2426 - Real Tennis Court, Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 02

Research metadata

RPS Ref. No.: 2426 — Real Tennis Court, Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 02
Overall identification confidence: High
Vacancy / dereliction status at a glance: State-owned (OPW) protected structure. Out of sporting use since the 1939 State bequest and disused since University College Dublin and the OPW left the Earlsfort Terrace site c.2007. Structurally intact and now within the funded National Concert Hall (NCH) campus redevelopment. Not known to appear on the DCC Derelict Sites Register or Vacant Sites Register. (Medium)

Quick facts

Address / Eircode	Real Tennis Court, Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2 (D02; a building-specific Eircode was not verified) [1]
Building type	Real (royal) tennis court building — gable-fronted, five-bay, double-height, red/yellow brick with limestone; built 1884, opened 1885 [1]
Period / date	1884–1885 (late Victorian) [1]
Heritage refs (RPS / NIAH)	RPS 2426 (DCC); NIAH 50920269, rated Regional [1]
Apparent status	Vacant / disused, within the NCH campus (Medium) [3]
On Derelict Sites Register?	No / Unknown — not identified on the DCC register (Unverified)
On Vacant Sites Register?	No / Unknown — not identified on the DCC register (Unverified)
Owner	Irish State — Office of Public Works (OPW); historically leased to UCD [3]

Summary

This is the only known purpose-built real (royal) tennis court in Ireland, built in 1884–85 for Edward Cecil Guinness, first Earl of Iveagh, and famous as the venue for the 1890 Real Tennis World Championship. Gifted to the State in 1939 and later used by UCD as a gymnasium, examination hall and engineering laboratory, it has been disused since the university left Earlsfort Terrace c.2007. The brick-and-limestone building survives largely intact and now sits within the National Concert Hall campus, where a permitted, funded redevelopment proposes to conserve and refurbish it — including restoring the court to a playable condition and providing temporary display/exhibition space — as part of the new National Children's Science Centre.[21]

Identification

Address: Real Tennis Court, east side of Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2 [1]
Eircode (if found): Not verified for the court itself; the adjacent NCH address is D02 N527 (Unverified for this structure)
Building type(s): Real tennis court; gable-fronted five-bay double-height court with an attached nine-bay two-storey range and a two/three-storey corner block; pitched slate roof with glazed apex lights (High) [1]
Approx. date of construction / period: Built 1884, opened 1885 (High) [1]
Architect / builder: Wesley William Wilson (1840–1902), engineer to the Guinness Brewery, for Edward Cecil Guinness (High) [1]
Heritage references: RPS 2426 (DCC); NIAH 50920269, Regional, categories of special interest Architectural, Historical, Social, Technical (High) [1]
Coordinates: Irish Grid 316088, 233089 (NIAH); approx. 53.3326, -6.2586 (WGS84, Medium) [1]