125, love!
The elegant and leisurely life of Victorian Cork was revisited recently as one of the city’s oldest sporting clubs celebrated its 125th anniversary.
The Sunday’s Well Boating & Tennis Club was founded in 1899 by a group comprising of notable legal professionals and merchant princes living in Sunday’s Well across the river from the club’s present location on the Mardyke.
Last weekend the club celebrated 125 years with a vintage tennis and tea party, recreating the atmosphere and scenes from the turn of the 19th century with members and friends dressed in gowns and tennis clothes of the era along with a tennis competitions complete with vintage wooden rackets and attire.
Sunday’s Well Boating and Tennis Club is one of the oldest and most highly regarded tennis and squash clubs in the country and is host to several prestigious annual events such as the Munster Open Tennis Championships and Munster Veterans Tennis Championships as well as hosting several interprovincial and international events over the years.
The club, which has over 1,000 members across all age groups, is located on the site of the Great Cork Exhibition of 1902, nestled between Fitzgerald’s Park and Cork County Cricket Club. The land the club stands on was loaned to the Cork City Council for the duration of the Great Cork Exhibition of 1902, which was attended by King George VII and Queen Alexandra.
It has undergone many changes through the decades from the early years when lawn tennis, boating, crown bowls, card playing, billiards, fishing and cricket formed the mainstay of the club’s activities. These days, tennis, squash and snooker are the main activities at the club. During the First World War and reflecting the club’s largely Protestant and Unionist membership, many events were held in the club to assist those members who fought in the Great War. A roll of honour of these members exists in the clubhouse.
During the Civil War, one of the club’s officers, WL Cooke, was ambushed and killed on his doorstep by anti-Treaty sympathisers.
In 2009 a major flood on the Mardyke covered the entire club grounds with water levels rising to the top of the tennis nets.
Club minutes record that it was not until 1994 that the male members voted to allow full lady membership and in 1998 Mary Jane Kenefick became the first lady captain of the club.