History > The Beginnings

Lahinch Golf Club had its beginnings in 1892, as reported in The Clare Journal of 11th April, 1892:

"We learn that the Golf Club at Limerick have taken land at Lahinch for their game during the Summer months and we believe they propose, occasionally, to have a Band there which will be a source of great attraction during the season. The first match will be played on Good Friday, when a special train will leave Limerick at 9 a.m.

The West Clare Railway, in order to give persons an opportunity of viewing the game and enjoying the sea air, will issue single fares for the double journey by the special train leaving Ennis at 10.15 a.m. returning from Miltown Malbay at 7.30 p.m." On 26th March 1892, Alexander W. Shaw and Richard J. Plummer, two prominent officials of the Limerick Golf Club, went to the West coast of Clare as a result of a casual rumour that, somewhere between Ennistymon and Miltown Malbay, there was suitable ground for a golf course. While travelling from Ennistymon they passed what was then a dreary desolate piece of land, a mass of sandhills. Struck with the possibility that the land was suitable for a golf course they stopped and made enquiries. The result was a second journey on 9th April when an eighteen-hole course was marked out. E. D. Hunt, a colleague from Limerick, accompanied A.W. Shaw and R.J. Plummer on their second visit. They were helped in the laying out of the course by some officers of the Black Watch Regiment who were stationed in Limerick at that time.

It can be stated, therefore, with a reasonable degree of certainty, that Lahinch Golf Club was founded by the Merchant Princes of Limerick with the assistance of the Black Watch Regiment.

On Good Friday, 15th April 1892, the first game of golf was played at Lahinch between Lieutenant McFarlane of the Black Watch Regiment and William E McDonnell, a Limerick businessman.

The original course that was marked out at Lahinch had ten holes on the Corcass side and eight holes on the Sandhills side of the road. Major Parkinson kindly granted a lease of the Sandhills for £5 a year and Daniel Thynne, who owned what was commonly called the Corcass, also granted a lease of his ground for £5 a year.

John Burke, the legendary Lahinch golfer, in an article on the History of the Club written in 1963 for "The Banner", a Clare publication in New York, described the first day of golf at Lahinch:

"Four horses clothed in white foam made a dramatic entrance as they thundered through the Main Street. Halt was made outside Sharry's Hotel ... an enthusiastic reception was given to the golfers. It was the first time the locals saw a coachman and four in hand. It was Good Friday and one local remarked: "Glory be to God and I hear they are going to eat meat on this blessed day. What's the world coming to at all!"

The visitors first went to Sharry's Hotel. That hotel was chosen because of the friendship between the Parkinson and Sharry families. In addition the Protestant gentry regularly stayed in the hotel. As late as 1883 the regalia of the FreeMasons was stored there.

Tom O'Loughlin, an Ennistymon butcher and father of the celebrated Mick, supplied the meat for the meal at Sharry's Hotel and afterwards the group headed for the sandhills. Here everything was ready. The flag was hoisted and toasts were drunk to His Majesty, the King. Golf was underway at Lahinch.

It was a spectacular sight. John Burke described the scene: "The gentry wore red coats, knickerbockers and long stockings. The fancy woollen tassels of the garters were prominent. Caps and long peaks completed the outfit. The ladies wore long flowing skirts, blouses or chill proof jackets. A band of elastic was slipped over the body and was held at the waist. The headgear consisted of felt hats with high crowns and broad rims. A few hatpins were a necessity. The game was under way. The wind could do its damnedest. There could be no turning back."

The main credit for the discovery of the famous links must go to A.W. Shaw and R.J. Plummer. That singular achievement was surpassed by the care and diligent service they gave to the Club in getting it off the ground.

Alexander Shaw, born in 1847, was a successful businessman in Limerick at the end of the nineteenth century. He was head of W.J. Shaw & Sons, Mulgrave St.,-Shaw's Bacon Factory. The business was established by his father, W.J. Shaw, in 1832 and was also known as the Garryowen Bacon Factory.Alexander Shaw travelled frequently to the British Isles, Europe and America on business.

He enjoyed other interests as well as bacon curing. He was a Director of the Waterford, Limerick & Western Railway. He was a Governor of Barrington's Hospital and a Committee member of Limerick Chamber of Commerce. He served as President of the Chamber from 1899 to 1905. He was also President of the Limerick Athletic Club and an ex-officio member of the Limerick Union Guardians. He was a FreeMason in lodge No. 333.

Alexander Shaw successfully developed the bacon factory in Mulgrave St.. By 1892, it was the second largest factory of its kind in Europe and 150,000 pigs were killed annually at the factory. Electric light and telephone communications were installed on the premises. Alexander Shaw was a man of culture and an active member of the Royal Academy and the Royal College of Music.

He took a keen interest in charitable work and in 1896 he was responsible for the erection of two closed receptacles on the city streets. He asked the citizens of Limerick to put any periodicals and books into them for distribution among the disadvantaged patients in the city hospitals.

He was also to the forefront in the betterment of the workers' lot. He set up a pension scheme in the Shaw factories, which helped the workers, enjoy a happy retirement. He was a keen sportsman and was actively involved in rowing, rugby, bicycling, athletics and hunting, but it was in golf he made his most lasting contribution.

He first mentioned golf in a business letter from Scotland to his friend, Archibald Murray, in May 1887. He stated in the letter that he looked forward to a game of golf on his return home. He was probably referring to Kilkee where golf was played informally that summer.

He was the prime promoter of golf in Limerick city and was elected Captain and President of Limerick Golf Club at its inaugural meeting in December, 1891. He held both posts until 1895 and relinquished the Presidency in 1897. Once he discovered Lahinch in 1892, he devoted all his golfing energy to the promotion of Lahinch at home and abroad.

He was President and Captain of the Lahinch Club from 1892 to 1901. He remained on as President until his death in 1923. He established the South of Ireland Championship in 1895 and this is the second oldest amateur championship in Ireland. He succeeded in bringing players from all over the British Isles, as well as the leading Irish players, to Lahinch to compete in the Championship.

He presented a cup to the winner and this was won three times by Fred Ballingall of Scotland. Ballingall won it outright in 1900. Alexander Shaw went on to present a perpetual cup and this cup is still given each year to the winner of the South of Ireland Championship.

As a result of his contribution to the sport he was elected Vice President of the Golfing Union of Ireland in 1902. In 1906, he became Sir Alexander. His commitment to Lahinch was total and it was his untiring efforts, with those of his colleagues, that brought Lahinch to the forefront of the golfing map in Ireland and all over the British Isles.

In 1894, at his own expense, Alexander Shaw invited the celebrated Scottish golfer, Old Tom Morris, to Lahinch to have a look at the course and suggest improvements. Tom Morris was deeply impressed by the natural golfing terrain and by the sandhills. In his construction of the new course he placed great emphasis on the Sandhills side of the Links. He said, when his proposed changes were implemented, Lahinch would be on a par with the five great Links courses of the United Kingdom. He believed it was the finest natural course he had seen. Lahinch, because of the Old Tom Morris connection, coupled with the great love for the game in the village, has often been referred to as the"St Andrew's of Ireland". When George Houghton, a respected golf writer, came to the Clare resort in 1964 he called to the 19th - an old hostelry then run in her inimitable manner by Mary O'Dwyer. Mary 0' remembered the visit of Tom Morris to her establishment in 1894. George Houghton was pleasantly surprised, as Mary O'Dwyer was the first living person he met who spoke directly to Old Tom Morris.

Richard J. Plummer, John Barrington and Joseph Matterson were other significant colleagues of A.W. Shaw in the discovery and development of Lahinch. Richard J. Plummer was the first Honorary Secretary of the Club and served in the post from 1892 to 1904. He was a former British Army Major with the Kerry Militia and lived at 4 Mount St. Vincent's Terrace, (off the Military Road, now O'Connell Avenue). He was involved in Banking with the Provincial Bank and was also a founder member of Limerick Golf Club. John Barrington 1859-1927 was a member of a well-known Limerick family. He had three brothers, Sir Charles Burton, Croker and William. The Barringtons were an exceptional sporting family. Sir Charles introduced Rugby to Trinity College and was captain of the first Trinity Rugby team. The Barrington brothers were also great oarsmen and in August 1876, they went to the United States to represent Ireland and Trinity College in the International Rowing Races at Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Regatta marked the centenary of the American Declaration of Independence. The Barringtons were also the prime breeders of the Irish Setter.

John Barrington was High Sheriff for Limerick in the early 1900's and was a member of Limerick County Council for the Castleconnell area from 1902 to 1917. Glenstal Castle was the Barrington family home from the 1850's to 1925. The tragic death of Winifred Barrington, at the tender age of 21, in an ambush in May 1921, was a major turning point in the history of the family.

Joseph Matterson was another prominent figure in the early days of the Club. His forefathers, with the Russells, established the first Bacon Factory in 1811, in Roche's Street and brought four bacon curers from Denmark to teach curing in Limerick. He was also a Governor of Barrington's Hospital, a Limerick Union ex-officio Guardian, a Committee member of the Chamber of Commerce, a Harbour Commissioner and Vice President with Alexander Shaw and Charles Barrington of Limerick Boat Club. He lived in 81, George's St., Limerick.

With meticulous care and dedication those men established Lahinch Golf Club. They utilised the best golfing brains of the time on natural golfing terrain and provided a golf course that can hold its own whenever great and famous courses are discussed.