Dingle Community & Sports Facility

INTRODUCTION

The Club was established in 1967 with the amalgamation of the two town street teams at the time namely The Pearses & Sráid Eoin and has a rich history within Kerry GAA, having won six Kerry Senior County Championships and have had numerous players represent Kerry down the years. Current Dingle senior players Paul Geaney and Tom O’Sullivan both played on the Kerry senior team which won the All Ireland in 2022. The club has a playing membership of over 300 across 15 teams in both boys’ and girls’ teams from Under 9’s right through to seniors men’s and ladies football teams.

EXISTING FACILITIES

The existing club house was constructed in the 1970s. It consists of two dressing rooms and a meeting room which has been converted into a makeshift gym. There is a press box and two dugout areas for teams and substitutes. There is a stand for supporters and a temporary storage area adjacent to the stand. Considerable investment has been made to the club’s main pitch in recent years which meets all requirements as a playing surface and has a surround fence to enable senior championship matches to take place. There is also a training pitch on the northerly portion of the site, however the pitch does not meet the standard GAA requirements for pitch width however it does meet GAA pitch length criteria.

FEASIBILITY STUDY

In 2023, a feasibility study was commissioned to assess the opportunities for a new clubhouse and associated training facilities on the site. The study identified a number of potential locations for the proposed clubhouse and outlined the benefits and constraints of each.

The feasibility concluded that the site of the existing clubhouse was the preferred location due to its prominence on the Mail Road. It was felt that this part of the site was underutilised at present, and the provision of a clubhouse in this location would provide an opportunity make more efficient use of the site. The location also provided an excellent opportunity to create a new active edge onto the street.

DESIGN CONCEPT

The design brief essentially requested two separate buildings. The first contained player welfare facilities such as dressing rooms, toilets, physio suite and a changing room for referees. A second community building was to provide a multi-purpose space, a community room, a meeting room, an office and associated toilets.

Rather than create two separate buildings, the design concept amalgamates these uses under one roof to create a unified community and sports building. The stature of the existing stone boundary is reduced to allow the proposed single-storey building to define a new active edge onto the street. The clubhouse acts as a new gateway into Páirc An Ághasaigh with spectators having to pass through the building on match days to take their positions in the existing stand to the west, or the proposed new terrace to the east.