Tolka Park
Tolka Park (Irish: Páirc Tolca) is an Irish football ground
located in the north Dublin suburb of Drumcondra, on the northern
banks of the River Tolka. It is currently the home ground of League
of Ireland club Shelbourne. It holds a capacity crowd of around
9,500 and has hosted national cup finals along with international
matches, Champions League qualifiers, UEFA Cup, and UEFA Cup
Winners' Cup matches.
Tolka Park was originally home to Drumcondra, who in the 1950s
and 1960s were one of the most popular teams in Dublin. The ground
hosted its first floodlit game on the 30th of March 1953.
However "Drums" unexpectedly went out of business in 1970 and
their place in the league and in Tolka Park was taken by Home Farm.
However, Home Farm never drew large crowds and Tolka fell into
disrepair (though it did host the replay of the 1984 FAI Cup
final). In 1987, the then owners of Shamrock Rovers, the Kilcoyne
family, attempted to move the club to Tolka Park. Rovers played
there for a season, but the games were boycotted by their fans, who
were trying to save Glenmalure Park from demolition.
In 1989, Shelbourne, who had played home games regularly in
Tolka during the fifties, sixties, seventies, and early eighties,
acquired Home Farm's long term lease from Dublin Corporation on the
ground. Home Farm moved to their own ground in nearby Whitehall.
Shelbourne invested heavily in the stadium, converting it into
Ireland's first all-seater stadium and building a new stand behind
the Drumcondra end goal in 1999. In recognition of the work done
with the stadium, a Republic of Ireland senior international match
against Wales was played there in 1993, as were youth, League of
Ireland XI and Republic of Ireland B games. From 1999 to 2002 it
hosted the FAI Cup final, until the fixture was shifted to
Lansdowne Road.
Over the last number of years, Shelbourne have been planning to
relocate to a new ground especially since the Tolka river flooded
at the start of the decade and caused extensive damage to Tolka
Park and the surrounding areas. Plans for a new stadium in Finglas
and Swords have come to nothing, as has an FAI-backed proposed
groundshare with North Dublin neighbours Bohemians.
QUIZ
A. What is the name given to the Gaelic football All-Ireland Cup
trophy ? (two words)
B. On which race course is the Irish Grand National held? (one
word)
C. What is Limerick's main rugby venue? (two words)
D. What type of course was created by Christy O'Conner Jr. in
Tullow, Co. Carlow? (one word)
E. What was the name of Irish horse that won the 2003 English
Grand National? (two words)
F. Defense in hurling can be quite difficult as you are not
allowed to physically manhandle the attacker. There is a technique
which can be developed to defend from behind, whereby the defender
puts his hurley under the attacker's hurley, causing his swing to
be skewed, and also causing him to miss the ball. What is this
technique called? (one word)
G. One of the greatest exponents of the game of hurling was
Corkman Jack Lynch. After his retirement from sport, he went into
politics. What political position did he attain? (one word)
H. In hurling, what is the ball called in Irish? Answer contains
letter “h”. (one word)
I. Which member of the conquering Kerry football team from the
'70s and '80s carried the nickname 'Bomber'? (two words)
J. The stars of the 1952 Olympics were Czech runner Emil
Zátopek, who won the 5000 meters, 10,000 meters, and marathon ,and
his wife Dana Ingrová. Emil and Dana were born on the same day, 19
September 1922, and got married on their 26th birthday. Zátopek's
success is even more remarkable if one takes into account that it
was his first competition marathon.
Ingrová's victory came just a few hours after Zátopek's victory on
the 5000 meters. At which event (discipline) did she do this? (two
words)
Now that you have all the answers, count letters in each answer
and solve the math exercise below.
N53° 22. 0xx'
[ C x F x G x H - (D x H + J) ] ÷ (B x C) = xx
W006° 14. yyy'
A x B x E – (D + I) = yyy
Please be careful not to drop the cache behind
the...uhmm...you'll see what I mean when you get there (;