View Full Version : Flower Lodge/ Pairc Uí Rinn
hoops1
31/03/2006, 1:20 PM
Could somebody please tell me the history behind flower lodge
and how it came to be Pairc Ui Rinn?
I dont think I need to explain the reasons for this you all know. Thanks
I believe it was land owned by the Ancient Order of Hibernians. Not sure how long football was played there though. For some reason they decided to sell the land for somehting like 200-250k. I think Cork City offered to buy it would they sold to the GAA for the same amount offered by City.
I don't have any facts to back any of this up.
Pitch used to be superb but ruined now.
Peadar
31/03/2006, 1:37 PM
The GAA are said to have bought the ground with the money made for the Michael Jackson concert held in Pairc Ui Caoimh.
There were a lot of unhappy people in Cork when it was sold. At least the GAA have made good use of it.
I'm not one for dwelling on the past. There is little room for development up there and parking is a nightmare!
hoops1
31/03/2006, 1:43 PM
Cheers lads
I think Cork City offered to buy it would they sold to the GAA for the same amount offered by City.
True but there was also some unresolved questions about whether City or some other company owned by Pat O'Donovan was buying the place.
In fairness to the GAA they only came into the equation when the AOH ran out of patience with O'Donovan because he couldn't complete the deal.
A face
31/03/2006, 2:00 PM
Could somebody please tell me the history behind flower lodge
and how it came to be Pairc Ui Rinn?
I dont think I need to explain the reasons for this you all know. Thanks
AOH wouldn't sell it to City because Pat O'Donovan wouldn't signed a contract binding him to use the ground for football only, basically so he would be able to sell it for housing later on.
Rumour has it the GAA actually offered less than City but it was sold to them because they would keep it as a sporting facility.
AOH wouldn't sell it to City because Pat O'Donovan wouldn't signed a contract binding him to use the ground for football only, basically so he would be able to sell it for housing later on.
Rumour has it the GAA actually offered less than City but it was sold to them because they would keep it as a sporting facility.
Heard that as well.
More interesting though is the question of was it the AOH's to sell? I know it was legally theirs but morally? The ground had originally been paid for by public collections from the people of Cork in the 1950's in order to provide another soccer stadium in the city. Afaik the AOH Grounds Committee was wound up after the sale of the ground and with little liabilities the 8 members made a tidy sum of it all.
A face
31/03/2006, 2:13 PM
Heard that as well. Afaik the AOH Grounds Committee was wound up after the sale of the ground and with little liabilities the 8 members made a tidy sum of it all.
It was always going to be something like that, any of those crowds with the funny handshakes (https://familychronicle.com/images/fraternalsoc03.gif) you'd have to be well wide of !! :p
True but there was also some unresolved questions about whether City or some other company owned by Pat O'Donovan was buying the place.
In fairness to the GAA they only came into the equation when the AOH ran out of patience with O'Donovan because he couldn't complete the deal.Heard also that O'Donovan wanted to pay in installments and the AOH weren't having that. GAA arrived with a suitcase.
Heard also that O'Donovan wanted to pay in installments and the AOH weren't having that. GAA arrived with a suitcase.
Yeah they came straight up from the Michael Jackson concert with the loot. I suppose in fairness instead of calling it Parc Ui Rinn they could have called it Parc Michael Jackson :)
A face
31/03/2006, 3:03 PM
Parc Michael Jackson :)
Le Parco de Wacko Jacko even !! :p
adamd164
01/04/2006, 12:21 PM
Heard that as well.
More interesting though is the question of was it the AOH's to sell? I know it was legally theirs but morally? The ground had originally been paid for by public collections from the people of Cork in the 1950's in order to provide another soccer stadium in the city. Afaik the AOH Grounds Committee was wound up after the sale of the ground and with little liabilities the 8 members made a tidy sum of it all.
That's it, you see. Morally, they were wrong.
Fair_play_boy
01/04/2006, 11:05 PM
Rumour has it the GAA actually offered less than City but it was sold to them because they would keep it as a sporting facility.My Da told me there was an unhappy developer knocking around in the background, who had persuaded planners that it would make a good housing estate.:rolleyes: So fair play to the GAA for keeping it green.
I'm not one for dwelling on the past. There is little room for development up there and parking is a nightmare!Sounds like da Cross.:D
gspain
03/04/2006, 10:10 PM
Ground was paid for by the football people of Cork. Door to door collections in the 50's etc.
Held in trust by 5 trustees. They pocketed £50,000 each from the sale.
GAA offered the same as Cork City at the time but the guys appeared to have a marked reluctance to sell to the football club.
I believe 3 of the 5 died within a year of the sale. Plonk didn't do them in. :D They would all have been quite elderly being the trustees.
A face
04/04/2006, 12:22 AM
I believe 3 of the 5 died within a year of the sale. Plonk didn't do them in. :D They would all have been quite elderly being the trustees.
So they coined it but didn't get a chance to spend it .... theres an irony in that aint there. What goes around comes around some would say ... if you were bitter. But Cork footie fans are like the Murphys ... we're not bitter !! ;) :p
Ground was paid for by the football people of Cork. Door to door collections in the 50's etc.
Held in trust by 5 trustees. They pocketed £50,000 each from the sale.
GAA offered the same as Cork City at the time but the guys appeared to have a marked reluctance to sell to the football club.
I believe 3 of the 5 died within a year of the sale. Plonk didn't do them in. :D They would all have been quite elderly being the trustees.
In one of his books on football in Cork Plunkett Carter says that there were 8 trustees and names them. Some of the younger members are still around and would be in their late 50's/ early 60's now.
I had a run in with one of them in a pub about 8/9 years ago.City were playing up in Derry the same night and someone asked the bar man to check the text to see how the game went. Up pipes the AOH man giving out loudly about how crap City were and EL football was finished etc. etc. I turned around to him and loudly asked him what did he ever do for Cork football bar selling the Lodge? He didn't like it but he didn't answer either.
In fairness to the GAA they have made a fine job of the place. If plonk had got his hands on it God only knows how things would have turned out.
kingcolers
04/04/2006, 1:34 PM
Is this the same AOH that runs the paddy's day parade in NYC and all that other malarky?
A face
04/04/2006, 2:06 PM
Is this the same AOH that runs the paddy's day parade in NYC and all that other malarky?
Thems the very boys !!
kingcolers
06/04/2006, 4:20 PM
Thems the very boys !!
then surely all the proceeds of the sale went to the AOH, and not any individuals? so maybe not as seedy as it sounds.
as far as i can remember, city at the time was run by a shower of cowboys, so selling to the GAA was a much safer bet as regards keeping it a sportsground....
adamd164
06/04/2006, 7:13 PM
In one of his books on football in Cork Plunkett Carter says that there were 8 trustees and names them. Some of the younger members are still around and would be in their late 50's/ early 60's now.
Muppets the lot of them aswell!
then surely all the proceeds of the sale went to the AOH, and not any individuals? so maybe not as seedy as it sounds.
as far as i can remember, city at the time was run by a shower of cowboys, so selling to the GAA was a much safer bet as regards keeping it a sportsground....
The ground was sold by the AOH Grounds committee and afaik this committee was wound up when the ground was sold.
Just had a quick look at "A Century of Cork Soccer Memories" by Plunkett Carter and it goes over a lot of what has been posted here. His concluding few lines on the whole affair are as follows: " If any party was guilty after the transfer or sale of the Lodge it had to be the FAI. They had benefited greatly from their successful participation in the European Championships and the fortunes of the game were on they way up. The excuses given regarding the development of Dalymount were flimsy (the FAI were at this stage intending to develop Dalymount as a national stadium)and Flower Lodge was a snip at the asking price. It's also worth noting in defence of the AOH Grounds Committee that they were a Trust Body and (I'm informed) bound by law to protect the assets of the Trust"
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