Club History
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History of the Club
The Hospital Tennis Club with Alan Graham as its Chairman was formed in 1978. Tennis was played on the one Court located in the grounds of Letterkenny General Hospital.
It developed into one of the leading tennis clubs in the County. By the 1990s, It had 40 members plus children. There were six senior teams and one junior team participated in the Donegal Tennis League. Membership had to be restricted due to the fact that there was only one court.
Due to the demand for increased membership, junior coaching needs and tourist outlets receiving enquiries, the time had arrived to provide facilities to cater for the huge demand for tennis in Letterkenny. A Public meeting was called for in Gallagher’s hotel in 1993 and a large turnout attended. It was agreed that Mamie Bonnar and Alan Graham would approach Councillor Bernard McGlinchey.
“We went to see Councillor Bernard McGlinchey and he said that it was an excellent idea and a cheque of £1000 punt was given to us to start the project. Two other Councillors came up to see the Court at the Hospital and they were amazed to see 60 children being coached by myself and Louis Bradley. The Council at that stage realised there was a need in the town for a tennis centre. So On 3rd February 1993, a public meeting was held in Gallagher’s Hotel and an Executive Committee was formed.
The Executive Committee was:
Myself - Chairman
Mamie Bonner - Secretary,
Loretto McEniff - Treasurer
Edwin McCloughan – Media Officer.
£40,000 punt had to be raised and the Committee successfully raised this money by way of Life Memberships etc. An agreement was drawn up that if the Courts were not built within one year the Life Memberships would be given back. Luckly, we achieved this. A grant for the club was given by the National Lottery to fund the remaining cost to build the four courts.
The final choice of site was Murrac-A-Boo in the High Road. The property was leased from the Urban Council for a nominal rent.
I remember with great pride when I sat on the digger on the first day of construction on the site with Edwin and Loretta. That was a great day for us.
The Opening of the Letterkenny Tennis Centre was held on the evening of Thursday, August 24th 1997.
The first major tournament to be played was the Donegal Mixed Doubles Championship on Saturday 26th August. Players from as far east as Culdaff in Inishowen and as far south as Donegal Town entered, and everyone who participated had a most enjoyable day.”
Alan Graham