University College Dublin

Facilities refurbishment project, GAA football pitch, Devlin Park

Devlin Park at UCD, Dublin has been the home of Gaelic Games at UCD for thirty years now. In 2007 it was decided to convert the natural grass pitch to a full synthetic pitch. The pressure on the green spaces on campus has meant that all pitches have to sustain a high level of use, and this included the GAA pitch. In the Spring of 2007 the ground was broken to start the process of converting the pitch. Occupying a footprint of 145m x 80m this is a large synthetic area which attracts a high installation cost.

The summer weather conditions in 2007 were not conducive to installing synthetic pitches, so with very wet conditions and a poor site, progress was not made until the last half of the year, eventually resulting in the opening of a well received pitch in October.

The pitch on occasion must host other sports so a full size soccer pitch occupies the central area, however in season the pitch is used by UCD and many other clubs for training and games. The synthetic surface is a high quality dense polyethylene 65mm carpet laid onto a dynamic base. The new surface is a 55mm monofilament which has been designed for heavily used community pitches.

The pitch has met the specification requirements and the manufacturer has applied for a certificate for the surface as installed.