Tallaght · Dublin 24
Tallaght Town AFC gives Kiltipper players a route from academy football to schoolboy, schoolgirl and adult teams. Its current story joins the Tallaght Town name with Postal Aylesbury and a return to Carolan Park led by volunteers.
Club history
A Tallaght name brought back to Carolan Park
The club website uses 2007 as Tallaght Town AFC’s founding year, while its history also describes Tallaght Town as one of the older soccer names in the area. The fuller story explains that difference. Tallaght Town had been without teams for several years, but its committee remained in place and retained Carolan Park.
The 2017 agreement with Postal Aylesbury FC gave 22 teams and around 280 members a permanent football home. Postal Aylesbury’s committee took on the Tallaght Town name and ground, while Mick Whelan and David Fennell stayed from the earlier committee. The agreement also stated that Carolan Park could not be sold and could only be used for soccer.
Tallaght Town’s own account remembers an overgrown site with derelict cabins. Committee members, coaches and parents cleared the fields and surroundings, turning the return to Carolan Park into a community project rather than a simple change of name.
People and place
Mick Whelan and the clubhouse story
Mick Whelan served as club secretary for about 25 years and helped protect Tallaght Town’s connection with Carolan Park through the years when the club had no active teams. After his death, the new clubhouse was named in his memory.
The clubhouse was unveiled in 2020 after four years of planning and fundraising. The €370,000 project combined a Sports Capital Grant, community fundraising, lending and volunteer work. At the time, the building was described as having four team changing rooms, a referee changing room, toilets, a games room, club shop and office space.
The Echo’s April 2020 video uses the club’s own footage and includes chairman Alan Merriman explaining the clubhouse project and Mick Whelan’s contribution.
Home ground
Carolan Park is now a football home throughout the year
The club address is Carolan Park, Ballymana Lane, Kiltipper, Tallaght, Dublin 24. In 2023 the club said it had 39 teams and about 500 young players, but winter cancellations still forced teams to train or compete at hired pitches elsewhere.
A new €500,000 artificial pitch opened in 2025. By that opening, the club reported about 650 young players. The investment followed the clubhouse and gave the growing programme a more reliable surface during wet winter months.
Carolan Park also has grass football space, changing facilities and parking. Pitch assignments can vary, so visiting teams should still follow the venue shown on their latest league fixture rather than assuming every Tallaght Town match uses the same surface.
Player pathway
A place to start young and keep going
Tallaght Town’s public pathway covers an academy, younger age group football, 11 a side teams, girls’ football and adult football. The club provides separate pages for academy and younger teams, 11 a side football, girls’ teams and its Leinster Senior League programme.
A 2020 club profile also recorded a Football for All team, giving children and adults with a disability an organised way to take part. By February 2025, Tallaght Town was described as having an academy, schoolboy teams, eight girls’ teams, six senior teams, a team for players over 35 and continuing Football 4 All involvement. Those figures are dated snapshots, but they show the range of football the club has worked to build.
Parents looking for the right squad should contact the club with the player’s date of birth, football experience and preferred pathway. The club can then confirm the current team, coach and availability instead of relying on an older online roster.
Girls’ football and cup milestones
A growing pathway with a recent DDSL cup win
Tallaght Town’s girls’ programme now forms a clear part of the route through the club. In May 2026, the club celebrated its under 16 girls beating Clonee United 4–1 in the DDSL Skelly Cup final.
The club had already sent three underage teams to DDSL grassroots cup finals in 2024. Its own preview named the under 11 C team in the Hackett Cup, the under 13 C team in the PTSB Cup and the under 14 division 1 team in the O’Neills Cup. The preview did not record those final results, so the table keeps them as final appearances rather than claiming trophies.
| Year | Team | Competition | Recorded milestone |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Under 11 C | Hackett Cup | Final appearance |
| 2024 | Under 13 C | PTSB Cup | Final appearance |
| 2024 | Under 14 division 1 | O’Neills Cup | Final appearance |
| 2026 | Under 16 girls | DDSL Skelly Cup | Winners, 4–1 against Clonee United |
Standards and community
Recognition for development on and off the pitch
In February 2025, Tallaght Town received the Active South Dublin Club Development Award. The same account recorded an FAI Club Mark and FAI One Star Award, recognising the structures developed around the football programme.
The club also hosts a Men’s Shed whose members help with grass cutting, hedge work, painting and care of the clubhouse. Alongside Football for All, camps, fundraising and the wide age range of teams, that work shows how Carolan Park supports more than weekend matches.
Joining and visiting
Speak directly to Tallaght Town AFC
The membership page is the starting point for registration, while the club contact page is better for questions about a player’s age group, pathway or the correct person to approach. Current announcements and schedule changes are also carried through the club website and ClubZap.
For a first visit, confirm the team name, kickoff time and pitch before travelling. Carolan Park is the club home, but past growth led some squads to use other local facilities when the grass pitches were unavailable.
Opening artwork is an editorial illustration based on the Tallaght Town badge and the club’s Carolan Park setting. The image is not presented as a photograph of the ground.
