Railway Union Bowling Club: History

Railway Union Bowling Club was founded in 1904 and is the second oldest bowling club in Dublin. It was a founder member of the Irish Free State Bowling League (now the Bowling League of Ireland (BLI), which was instituted in 1927 to promote the game of bowls in the Republic of Ireland.

Railway Union's bowling green is the oldest green currently in use in Ireland. It consisted of only three rinks until 1932, when a fourth rink was added. It was further extended to five rinks in 1976 with tremendous contributions from the Club members themselves, both in terms of labour and funding. Finally, in 2002, the green was extended once again, which means that there are now the standard six rinks playable in both directions (North/South and East/West).

Railway Union Bowling Club was an all-male institution until 1974, when the ladies section was instituted. In 1977, the Ladies entered Division III of the Ladies Bowling League of Ireland and having won it several times, they competed in the senior leagues during the 1980s and 1990s. The club was also very well represented in the junior and senior inter-association teams during this time, winning several LBLI junior and senior competitions and culminating in the selection of P Evans for the Irish international team. Another current member and founder of the Ladies Section, Teresa Devlin, has acted as President of the LBLI on two occasions - in 1992 and again in 2004.

Although the men's section has not yet won a BLI league, it has enjoyed success in Bowling League of Ireland competitions over the years. The first period of success was in the 1930s and 1940s with several wins in the BLI's Nassau and Tyler cups. Another period of achievement arrived in 1989 and 1990 with the club winning the BLI and Mecredy cups in both years. We are currently enjoying a further golden period, having won the Mecredy cup in 2009 and 2011 and the Tyler cup in 2010 and 2011. See our Club honours section below for further details.

The Club has also provided two presidents of the BLI – Eddie Price in 1974 and 1982, and Bill Ensor in 1994.

Although the Club struggled a little in the early and mid 2000s as a result of losing some key players, we are fighting very hard to restore its fortunes and regain former glories, as our recent successes in the BLI competitions show. We currently have one of the lowest bowling club age profiles around and are looking to the future with confidence.