Lansdowne
Road

Lansdowne Road was one of the finest stadiums in Ireland before it was demolished in 2007. Discover the stadium’s history with RugbyPass, your resident rugby gurus.

About Lansdowne Road Stadium

Lansdowne Road was one of the world’s finest rugby stadiums. Based in Dublin, Ireland it was the oldest rugby union test venue in the world. Lansdowne Road was inducted into the RugbyPass Hall of Fame in 2021.

The history of Lansdowne Road can be traced all the way back to 1872, when it was first constructed by Henry Dunlop, who was the organiser of the first All Ireland Athletics Championships. He founded Lansdowne Football Club the year the stadium was built, and rugby quickly became the main use of the grounds.

In 1876, Lansdowne Road held its first interprovincial fixture, between Leinster and Ulster. Only two years later, it hosted an international fixture between Ireland and England. As a result, it became the world’s oldest rugby union test venue. In 1900, it then held its first ever international football game, again between Ireland and England.

From here, Lansdowne Road became hugely successful and was constantly redeveloped. As a result, by 1971, it had become the home of the Republic of Ireland football team, too. Due to the need to host midweek football games, floodlights were installed for the first time during this period.

However, by the turn of the millennium, it was clear that both the national rugby side and the national football side required a larger and more modern stadium. As a result, both national sides played their last games at Lansdowne Road in 2006. The final game played at the stadium was a Celtic League match between Leinster and Munster in December 2006.

Since it was demolished in 2007, Lansdowne Road has been replaced by the Aviva Stadium at a cost of around €365 million.