Eric Lowndes ..Kilmessan roots

Dublin players widespread meath connections

Before Dublin’s All Ireland semi-final replay with Mayo, much focus was on the successful attempt by Dublin’s Diarmuid Connolly to overturn a red card and get his place on the team’s starting 15. He played 67 minutes of that game last Saturday week, before being replaced by a promising young player with Meath connections, Eric Lowndes.
Eric, who plays with the St Peregrine’s Club in Dublin 15 and went to secondary school in St Peter’s Dunboyne, is a scion of the Maguire family of Kilmessan.
The 21 year-old defender is a son of John and Imelda Lowndes, and grandson of a late popular Kilmessan couple, Paddy and Mary Maguire of Swainstown, and has numerous aunts, uncles and cousins living around Kilmessan, Drumree, Moynalvey and Navan.
Many of his childhood weekends were spent having a puc about or a kick around with his Maguire cousins in Kilmessan. Eric lives in Mulhuddart, where he plays with St Peregrine’s, founded in 1978. As a minor in 2011, he created a piece of club history there by becoming the first player to win both Leinster football and hurling titles with Dublin in the same year, and achieving an All Ireland minor football medal in 2012. His brother, Stuart has also played for the county, while another brother, Craig, is currently playing with St Pater’s, Dunboyne.
Eric’s medal haul so far includes three Leinster SFC, two NFL, and an All-Ireland under-21 medal. A broken ankle kept him out of Dublin’s All Ireland winning team in 2013, but he was on the panel and returned for the following year’s O’Byrne Cup campaign. And, his Dublin team mates will be delighted to know that his childhood sporting hero was Trevor Giles!