1885-1903

1891

On September 10th 1891 ‘Butterly’s Field’ played host to its first GAA Athletics meeting. Between 1891 and the early 1920's the sports grounds were the scene of many athletics meetings.

1894

In 1894 Maurice Butterly sold his sports field to the City and Suburban Racecourse and Amusements Ground Ltd. who soon began to rent it out to the GAA on occasion. ‘Butterly’s Field’ becomes known as the City and Suburban Racecourse or Jones’ Road.

1896

On March 15th 1896 the first All-Ireland finals were played at Jones’ Road, prior to this All-Ireland finals were played at various locations around the country. Championships at the time were usually played behind schedule and counties were represented by a club team. The delayed 1895 All-Ireland Hurling Final was played in 1896 when Tipperary (Tubberadora) defeated Kilkenny (Tullaroan) 6-8 to 0-10. The delayed 1895 All-Ireland Football Final saw Tipperary (Arravale Rovers) defeat Meath (Pierce O’Mahony’s) 0-4 to 0-3

1897

In 1897 the GAA Dublin County Board siged an agreement to use Jones’ Road as a venue for their Dublin Championship.

1903

On August 2nd 1903 London Emmets became the only county outside of Ireland to win the All-Ireland Hurling Championship after British GAA clubs were admitted to the championships in 1900. London defeated Cork 1-05 to 0-04 in the delayed 1901 All-Ireland Hurling Final at Croke Park with a team that consisted of nine players originally from Cork, four from Clare, two from Limerick and one each from Tipperary and Kerry.