Key facts

Address Royal Dublin Society, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4
Capacity 18,500 seats
Build Date 1868
Record Attendance 20,000

Description

RDS Arena is a sports stadium located in Ballsbridge, Dublin, Ireland. It belongs to the RDS. It is the permanent home of Leinster Rugby that replaced Donnybrook. The stadium is also used as a venue for the FAI Cup final because Lansdowne Road, the permanent venue, is being under the renovation. There are several stands, and the oldest one is Anglesea Stand, which was built in 1927. The Grandstand was constructed in 2006. Today it comes with the TV gantry and the roof that was installed in 2008. There are also the South and North stands located behind the goals.

The arena was constructed for equestrian events, particularly, the Dublin Horse Show, which took place at the ground for the first time in 1881. In 1879, the site was purchased by the RDS. The arena is mainly used by Leinster Rugby and Champions Cup, but it is also a venue for wrestling and soccer events. The total capacity of the ground is 18,500, and 16,500 of which is seated.

There were revealed the plans to replace the Anglesea Stand with the new stand. In 2014, the RDS announced its common plan with Leinster Rugby to redevelop the arena so that its capacity could be increased up to 25,000. The budget of the redevelopment was around 20 million euro. The project was won by Newenham Mulligan Architects and Grimshaw Architects.

How to get to

From Trinity College, you need to take N11, drive for around 160 yards, and then right toward the R118. Drive for around 1 mile until you see the RDS Showgrounds located on the right-hand side.