DLSP Grounds Renamed Kirwan Park

This is in recognition of the contribution to the club by the late Jack Kirwan, who passed away in February of this year, and also the contribution of the Kirwan family to Palmerston, De La Salle Palmerston FC, Leinster Rugby, the IRFU and the International Rugby Board.

With merged club DLSP about to enter its 25th anniversary season in Kilternan, it is very fitting that the grounds are being renamed after a family who had such an impact in shaping the club’s history over the last nine decades.

Jack was one of the key people involved in negotiating the merger of De La Salle RFC and Palmerston FC, a feat he was very proud of in what, at the time, was a groundbreaking achievement in Irish rugby.

In particular, he cherished the new friends he made through the merger of both clubs. He was a trustee of the new club and also became president in the 1986/87 season.

For 19 seasons he held the position of club representative to the Leinster Branch and in the 1989/90 season he was President of the Leinster Branch.

His contribution to the branch was duly noted, when he later became a recipient of both the Leinster Branch and De La Salle Palmerston FC Hall of Fame Awards.

For over nine decades there has been a Kirwan involved in the club, with Jack’s two uncles being club captains – Sam in 1922/23 and Cecil in 1931/32 – along with his father Eddie in the 1924/25 campaign. All three later became club presidents.

Eddie went onto serve the IRFU Committee for a 25-year period from 1948 to 1973, including being President in the 1952/53 season.

He also had the distinction of being Secretary of the International Rugby Board during this period, between 1956 to 1973.

With the proud history of the Kirwan family, De La Salle Palmerston feel the renaming of their club grounds to Kirwan Park is a fitting ‘thank you’ for their contribution over so many years.