the land until 1777. The Coates family arrived, buying Ovidstown and annexing Knockanally. They also had a house in Brighton, England. Matthew Coates built the original Knockanally House (adjacent to the 12th fairway), which was to stand for almost 200 years. This was built in the late 1700's and he was the first of four generations of the Coates family to own Knockanally. He was known to locals as "Miner" Coates, a reference to mines he owned in Africa.

His son built the present Knockanally House in 1843. The estate remained the property of the Coates family until 1942 when it was purchased by the Irish Land Commission. The estate was then divided and parts of the estate were transferred to a number of Irish families, in exchange for their lands in other parts of Ireland.
The balance of the land and Knockanally House were sold to Captain Sheppard, who in turn sold it to the Maharani of Baroda. In 1959, ownership passed to the Rehabilitation Institute, who sadly demolished the original house, using the new house as a convalescent home for the victims of polio.

Ten years later, after a series of ownership changes (Casey, Craigie, Blake, Lyons), Knockanally Golf & Country Club, a public company, became the current owners of the estate and the golf course built thereon. The golf course was designed and built by Noel Lyons, who originally owned the land in 1983.