The History of Cnucha Bridge Club

What was to become Cnucha Bridge Club was started in 1993 by siblings John and Clodagh Havel, as demand for places in the local existing bridge clubs exceeded supply. With the support of Fr. Eugene Kennedy, they were allowed to play in the Cry chapel at the back of St. Thomas the Apostle church in Laurel Lodge. There was only room for six tables and John Havel provided the funds to buy the necessary tables, chairs and trophies. Philip Maloney and Mary Costello also played an important role in the early days of the Club. All four were novices and Pat Connolly vitally stepped in to run and score the competitions.

John was heavily involved in the building of the Castleknock Community Centre and was able to secure the entire hall on Wednesday evenings, where the Club moved to as soon as the Centre was completed in 1995 and the Club was formally established in that year. John's detailed recollections of the early days can be found here. A sample of calendar cards from the past can be viewed here - not a lot has changed except that we stopped printing calendar cards in 2024.

Growth in membership numbers was rapid and a debt of gratitude is owed to the three affiliated bridge teachers, Pat Hannon, David Green and in particular, Roisin Troy, for a steady stream of enthusiastic novices who would go on to form the core of the Club in the coming years.

 Other landmarks in the history of the Club include:

• 2002 We move from manual to computerised scoring
• 2012 Our website goes live
• 2014 Bridgemates are introduced
• 2019 longstanding Club member, Neil Burke, is elected as President of the Contract Bridge Association of Ireland.
• 2020 – 2022 we move to online bridge during the Pandemic.

The Havels, when forming the Club, were keen to create a friendly atmosphere and this has remained a key objective of the Club to this date. The ongoing success of the Club can be attributed to the many people who were willing to play their part, not least those who were willing to serve on the Committee or act as President (a list of former presidents is here).