Lansdowne Road stood in the Ballsbridge neighbourhood of Dublin 4 for 134 years, and for every one of them it carried a title no other rugby ground on earth could claim: the world’s oldest rugby union Test venue. Long before Twickenham, Murrayfield, or the Aviva Stadium hosted a single international, players were already lining out on this reclaimed patch of railway land beside the River Dodder.
This guide covers exactly how Lansdowne Road earned that record, how the ground physically grew from a Victorian multi-sport field into a near-50,000-capacity stadium, how it compares to the Aviva Stadium that replaced it, and what — if anything — a visitor can still see on the site today.
Quick Answer
Lansdowne Road, in Ballsbridge, Dublin, opened in 1872 and hosted its first rugby international on 11 March 1878 (Ireland vs England), making it the world’s oldest rugby union Test venue. It closed after its final matches in December 2006, was demolished starting in 2007, and was replaced on the same footprint by the Aviva Stadium, which officially opened on 14 May 2010.
Why Lansdowne Road Is the World’s Oldest Rugby Test Venue
Henry Dunlop, a Trinity College Dublin engineering graduate and prominent athletics organiser, leased the Ballsbridge land in 1872. He raised the boggy site using roughly 300 cartloads of soil excavated from a nearby railway cutting, then laid out a genuinely multi-sport ground — athletics, cricket, lawn tennis, archery, croquet, and cycling all shared the space alongside his newly founded Lansdowne Football Club.
Rugby became the ground’s defining sport quickly. The first representative fixture, an interprovincial between Leinster and Ulster, was played in December 1876. On 11 March 1878, Lansdowne Road hosted its first full rugby international, Ireland against England (England won by three tries to nil). Because no older ground has hosted a rugby Test continuously since, Lansdowne Road held the ‘world’s oldest Test venue’ title for the entirety of its 128-year international career, right up to its closure in 2006.
The stadium’s name simply came from the adjoining street, Lansdowne Road, itself named after William Petty-Fitzmaurice, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne — the ground was never named for a person connected to the club.
Capacity, Record Attendance & How the Ground Grew
Lansdowne Road wasn’t built all at once — it was extended piecemeal over 13 decades. A covered stand was first built alongside the railway line in 1908; the old East Stand followed in 1927; an Upper West Stand added roughly 8,000 seats in 1954; the West Lower Stand was demolished and rebuilt in 1977-78; a new East Stand replaced the old one in 1983, funded by the sale of ten-year debenture tickets; and floodlights, allowing midweek evening fixtures, weren’t installed until 1993.
By its final years the ground’s total capacity stood at around 49,250, of which roughly 25,000 were seats — the rest standing terraces at the north and south ends. Because FIFA and UEFA require all-seated venues for competitive internationals, the Republic of Ireland’s football fixtures were capped at 36,000. The stadium’s biggest recorded crowds were 48,500 for a Republic of Ireland vs France match in 1981 and again for a Heineken Cup quarter-final between Leinster and Leicester in April 2005 — with a near-identical 48,000 turning out for the ground’s very last match, a Celtic League derby between Leinster and Ulster on 31 December 2006.
Lansdowne Road vs Aviva Stadium: What Changed
The Aviva Stadium was built on the exact same Ballsbridge site as Lansdowne Road, but it is a different building in almost every respect. It opened to the public on 14 May 2010, with Ireland’s first competitive matches there following later that year — a football friendly against Argentina on 11 August and a rugby Test against South Africa on 6 November.
Where the old ground’s capacity topped out near 49,250 with about half the seats standing terraces, the Aviva is a fully seated stadium holding just over 51,000 — remarkable given its footprint is smaller than Lansdowne Road’s, since the site is boxed in by houses with legal ‘rights to light’ on two sides and the railway line on a third. That constraint produced the Aviva’s distinctive swooping, asymmetrical roofline. Dressing rooms grew from cramped facilities built for 15-a-side squads to modern U-shaped rooms for 28 players, and a wartime memorial to IRFU members who died in the First World War, originally sited inside the old ground, was preserved and relocated outside the new stadium’s media centre — a deliberate thread of continuity between the two grounds.
Memorable Matches and Events at the Old Ground
Rugby aside, Lansdowne Road had a genuinely dual sporting identity. Association football arrived on 17 March 1900, when Ireland lost 2-0 to England in the ground’s first football international, and the venue went on to host FAI Cup finals from 1990 to 2006 as well as a Republic of Ireland home for decades.
Club rugby’s biggest night came twice, with Heineken Cup finals staged there in 1999 and 2003. The ground also proved its versatility outside football and rugby: in 1988 it hosted the Emerald Isle Classic, an NCAA American football fixture between Boston College and Army in front of over 42,000 fans, and in 2004 it stood in for Shelbourne’s own ground to host a UEFA Champions League qualifier against Deportivo La Coruña. Not every occasion was celebratory — a 1995 Ireland-England football friendly was abandoned after 27 minutes when visiting hooligans rioted in the stands.
Closure, Demolition & the Move to Aviva Stadium
By the early 2000s, Lansdowne Road’s Victorian and mid-century infrastructure could no longer meet modern safety, comfort, and accessibility standards, and its part-terraced layout was increasingly out of step with all-seater requirements elsewhere in European sport. The IRFU and the FAI jointly agreed to demolish the ground and build a new stadium in its place.
The final rugby fixture was that Leinster-Ulster Celtic League match on 31 December 2006, while the last football match — an FAI Cup final — had been played a few weeks earlier, on 3 December 2006. Demolition began in May 2007, clearing the way for construction of the Aviva Stadium, which opened in May 2010 and remains the home of both the Ireland rugby union team and the Republic of Ireland football team today.
Visiting the Site Today
Lansdowne Road no longer exists as a physical stadium — the site is now entirely occupied by the Aviva Stadium, so there is no separate ‘old ground’ left to walk around. The location itself hasn’t moved: it’s still served by Lansdowne Road DART station, which runs directly beside the stadium just as it did in the old ground’s day, making it an easy trip from Dublin city centre.
For current match tickets, the event calendar, and any stadium tour availability (tour operations have varied over the years), the official Aviva Stadium website is the authoritative source, since opening hours and ticket pricing tiers change by season and fixture rather than staying fixed year to year.
Lansdowne Road Stadium FAQs
When was Lansdowne Road stadium built?
Lansdowne Road was established in 1872 by Henry Dunlop, who leased the Ballsbridge land and developed it into a multi-sport venue. It hosted its first international rugby Test on 11 March 1878, making it the world’s oldest such venue.
Why was Lansdowne Road demolished?
The stadium closed at the end of 2006 and was demolished starting in 2007 because its ageing infrastructure — including standing terraces at each end — no longer met modern safety, comfort, and all-seater requirements. It was replaced by the Aviva Stadium, which opened on the same site in May 2010.
What was the capacity of Lansdowne Road?
In its final years Lansdowne Road held around 49,250 spectators in total, with roughly 25,000 seats and the rest standing terraces. For UEFA and FIFA competitive soccer matches, the all-seated capacity was capped at 36,000. Its largest recorded crowds were around 48,000-48,500, including its very last match on 31 December 2006.
What replaced Lansdowne Road stadium?
The Aviva Stadium replaced Lansdowne Road on the exact same Ballsbridge site. It opened on 14 May 2010 and is now the home of the Ireland national rugby team and the Republic of Ireland national football team.
Where was Lansdowne Road stadium located?
It stood in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, Ireland, next to what is now Lansdowne Road DART station — the same location occupied by the Aviva Stadium today.
Can you still visit Lansdowne Road today?
Not as a standalone stadium — the ground was fully demolished in 2007 and the site is now occupied by the Aviva Stadium. Visitors interested in the location today should check the official Aviva Stadium website for current match tickets, events, and any stadium tours.
Get More from Lansdowne Road Stadium
Log the coasters, stadiums, and venues you’ve experienced, rate Lansdowne Road Stadium, and see what your friends thought. Get the ThrillZing app.