Coollattin golf club Wicklow

Members Achievements

 Unless I’m mistaken Coollattin Golf Club won their first ever Leinster pennant when they captured the Leinster Final of the Pierce Purcell Shield at Lisheen Springs Golf Club on Sunday 27th June 2014.
They beat Hollystown Golf Club by 4-matches to 1-match in the Semi-Final and had a 3½-matches to 1½-matches win over Tullamore Golf Club in the Final.
They made their way to Carton House to compete in the All-Ireland deciders on the O’Meara Course on Wednesday 17th September where they were drawn against Ulster Champions Rossmore Golf Club in the All-Ireland Semi-Finals.
They were led out by John Byrne with James Harte who lost out to Gerry McMahon with Rory McDonnell by 2 and 1, they were followed by Michael O'Neill with Owen Coleman who went down to Padraig Trappe with Brendan Casey by 5 and 3, next up was Declan Traynor with Paul Tyrrell who also lost their match by 4 and 3 to Adrian Trappe with Alan Finnegan, the last two matches of Michael Shortall with Jim Cullen against Bernard Gilbane with Dermot McMahon and Joe Murphy with John Thompson John McKenna with Malachy Deery were halved.

Coollattin were in the Semi-Final of the Leinster Section of the Pierce Purcell and lost in the Final of the Brennan Cup in 2000.
A. M. Dalton was selected on the ILGU Junior squad in November 2000.

History of Coollattin

Instituted 1949 affiliated 1950

It would appear golf has been played at Coollattin as far back as 1922. The Irish Times, 5th August, 1922, reports "A new golf club with a representative committee from Shillalagh and Tinahely districts, with the Rev. M. Fitzsimons and Mr. McKenna as Secretaries, has recently been organised and has acquired beautiful grounds at Coollattin Park" The club must have gone into decline, as there is no mention of it again until 1949.

In a letter to King Charles in March 1637 Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford (Known to history as Black Tom) wrote that he had found in Coollattin "that which he did not believe had been in Ireland, a place which affords sports to pass over a grass-time" ... (i.e. the time of year when animals are at grass) ... "in as great measure, and with as much delight, as most that are in England ... here I may have for a month or two a year a place to take my recreation ... keeping myself so please God, a little longer in health".

This was to set the tone for the best part of three and a half centuries. In a way Coollattin Park was to become a recreational playground for the parent house at Wentworth, Wodehouse. To augment shooting, horse riding and similar outdoor pursuits, the pleasure grounds at Coollattin was developed around the turn of the century. Set in an idyllic sylvan setting it was what would be called today an outdoor leisure complex. It included a nine hole golf course, a cricket ground, tennis courts, hockey pitch and a football pitch. It was here that the tenants and estate workers at Coollattin would pit their skills against visiting teams from the parent house in Yorkshire. The neatly manicured oval cricket ground was located where the present day practice ground is situated. Through the first half of the last century there were memorable matches between visiting teams and teams representing Coollattin.

Coollattin teams included Neil Robertson (fast bowler), George Rothwell (batsman & wicket keeper), Don Furlong (batsman) and Joe Dowse (left handed batsman). The cricket club also produced its share of memorable characters, not least the late Dick "Swallow" Behan. He carried his pet name from the gliding movement on his run up to bowl. The hockey pitch was located on what is now the third fairway, and the hockey pavilion was the old tool shed to the right of that fairway, a building which existed until the big storm of Christmas eve 1997.

The actual layout of the original golf course is not clear. Neil Robertson recalls playing on it in 1947, but the passage of years has eroded all but snippets of what the course layout looked like. One course design in the early 1960s by Eddie Hackett was not fully implemented.

During the early part of the 20th century the Earl, being a keen golfer, spent many vacations at Coollattin. The visiting party included a private professional from Wentworth. The late Ned Mulhall as a youth and prior to serving in World War II was head caddy. The youthful Ned was lucky in so far as he had his golf swing taught to him by the visiting professional. Many subsequent members were as young lads to have their technique taught to them by Ned. Indeed when one watches players such as Pat Byrne and Peter Doyle swinging, one can see a clear link dating back three quarters of a century.

Following the tragic death of Earl Peter in 1948, much of the dynamism which kept the sporting facilities at Coollattin in such pristine condition was to be removed. During the 1950s both the cricket ground and the golf course became neglected. Due to lack of competition and a decline in interest, cricket was the first casualty and it petered out prior to 1960. The golf club was kept ticking over through members such as Fr. Kehoe, Ronald Correll, Fr. Browne, Willie Robertson and his son Neil, Kevin Ryan, Peter Doyle, George Rothwell, Paddy Behan and Ned Mulhall.

Through the energy and drive of these people the future of the golf club was secured. Its members took over the task of looking after the course, took over its running from the Estate and registered it with the Golfing Union of Ireland in 1962. We owe a great debt to these pioneers.

It was not until the 1970s that the developments which were ultimately to lead to the great course that we have today began. During this decade a machine shed was provided, an extension (meeting room and kitchenette) was added to the old corrugated iron pavilion. An irrigation system for the greens was also added during this time. In 1977 alarm bells rang when Coollattin Estate was advertised for sale. Included in the bill of contents was Coollattin Golf Club. It was with great relief to the club when senior counsel revealed that as a sporting facility the future of the club was secure in law.

The final big undertaking of the 1970s was the building of the new club house. It was planned during the captaincy of Eamon Dalton in 1978, built during the captaincy of the late Cyril Griffin in 1979 and officially opened by the President of the Leinster Branch of the Golfing Union of Ireland, Mr. Michael Fitzpatrick, during the captaincy of Kevin Lee in 1980.