Holywood Cricket Club 1881

Holywood Cricket Club 1881 is a cricket club in Holywood, County Down, Northern Ireland, playing in the Northern Cricket Union's (NCU) Senior League.

The club was founded in 1881, originally playing at Kinnegar in Holywood. However, after an 1885 storm blew the pavilion away, the club found a new home at Belfast Road, where it remained until 1996.

In 1997, Holywood faced difficulties due to the raising of St Paul's Gaelic Athletic Club on its adjacent pitch, which was used by the cricket club as its outfield. For the 1997 season, the club moved to Sullivan Upper School. This arrangement lasted for 8 seasons until the club moved to the Seapark Oval. The teams are known as the 'Holywood Hawks'.

Notable former Holywood players have included Conn McCall and Stewart McCormick.^{[citation needed ]} International wicketkeepers who learned the game at Holywood are Paul Moore and Gary Wilson. On the administration side, Holywood has produced NCU presidents such as R.M. Erskine and Dawson Moreland. Cecil Cave was president of what is now Cricket Ireland in 1976.^{[citation needed ]}

The Graham Cup, the premier U15 competition in the NCU, is also linked to Holywood. The cup was donated by Mr. H Graham, whose son was a member of the Holywood team that won the trophy in its first year. The final was held at Holywood until 1996.^{[citation needed ]}

In 2018, Holywood created a schools coaching programme that provides an introduction to the game for participating primary and secondary schools in North Down and East Belfast.^{[citation needed ]}

The club has a junior section for both boys and girls aged 3+. In 2019, Holywood introduced "Mini Bouncers" for children aged 3 to 7 to provide their "first contact with the sport of cricket".^{[citation needed ]}

• Holywood u11s
  Holywood u11s
• 2018
  2018
• Schoolgirls tournament trophies
  Schoolgirls tournament trophies
• Seapark Oval
  Seapark Oval

• NCU Senior League: 6 (1 shared)
  • 1901, 1909, 1912, 1914, 1956, 1958 (shared)
• NCU Challenge Cup: 2
  • 1899, 1905

• Official website