Grand grandstands at Kilcohan

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The new Grandstands at Kilcohan Park in Waterford before the pitch and sidelines were complete. They may seem a bit on the primitive side today but at that time they were a big improvement and investment. Stadia throughout the world have grown and become more sophisticated with 'all seaters' and Ireland with such beauties as Croke Park, The Aviva, Semple Stadium and Thomond Park but I much preferred the terraces where the sense of comradeship and the banter were so much more memorable!

Photographer: A. H. Poole

Collection: Poole Photographic Studio, Waterford

Date: 23rd February 1931

NLI Ref: POOLEWP 3796

You can also view this image, and many thousands of others, on the NLI’s catalogue at catalogue.nli.ie

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Owner: National Library of Ireland on The Commons
Source: Flickr Commons
Views: 4934

ahpoole arthurhenripoole poolecollection glassnegative nationallibraryofireland kilcohanpark stadium waterford cowaterford waterfordtown waterfordunitedfootballclub greyhoundracingstadium

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suckindeesel
- 25/Aug/2022 07:49:24
It’s gone to the dogs since then
National Library of Ireland on The Commons
- 25/Aug/2022 07:53:24
https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected] Very funny!
ɹǝqɯoɔɥɔɐǝq
- 25/Aug/2022 07:57:59
23 February 1931 was a Monday ... Aside - Nellie Melba, Australian soprano, died on this day. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nellie_Melba
suckindeesel
- 25/Aug/2022 08:12:16
The poster on the left flic.kr/p/brSuvT
John Spooner
- 25/Aug/2022 09:07:25
The opening was nearly 4 months earlier. Waterford Standard - Saturday 01 November 1930
MR. W. C. MERCER TO OPEN THE GROUNDS. The new Association Football grounds at Kilcohan Park will be formally opened by Mr. W. C. Mercer, President of the Chamber of Commerce, on Sunday next, when the Waterford Club meet Bridewell in the Free State League. The covering of the three stands is now almost completed by Messrs. Graves and Co., Ltd. Two are almost ready, and the third will be ready shortly. To the big stand the admission will be 6d., and to the smaller and more exclusive stand 1s. will be charged. Entrance to the field will cost Is.; school children half-price. The smaller or third stand will contain two dressing rooms for the home and visiting teams. They will have hot and cold water laid on. A big enclosure is laid at the back of the stands as parking ground for motor cars.
No doubt Messres Graves & Co commissioned the photo to show off their handiwork to prospective clients, probably keeping quiet that they hadn't quite met the deadline for completing the stands before the grounds were opened.
John Spooner
- 25/Aug/2022 09:16:45
A week later the Waterford Standard reported a 3-1 loss for the home team against Brideville, their third loss in a row.
This was the first occasion on which a match was played on the new pitch, and it cannot be said the opening was an auspicious one. Wind and rain combined to render the pitch almost unplayable, and there were spots which were a veritable no man’s land. Shower baths and mud baths were the order of the day, and foothold was impossible. For the same reason fast football was out of the question.
and from the lengthy match report
The sodden ground was responsible for a good deal of fumbling in front of the Waterford goal, which saved the situation for the home team
Sounds like the sort of conditions a youthful me would have enjoyed.
National Library of Ireland on The Commons
- 25/Aug/2022 10:28:38
https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnspooner John "Mucker" Spooner!
Niall McAuley
- 25/Aug/2022 11:11:17
Does anyone know where exactly we are? The greyhound track is marked on the 1930's Cassini, but not this pitch. The modern Regional Sports Centre site is marked as bog and Liable To Floods on the Cassini, which may explain the no man's land of mud?
suckindeesel
- 25/Aug/2022 12:08:01
https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/ Try Kilcohan Park greyhound stadium, Old Kinsale Rd. on the later 6” Is this the same as Cassini? Still can’t get it to give a link, unlike the old version. Would it work on Windows?
suckindeesel
- 25/Aug/2022 12:28:05
https://flic.kr/p/cTqUry Kilcohan Park doggy via Waterford Council
Niall McAuley
- 25/Aug/2022 14:59:20
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]] I see the greyhound track in Google maps and on the Cassini map (which is the same as the 6" last edition in the version of geohive that works now: webapps.geohive.ie/mapviewer/index.html) But this is a football pitch, not a greyhound track.
Niall McAuley
- 25/Aug/2022 15:51:06
Per this wikipedia article en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterford_F.C.: Originally the club was based at the greyhound stadium known as Kilcohan Park.
suckindeesel
- 25/Aug/2022 16:15:33
https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/ Harold’s Cross stadium was similar, footy on the inside and doggie on the outside. Probably made economic sense to combine the two. Many greyhound tracks have closed over the intervening years, more profitable to build apartment blocks on the sites.
suckindeesel
- 25/Aug/2022 22:37:10
Graves & Co. Ltd. used Mr Poole’s services more than once: Hay shed at Kilmeaden catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000594507 Their poster also featured here before: catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000047930
Swordscookie
- 26/Aug/2022 08:48:53
https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected] https://www.flickr.com/photos/gnmcauley The Markets Field in Limerick was similar. For many years soccer and rugby were played in the pitch while greyhound racing took over the track at other times. It was then taken over completely by the Greyhound fraternity though now soccer is played there once again. I attended my first soccer match there way back when, Limerick V Dundalk with a very young Turlough O'Connor playing for Limerick.