Breathing new life into Cork’s ‘Funky Town’

FROM the outside, Fountainstown seems like a sleepy coastal village, but for its locals, who dub it ‘Funky Town’, it is a small village full of adventure and mischief.

In the heart of it there’s Fountainstown Community Sports Club - founded in 1936 by a group of residents. They met with the objective of developing Fountainstown and to provide sporting facilities for everyone to enjoy.

With tennis courts, a pitch & putt course and clubhouse which used to turn into a dance hall on a Saturday night and mass the following Sunday morning, it has been a hot-spot for residents, summer visitors and day-trippers for nearly 100 years. It is more commonly known to locals as ‘the club’ or ‘the courts’.

In May, 2022, an interim committee was formed following the passing of the previous Chairperson Des Morrissey to manage the clubs affairs and return it to its former glory.

Over the last few months, the committee has injected a new lease of life into the clubhouse and its grounds. Since its formation, the new committee, Marie McGillycuddy, Hayley Williams (Morrisey), Peter West, John-Ross Hunt, Yvonne Kelly, Richard O’Leary, Peter O’Donovan, Jeff Wheeler and Dave Riordan have launched a major fundraiser to revitalise the clubhouse and surrounding grounds in the hope of giving the club a new sense of life.

They have recently ticked a few small boxes on their to-do lists, such as the installation of CCTV cameras and sensory lights, they have also purchased new soccer and tennis nets, new tennis lines have been painted, basketball courts cleaned up and the kitchen has also been upgraded.

The club recently secured €25,000 worth of funding thanks to the Community Centre Investment Fund. This fund was recently launched by the Government and aims to improve community centres around the country. The funding will go towards improvements for the clubhouse such as electrics, flooring and new skylights. It is the first grant the club has received in its history. In addition, they have also received a €10,000 grant which will go towards resurfacing the tennis courts.

The clubhouse is once again being used as a community centre, with many classes being held weekly for kids and adults. Having started out with only two classes, the weekly slots are now all nearly full.

In the clubhouse, you can find yoga, pilates and kickboxing classes for adults, and art classes and movie marathons for kids. Outside, there are basketball, tennis and golf lessons for people of all ages. Starting this month, there will also be a new wine tasting club.

Unlike many other aspects of life, the Covid-19 pandemic had a positive effect on Fountainstown. The closure of pubs and shops during lockdown led to the increase in footfall on Fountainstown roads and beaches and also saw a huge increase in the number of people sea swimming.

Many small local businesses also opened up shop on the beach front, including coffee van ‘OMNI’, and ‘Happy Place Saunas’. The weekly farmer market also made a return and takes place every Saturday, showcasing local produce. Following tennis lessons and fitness classes, many of the club’s members will sip a cup of coffee by the beach or relax in the mobile sauna.

Fountainstown Pitch & Putt Club is steeped in history. Pitch and Putt, as a sport, originated in Ireland, and more importantly, in Fountainstown. What many people do not know is that the club is home to the oldest Pitch & Putt course in the world.

W.A Collins, a Fountainstown native, was the first President of the Pitch & Putt Union, which was founded in 1945. The same year, nine teams competed for the League Trophy in the first year of the union in Fountainstown. The teams included Fountainstown, Altona ‘A’, Altona ‘B’, Millfield, Woodvale, Sundays Well Tennis Club, Douglas Road Golfers, Marina and Bankers.

Originally called the Fountainstown Improvements, it was incorporated into the Fountainstown Developments Limited in September, 1936. For the next 20 years, the club prospered as it provided sporting, recreational and social activities on a daily basis.

The early 1950s was a difficult period for the club as it began to experience a decline and talks of its sale became a hot topic. However, following a vote, and by a majority of one, the directors decided to carry on with the running of the club.

The late ’50s saw a major regeneration as the clubhouse was refurbished and the courts were resurfaced. There have been many more challenges since, but each time the club has come back bigger and better. And the new committee plans on making the club bigger and better than ever before.

If the grounds of Fountainstown Community Sports Club could talk, it would have an amazing story to tell. It has seen life-long friendships form, first kisses during its famous discos, and even saw AIB and Carlsberg sponsor some of its tennis events, which drew large crowds to the area.

The clubhouse is close to all its members’ hearts and it is so important for all of them to see the club survive for many generations to come. If you speak to any of its residents or summer visitors, they will recall their happiest memories and the many life-long friends they made playing up the club as a child.

Yvonne Kelly, Co-Chairperson of the committee, considers herself one of the lucky ones. Born and raised in Fountainstown, she spent her childhood hanging out in the club. Whether it was playing tennis or kerby and buying lemonade being sold from the kitchen window, there was never a boring moment.

One of her favourite memories is when she travelled with the tennis club to France on a cultural exchange and she hopes that something similar could be seen again.

Having lived abroad, she returned to Fountainstown in the hope of giving her kids a similar childhood to hers. By getting involved, she hopes to return the club to its former glory and make it the place to be for all ages.

John-Ross Hunt, the club’s PRO and a self-confessed ‘blow-in’, moved to Fountainstown seven years ago. He too has young kids, and would love for them to have somewhere where they could go with their friends and hang out. When he heard about the plans for the club, he instantly got involved in order to create a “Fountainstown of the future”.

So much has been done already in the first phase of renovation and they could not have done this without the generosity of its members, sponsors, and everyone who has donated to the fundraiser. They also express their gratitude to all the coaches and instructors who have come on board to teach classes.

To help keep the mischief and adventure alive for generations to come, you can visit ‘Fountainstown Community Sports Club’ on Facebook, to find out more information on classes, lessons and donating to their fund-raiser.

The sports club Go Fund me page can be found at https://gofund.me/797f15f6. 

Meanwhile their website is www.fcsc.ie