It's a sad day for Parnells GAA club with the Coolock-based outfit surrendering its facilities to its original owners.
Parnells are one of the more successful clubs in Dublin with six county titles to their name, having won their last in 1988.
It is the home club of nine-time All-Ireland winning goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton but fell on hard times in recent years after a dramatic fall from grace.
Back in 2008, Parnells GAA became known as 'the wealthiest club in Ireland' after the sale of their pitches near Dublin airport for a reported €23 million.
This windfall went towards a state-of-the-art new set-up in Coolock which includes a full-size grass pitch and two astroturf pitches, as well as a club bar and a gym amongst other facilities.
Parnells transferred in a number of high-profile inter-county players around the 2010s and employed bar, restaurant and security staff. In 2013, Dermot Crowe reported the various concerns of club members back in 2013 for The Sunday Independent.
Former Taoiseach Brian Cowen at the official sod turning ceremony in Parnells GAA club, 2010, Sportsfile.
In that article, past chairman John Byrne was reported to have wrote to ex-GAA president Christy Cooney in April 2011 for "guidance and support on a very serious issue".
In the letter, Byrne said that the club were "overly ambitious in their building of the new clubhouse to the extent that the very future of the club is now at stake." The club's running costs had reportedly sky rocketed up to almost €1 million per year by that time.
On Tuesday, The club released a statement where they confirmed they have now surrendered their grounds to the Marist Order, 'to be used for educational and community activities in line with and in conjunction with their existing operations at Chanel College.'
They said they will 'now work with the membership and other stakeholders to determine the best path forward for the promotion of Gaelic Games in the Coolock and Artane Community.'
“The executive committee of Parnells GAA Club wishes to confirm to the membership that, pursuant to the decision made at the general meeting of the club in December 2023, the club has completed the surrender and return of the clubhouse premises and adjoining pitches to the Marist Order,” the statement began.
“These facilities are now under the control and ownership of the Marist Order, to be used for educational and community activities in line with and in conjunction with their existing operations at Chanel College.
“Having completed this surrender, the executive committee will now work with the membership and other stakeholders to determine the best path forward for the promotion of Gaelic Games in the Coolock and Artane community. Members will be updated further on plans and next steps for 2025.”
Parnells GAA club was ordered to pay out a lump sum recently to a number of their previous employees who were left in 'employment limbo' after redundancies during the pandemic.
