Rugby Club agrees €4m deal to sell grounds to developer

A THRIVING rugby club is set to receive a huge financial windfall with the sale of their home ground, believed to be worth in the region of €4 million.

Clondalkin Rugby Football Club (RFC), which has expanded massively over the last two decades, is at an advanced stage of selling Gordon Park and the purchasing a much larger parcel of land in the locality.

The club was established in 1973 out of Moyle Park College and in 1977, members raised £27,000 for the purchase of a 5.5 acre patch of land.

That land, which is known as Gordon Park, is located in Kingswood next-door to Shamrock Rovers FC Academy at Roadstone Group Sports Club.

Over the intervening years, Clondalkin RFC built a clubhouse with changing facilities and erected floodlighting on the land to enable greater use of the facilities.

But now, with upwards 600 members registered with the club, around 400 of which are playing, the club has outgrown Gordon Park – the place they have called home for over 40 years.

At an Emergency General Meeting held by Clondalkin RFC recently, a Development subcommittee was given unanimous approval by members to proceed with talks for the sale of the current home ground and purchase of new bigger lands.

Clondalkin RFC’s clubhouse in Gordon Park

The Echo understands that the rugby club has agreed a deal, believed to be in the region of €4m, with private developer Greenwalk Development Limited for the sale of Gordon Park.

“The negotiations on the sale of Gordon Park and purchase of a much larger area of land in the locality are at a very advanced stage and the club hopes to be in a position to make a formal announcement to this effect over the next few weeks,” a source told The Echo.

The “much larger area of land” is a significant upgrade and the club hopes to create a state-of-the-art facility in order to meet the demands of the next 50 years.

The Echo also understands that the land in question is located in Baldonnel, just on the opposite side of the Naas Road to where the club is based now.

This is a landmark deal for the club and will ensure that it can cater for the increase in members and build a sustainable future for the next generation of the Clondalkin RFC family.

Stay tuned to The Echo for updates in relation to this story in the next few weeks…