IRFU Senior Vice President To Perform Kirwan Park Opening

The dedication of the De La Salle Palmerston club grounds in the late Jack Kirwan’s name will officially take place before Salmo’s AIB League Division 2 and annual Des Merry Trophy fixture against Malone this Saturday (kick-off 2.30pm).

The Senior Vice President of the Irish Rugby Football Union, John Hussey, a friend of the late Jack Kirwan, will perform the dedication.

De La Salle Palmerston’s home grounds in Kilternan are being renamed ‘Kirwan Park.’

This is in recognition of the contribution to the club by Jack, 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 now in 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.

A lunch to commemorate the Kirwan Park dedication will take place in the DLSP clubhouse at 12.30pm sharp on Saturday. Cost of lunch including wine: €;30 per person.

For further information, please visit www.dlspfc.ie.