Tennis club honours its Wimbledon star

THE Lansdowne Lawn Tennis Club has officially named their new function room the

‘Betty Lombard Room’ in honour of their former member, Elizabeth Ann Lombard who was the last Irish woman to play in a singles plate final in Wimbledon in 1953.

Betty was also was a doubles quarter-finalist on the Centre Court with Mary Fitzgibbon (née Nichols) in 1948.

The room was officially named by June Ann Byrne, a former Lansdowne member, who is one of the few remaining Irish players that played with Betty in her heyday.

“I was just a teenager when I played internationally with Betty. She had incredible anticipation on court and like all players of her era was self-taught. She is truly an unsung heroine of Irish Tennis,

? said June Ann.

According to June Ann, Betty lived a unique and interesting life. She ran her own typing and secretarial School on Harcourt Street.  A female entrepreneur would have been most unusual in this era. She loved to drive her Morris Minor car around the local area, and by all accounts was quite the independent and spirited lady.

After the renaming of the room, 100 club members, family and friends joined an afternoon tea event in the Lansdowne Club bar to celebrate the renaming of the function room. The party then continued as the Women’s Singles Final was shown live at 2pm in the new bar from Wimbledon.

The new Lansdowne LTC club house was redeveloped and reopened in November 2016 at a cost of

?¬1.2 million. The new club house and function room, which boast beautiful views of the Aviva Stadium are available for family or corporate functions.

Lansdowne LTC covered the cost of the afternoon tea for the guests who were then asked to donate to a collection that was arranged for the Irish Alzheimer’s Society, as it is believed that Betty’s mother suffered from this condition.

A totl of

?¬300 euro was raised for this worthy cause.

“We are delighted with our new clubhouse and facilities,

? said Suzanne Tyrell, the current Club President.

“Many members have worked voluntarily and tirelessly for years to make this new clubhouse a reality, and it is wonderful to be able to share our new club with so many people today to honour our pioneering ladies Wimbledon player.

?

Lansdowne LTC was founded by Henry Dunlop in 1875 and was then known as the All Ireland Lawn Tennis Club and located in the rugby ground.

It was in 1880 that the club was changed to Lansdowne Lawn Tennis Club. Lansdowne players were instrumental in the Irish invasion of Wimbledon in the 1890s.

Joshua Pim was the Wimbledon champion in 1893 and 1894 and won the Doubles titles in 1890 and 1893.