Tolka Park

About

Tolka Park (Irish: Páirc na Tulchann) is an Irish association football ground located in the north Dublin suburb of Drumcondra, on the northern banks of the River Tolka. It is the home ground of League of Ireland club Shelbourne men's and women's senior sides with a capacity of 6,450. The stadium formerly held 9,680 people, but this has been scaled down in recent times due to health and safety regulations in the venue, mainly concerning the 'New' and Ballybough stands. Tolka Park has hosted national cup finals along with international matches, inter-league games, Champions League qualifiers, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Cup, UEFA Conference League, UEFA Youth League ties, Setanta Sports Cup finals and was a host venue for the 1994 UEFA European Under-16 Championship, the 2000 Rugby League World Cup, and the 2019 UEFA European Under-17 Championship. The ground has also in the past been used for boxing championships and basketball. Shelbourne secured a 250-year lease from Dublin City Council in 2024, which was formally agreed in October 2025. Uncertainty began with the sale of the ground by Shelbourne to businessman Ossie Kilkenny in 2006, the purchase of the ground by Dublin City Council...

Over the years, seven different League of Ireland clubs have used Tolka Park for home league matches on a regular basis. They are Drumcondra, Shelbourne, Dolphin, Home Farm, Dublin City, Shamrock Rovers and St James's Gate.

Tolka Park was originally home to Drumcondra, who in the 1950s, and 1960s were one of the most popular teams in Dublin. [ citation needed ]

When Drumcondra were first elected to the League of Ireland in 1928, the club's home ground was Tolka Park — although it was then known as Richmond Road. Tolka's first League of Ireland game was held on the opening day of the 1928–29 League of Ireland season on 26 August 1928 when newly elected Drumcondra hosted Shamrock Rovers.

In 1929, over 30 people were injured at the ground when a hoarding collapsed at a Leinster Senior Cup tie between Drumcondra and Shelbourne.

The ground hosted the first floodlit fixture in the Republic of Ireland on 30 March 1953 when Drums beat St Mirren. The same year, the reserved stand beside Richmond Road was lengthened and a roof was added at a cost of £2,600. A loan of £1,000 was sought from the FAI to help with construction costs and £750 was granted. The lower grant meant that the stand was lengthened in stages, and a phased construction of the Richmond Road expansion took place. Running from the Drumcondra End to the halfway line, the shape and structure of the roof was largely unchanged as of 2020. On 26 January 1958 Tolka was the venue for the first all-ticket match to be played in the League of Ireland when Drums hosted Shamrock Rovers. Due to crowd issues the match was subsequently abandoned with the points awarded to Rovers. That same year, the first advertising hoardings appeared in Tolka Park which were for Guinness.

However Drums merged with local team Home Farm in 1972, and after the demise of Drumcondra, Home Farm moved into the ground. During Drums' time in Tolka they won both the League of Ireland and FAI Cup on five occasions.

However, Home Farm never drew large crowds and Tolka fell into disrepair (though it did host the replay of the 1984 FAI Cup final). After a shock FAI Cup final win over Shels, Home Farm played their only ever home European tie in Tolka Park against French side Lens in the 1975–76 European Cup Winners' Cup first round.

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 the Dublin Corporation on the ground. Home Farm moved to their own ground in nearby Whitehall Stadium. 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.

During the 1990s and early 2000s, Shels would regularly host top Premier League sides in high-profile friendly games. Manchester United, Liverpool, Leeds United, and Celtic were regular visitors, along with more rare guests such as Club Universidad Nacional of Mexico, FC Dnipro of Ukraine, and Brøndby.

The first League of Ireland match to be broadcast live on television was a fixture between Shelbourne and Derry City, staged at Tolka Park during the 1996–97 season.

On 7 April 1998, an FAI Cup semi-final replay against Finn Harps was delayed due to a bomb scare.

However, Shelbourne FC ran into several severe problems that had put the future of Tolka Park in doubt. One problem was a flood in 2002 that caused extensive damage to the pitch and greatly increased the club's insurance costs. But a far more serious long-term problem was caused by the club's getting into severe debt through overspending on playing staff. In 2006, Ollie Byrne, Shelbourne Chief Executive sold the ground to property developer Ossie Kilkenny to help repay the club's debts. Legal action between the parties who bought the ground delayed its demolition and development, as had a slowdown in the Irish property market. By 2011, the club were reporting that the ground was in need of maintenance.

In June 2022, legendary Italian Dj Mauro Picotto played an exclusive set in the club bar after a Shelbourne home match.

Over 1,000 Shels fans watched their side win the 2024 League of Ireland Premier Division on three big screens on the final day of the season as the club was officially only allocated 300 tickets for the final match in Derry.

On the opening day of the 2025 League of Ireland Premier Division season, the Tolka Park floodlights failed at half-time against Derry City. The issue was eventually resolved with the second half starting approximately 50 minutes late.

In September 2025, Tolka Park staged a UEFA Youth League tie for the first time when Shelbourne defeated North Macedonia side Rabotnicki 5:0.

While Shelbourne's senior teams have been playing at Tolka Park, they have won 8 League of Ireland Men's Premier Division titles, 6 FAI Cups, 2 League of Ireland Women's Premier Divisions and 2 FAI Women's Cups. The 2026 season is the men's side sixty-second season and the women's side eighth season playing home league games in Tolka Park. The men's side have played 24 home UEFA club competition games in Tolka.

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 some of their fans, who were trying to save Glenmalure Park from demolition.

Rovers returned to the ground in 1996 which they rented for a time from Shelbourne on and off (1996–1999, 2001–2002, 2004–2005 and 2006–2008) while Tallaght Stadium was being developed. They eventually moved into the Tallaght Stadium in 2009. Rovers' home tie against Sligo Rovers during the 2009 season was moved to Tolka Park amid safety concerns due to construction on-site at Tallaght before the club friendly against Real Madrid. During their time in Tolka, the Hoops played three European ties at the venue, against Omonia Nicosia in the 1987–88 European Cup, against Altay in the 1998 UEFA Intertoto Cup, and against Djurgården in the 2002–03 UEFA Cup.