Work begins on Kearney brothers’ Dublin 4 pub

Work is underway at Bellamy’s at present to get it ready for its opening

The Kearney brothers – Rob and Dave – have moved a step closer to becoming publicans after it was revealed that work has begun on the D4 pub which the pair have purchased along with their Leinster and Ireland teammates Sean O’Brien and Jamie Heaslip.

The quartet had a €1.35m offer for Bellamy’s pub in Ballsbridge accepted in February with Rob Kearney revealing on Twitter earlier this week that “work is under way in Ballsbridge, exciting times ahead!”

Reports earlier in the summer suggested that the players hoped to have the pub open in September following refurbishment.

The name of the bar will change, with Heaslip and Kearney encouraging people to guess the new name for the pub via Twitter with the hashtag #guessourpubname.

A prize of four tickets to a Leinster home match and four invites and a bottle of champagne to the opening have also been offered up for those who guess correctly.

The public house is located just a stone’s throw from the Aviva Stadium and also close to the RDS, right in the heartland of rugby in Dublin’s southside.

 

Kearney brothers become publicans

Last night’s announcement from The Grafton Lounge

The Kearney brothers, Rob and David, are well known for the exploits on the rugby field but they are also set to become known as publicans after taking over Bellamy’s pub in Ballsbridge.

The news was officially announced last night by The Grafton Lounge, who have purchased the Dublin 4 boozer with the Kearney’s and their Leinster team-mates Jamie Heaslip and Sean O’Brien.

A major refurbishment is planned towards the end of this month, with the hope being that the pub can be opened by September – just in time for the new rugby season.

Reports suggested in March that the Leinster and Ireland quartet had bid more than €1m for the pub along with Dublin publican Noel Anderson. It had gone on the market for €825,000 but the selling price is reported to be around €1.35m.

The pub is located just a stone’s throw from the Aviva Stadium and also close to the RDS, right in the heartland of rugby in Dublin’s southside.

Dave Kearney facing lengthy spell out injured

Dave Kearney (right) and older brother Rob with the Six Nations title earlier this year

Leinster and Ireland rugby star Dave Kearney will be out of action for the next four or five months as a result of an anterior cruciate ligament tear sustained during the province’s RaboDirect PRO12 play-off win over Ulster in the RDS last Saturday.

The winger, who hails from Willville in Carlingford, will undergo surgery on the injury in the next week so. He had already been ruled out of Ireland’s summer tour to Argentina and is also expected to miss the start of next season.

Commenting on his Twitter account last night, the 24-year-old thanked people for their support in the wake of the injury

“Gutted to be missing the rest of season. Part of the game unfortunately. thanks for the well wishes and amazing support throughout the year.”

It has been a phenomenal season for the former Cooley Kickhams footballer, however, as he broke into the Irish setup during last year’s November internationals before helping the country to the Six Nations title last March.

He will no doubt be hoping his Leinster team-mates, including elder brother Rob, can win the RaboDirect PRO12 title when they take on Glasgow in the final at the RDS on Saturday May 31^st.

Kearney commits to Leinster for next season

Sean O’Brien, Dave Kearney and Jack McGrath were amongst the players to commit their futures to Leinster yesterday

Willville’s Dave Kearney was amongst 21 Leinster players to sign new IRFU contracts yesterday to commit themselves to the Province for the 2014/2015 season.

Others to sign deals with Leinster included Irish internationals Sean O’Brien and Jack McGrath, who helped the Ireland winger promote the province’s season tickets yesterday.

It has been a breakthrough year for Kearney, with a number of fine displays for both club and country as he and brother Rob celebrated Six Nations success.

Dundalk RFC player McElroy called into Irish Youth squad

Tadgh McElroy

Dundalk RFC’s U-17 captain Tadgh McElroy has been called up to the Irish Youth squad for their forthcoming matches against France and England

The teenager, who has played for the Mill Road outfit since U-7 level, was called into the squad after being approached by Irish Youth team head coach Wayne Mitchell at a recent Leinster Youths training session in Dublin.

Tadgh was part of the North East team, who won the Shane Horgan trophy last year. Indeed, he caught the eye so much at hooker that he and fellow Dundalk teammate Stephen McGivern were promoted to the Leinster Youth Development Squad.

There will be a familiar face in the Irish Youth panel with Ardee man Neil Reilly, who plays with the Ardee/Dundalk U-19s team, the country’s captain at that level.

Leinster Cup triumph for Coláiste Rís

Coláiste Ris Dundalk are celebrating their first Leinster U-14 Cup triumph after beating St Grennan’s College from Kilkenny in the final at Peamount in Dublin this afternoon.

The local school won the game 1-0, with Matthew Kirwan grabbing the crucial strike five minutes into the second half.

They now advance to the All-Ireland U-14 semi-finals.

De La Salle pupils get their hands on rugby silverware

The Leinster Rugby trophy tour visited Dundalk over the last few days.

Pictured above is pupils from the De La Salle secondary school with the titles the province won last season – the Amlin Challenge Cup, the RaboDirect Pro12 title and the British and Irish Cup trophies.

Another school visited was Monkland NS, which Leinster and Ireland stars Dave and Rob Kearney attended in their youth.

Leinster trophy tour hits Dundalk this week

The three trophies which will be paraded in a number of local schools between now and the end of the week

Schoolchildren around Dundalk are in for a real treat this week as the Leinster Rugby trophy tour comes to town.

The three titles the province won last season – the Amlin Challenge Cup, the RaboDirect Pro12 title and the British and Irish Cup trophies – will be paraded around a number of local primary schools in the next few days.

Those interested in turning their school Leinster Blue and receiving a visit from the Treble Trophy Tour should email trophy@leinsterrugby.ie

Finnegan and Keenan included in Leinster football panel

Paddy Keenan

St Patrick’s clubmen Dessie Finnegan and Paddy Keenan have both been included in the Leinster squad for Sunday’s interprovincial semi-final against Ulster in Navan.

The duo are the only Louth players involved with Dublin and Meath having six representatives each and Kildare having five on the panel.

Also set to be involved on Sunday is Meath’s Paddy O’Rourke, who is vice president of the Students’ Union in Dundalk IT.

The side will be managed by Luke Dempsey.

Weather alert issued as Dundalk Schoolboys’ League fixtures are cancelled

A status orange weather alert has been issued for the whole of Leinster and Munster from 10am to 3pm today.

Met Éireann are predicting wet and very wind weather with strong gale force easterly winds with mean speeds of 55 to 70km/h and gusts of 85 to 120km/h.

Heavy rain will lead to localised flooding and rain will turn to heavy, thundery showers later.

Already the Dundalk Schoolboys’ League have called off all scheduled fixtures for this weekend with more inclement weather anticipated over the course of the weekend.