The 2,300 members of Lions Clubs on the island of Ireland are organised within District 133 of Lions Clubs International, an organisation of 46,000 clubs and 1.4m Lions which operates in almost every country of the world. District 133 was established in 2017 and replaced District 105I which was part of a Multiple District that also included Lions Clubs in Britain. For more information on Lions 133 click here.
Guided by the principle of ‘We Serve’, Lions Clubs in Ireland engage in projects at International, District, Zone and Club levels. Clubs contribute to major Lions projects in the areas of health, refugee support and disaster relief and participate in more than 15 District projects including an annual senior citizens holiday, diabetes screening, health education and supports, carers weekends, a food appeal and youth projects which include a Young Ambassador programme, student exchanges, a Peace Poster competition and a football championship.
The 108 Lions Clubs in Ireland are administered by a District Governor team comprising the District Governor, first and second Vice District Governors and the immediate Past District Governor. They head a Cabinet, comprising administrative officers, project officers and the chairs of nine Zones representing clubs throughout the country. All posts are voluntary and Lions Clubs do not have a head office or professional staff.
Sugarloaf Lions Club was founded in November 1967 and officially chartered in January 1968. Historically, the club consists of a group of 20 - 30 committed individuals who give voluntarily of their time to make a difference in the community locally, nationally and internationally through the Lions Club worldwide organisation (LCIF).
In short, we aim to continue to identify needs in the community and seek to assist in finding solutions to those needs either through direct action ourselves or working with other charities.
It is significant that all administrative costs of the Lions organisation at all levels from local to international are paid for by the members themselves. This benefits the organisation in two big ways; first, the bureaucratic needs of the charity being kept to a minimum and most importantly all funds raised for charity are used exclusively to address the needs identified by the Lions organisation.
The original Club Charter from 1968
The beginnings of the Sugarloaf Lions Club
To mark the 50th anniversary of our club, we took a rare look back at some of the history of our foundation. Sugarloaf Lions Club was formed under the guidance of Lion Eric Webb of the Dublin Lions Club, who came to Greystones with a view to encouraging the establishment of a new club in the North Wicklow area. He made contact with the then manager of the La Touche Hotel in Greystones, David Fitzgerald and arrange a meeting. During this first meeting, the subject of a name for the new club arose. A young man named Paddy Dunne, whom David had asked to join them, was sitting facing out the window looking toward the Sugarloaf mountain and so our Lions Club was born. You can find the names of these earliest members and others on our club's charter from January 1968.
Eric Webb and another Dublin Lion, Gerry McNamara continued to mentor our young club as it developed. Paddy Dunne went on to become the first secretary of the Club and at the age of 21 took the distinction as the youngest Lions Club Secretary in the world at that time.
It was a great honour that Paddy Dunne was able to be our guest of honour at our 50th anniversary in 2018. He is pictured here with the club charter and also with some Sugarloaf Lions members and friends.
To see more photos of our 50th Anniversary please click here
Sugarloaf Lions Today
Now in our 56th year Sugarloaf Lions currently has 22 members. We meet twice a month, on the second and fourth Monday’s in the Horse and Hound Hotel, Delgany. For more information on the work we carry out and the impact it is having please look at our what we do and projects pages.
Committee 2023/24
Club President Niall Quigley
Club Secretary Ronan Moore
Club Treasurer Von McDonald
If you would like to learn more or are interested in joining Sugarloaf Lions please contact us