Last Friday a choir from the Friday Friends Club made their first performance in front of 130 people at Clontarf Golf & Bowling Club.
Ray Maguire and Alan Smith dreamed up the idea of providing a unique opportunity for adults with intellectual disabilities in 2022.
The first Friday Friends golf and bowling coaching programme took place in association with St Michael’s House, in April of that year.
It has grown rapidly since and Clontarf President, Maguire, believes up to 80 people could be in attendance when their golf and bowling programme reopens next month.
Meanwhile, the choir was a huge addition over the winter months when Friday Friends usually takes its break for the Christmas.
“We decided that we would develop it out a little bit differently and for the winter we organised a Friday Friends Choir,” said Maguire.
“The choir has been going since they finished off last October and we had our first performance (last week).
“We were in the clubhouse, sold around 130 tickets and then there’s about 50 in the choir.
“The choir has been huge, it is just brilliant. I love the choir. Singing just brings everyone together.”
Maguire is originally from Clontarf, he retired 18 months ago, after he and his brother sold their furniture retail business.
He grew up in Griffith Avenue and began to cycle to the club when he was 12, Maguire wasn’t a member but he played alongside his friend and eventually the club secretary invited him to join.
He has been a member of Clontarf Golf & Bowling Club for over 50 years now.
“The golf club is there since 1912 and the bowling club since 1925, so that was their centenary last year. It’s quite an active bowling club, it’s vibrant.
“I’m president of the bowling club too and I’m a member there for the two years that I’m president. It is very much part of the club and there is a crossover.”
Maguire doesn’t play lawn bowls but he has played golf ever since becoming a member, he now operates off a 9.8 handicap.
It was four years ago when himself and Smith came together to set their plan of inclusion in motion.
“I knew Alan as a member there and in April 2022 we started the programme,” said Maguire.
“Our ambition was very small at the time but the nature of our golf club, with practice areas, it lends itself quite easily to coaching people with an intellectual disability.
“We contacted St Michael’s House, having witnessed a similar program that exists in Elm Park, and looked at their programme, we went out to have a look at how they did it back then and we brought the idea back to the management of Clontarf.
“We subsequently contacted St Michael’s House, who were very enthusiastic about the idea, we invited them down for a meeting to see how we might be able to develop this out and we got great support.
“I remember it was the early part of 2022, we invited about 20 or 25 service users to come down and we had lunch with them. They just came in, had lunch and we showed them the facility.
“We invited them on a Friday morning to play golf and use the practice areas. The number of participants quickly grew, even in that first year. We were up to about 40 every Friday.
“Obviously, we couldn’t do any of that without the support of our members and our volunteer members, so we recruited about 27 volunteer members.
“Myself and Alan just pressed the button.”
Clontarf’s 18-hole parkland course, which was designed by architect Harry Colt, forms part of a 72-acre site in one of Ireland’s oldest golf clubs.
Their practice facilities provide the ideal backdrop for Friday Friends, as the group is split into the four different areas with the volunteers operating as coaches on the ground.
The 2026 programme begins on 3 April and Maguire is excited for another season as a programme close to his heart continues to grow and grow.
“My wife’s niece has an intellectual disability, so that was my level of understanding and then Alan had had some experience in basketball teaching basketball to people with an intellectual disabilities,” said Maguire.
“I used to collect my niece from basketball where Alan volunteered and I thought gosh we could easily transfer this kind of setup to a golf club, because the facility is there.
“Clontarf Golf Club is a very busy place but it doesn’t at all impact on the course itself. It’s all around the practice area, so it lends itself to that.”
The club continue to seek out inclusive opportunities and they now employ three people with intellectual disabilities on a part-time basis. While the social aspect of the club is also having a lasting impact for the participants.
“The social side of things is probably much more important than the golf,” said Maguire.
“They begin to arrive at 10 o’clock on a Friday morning, it’s all about standing around near the putting greens, having the chat about the football, anything and everything.
“It’s the social side of it, and then we do the golf really slowly, it’s done at their pace where then we move off into the various practice areas slowly and we rotate those areas.
“Nobody is under any pressure to do anything. Some of the guys just take a seat and watch the proceedings. The proof of the pudding with them is they turn up the following week.”
Maguire and Smith have been nominated for the Golf Ireland Club Volunteer of the Year Award in the Disability & Inclusion category.
“When last year’s Captain Mary Brennan said it to me, secretly we’re delighted (to be nominated) but also, and it’s not just a cliche, one person can’t do much,” said Maguire.
“We need 27 others, at least, to do anything so it’s more a testament to the membership.”
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