50th anniversary celebrations for Templeogue Basketball Club in Clayton Hotel

TEMPLEOGUE basketball club celebrated their 50th anniversary with a Gala dinner held at the Clayton Hotel in Liffey Valley last Saturday.

Marty Guilfoyle of Today FM mc’d the event which saw over 120 people attend with both present and past players and committee members being invited.

Alongside the meal was a slideshow with attendees submitting 400 photos showcasing the 50 years of history within the club.

Other activities at the event included a trivia quiz, silent raffle and a disco.

The event marks the beginning of 2026, the 50th anniversary of the club and starts the year on a high.

While the dinner last weekend was for over 18s only, the club will be hosting an event targeted towards more junior members with May being a time possibly discussed for such an occasion.

The club has continued to expand over the decades after initially being founded out of Templeogue college with a very localised catchment area.

Brian Booth spoke on the continued expansion and appeal that the club has managed to build over the years.

“So we’re traditionally from Templeogue college. In the early 2000s the club was opened up with girls teams as well and now our catchment area has spread far and wide. Wicklow, Kildare and lots from Meath as well along with a lot of the outlying suburbs in Dublin.”

An example of expansion the club is currently undergoing can be seen in the recent start of a new academy in Old Bawn which runs every Thursday evening from 6pm-7pm with children below the age of 10 of all abilities welcome.

The club has also seen great performances from senior and underage teams in recent times with both senior sides being involved in National Cup Semi Finals in Cork and the U18 also reaching a semi final and the newly formed U20 side reaching a national cup final.

The club is also organising events for the Basketball For All section throughout 2026 and the group will be holding their first blitz this Sunday in TUD with five other teams being invited from around Dublin.

“We’re all volunteering and it’s going to be a great day for all those teams throughout Dublin.”

Several other teams have been set up within the club and are doing well such as Division 4 teams and even Over 50s sides competing in Masters Division.

“It’s great to see at both ends, we are catering to players from the youth system giving them somewhere to play and players who maybe have aged out of playing senior level basketball. Basketball is definitely on the rise. We’ve needed to get all these new teams.”

The club has other plans for the year ahead which will be revealed over the coming weeks ahead and can celebrate their 50th anniversary knowing that for 2026 and hopefully the next 50 years they have a bright future ahead of them in Templeogue BC.