Cork City's first fully indoor padel club has opened its doors — here's everything you need to know
Rory Dennis, founding member of the Hive, Kevin Canning, CEO Quintas Capital, Noelle O’Callaghan, trainer at the Hive, Dave Farrell, founding member of the Hive, Kim Ronayne, Investor Relations Manager, Quintas Capital, Eric Otto and Tim Murphy, founding members of the Hive. Picture: Gerard McCarthy.
Cork City’s first fully indoor padel centre has opened its doors on Monahan Road in Cork City.
The Hive offers the people of Cork a new state-of-the-art five-court indoor padel club with amenities such as wellness spaces, recovery rooms, social areas, and a café.
Padel is a fast-growing sport across Europe and has seen rising demand in Ireland, as one of the brains behind The Hive project, Rory Dennis, can attest to.
After moving to Portugal in 2022, he rang his best friend Dave Farrell, another of the founders of The Hive, to tell him he had come across the sport.
Farrell joined Dennis in Portugal, and they spent a week driving across the country, visiting different clubs, both private and municipal.
“We could instantly see the attraction of the game, how it appealed to both young and old, male and female. So inclusive and so social. We asked ourselves, ‘Why shouldn't Cork have access to something like this?’, Farrell said.
Speaking to the he spoke about how the pair found the perfect site to make their dream a reality – a 19,000 square foot former warehouse.
“We both agreed that if we were going to do it, then we'd aim to be best in class and set the highest standards for every aspect of the business,” Farrell said.
“We set out certain criteria that would have to be fulfilled before settling on a site. Adhering to these standards proved very challenging as we visited potential sites that nearly reached the mark but didn't quite tick all of the boxes.
“Over a three-year period, this really tested our resolve, but finally in July of 2025, our current site presented itself to us. It was like winning the lottery, a building that was inadvertently, perfectly designed to house a Padel club.”
Speaking about how the fit-out of the former warehouse took only an impressive eight weeks to transform into a community-based all-inclusive club, he said: “We approached Simon and Kevin Reddy from Rose Construction about the project. Their enthusiasm for the project from the outset was infectious. Their family have very strong ties to many sports clubs in the Cork community, and they instantly saw the benefits that such a club could bring to the city.
“They compiled an incredible team of subcontractors that all bought into the vision and agreed upon an incredibly aggressive timeline. The whole construction phase was turned around in an eight-week period, which is probably unprecedented for a project of this size.
“All this is testament to the quality of local design and construction teams that bought into our vision. The club offers a reception/lounge area with a boutique coffee, pastry and refreshments offering.”
Touching on what he thinks makes The Hive stand out, he said: “Our mission with The Hive was to deliver a world-class sporting facility to the people of Cork.
"We've compiled a super team of people who believe in that endeavour and are working tirelessly to achieve it. Ultimately, the people of Cork will be the judge of our efforts.”
The Hive operates bookings through The Hive Padel Club app on a pay-as-you-go model. You register your details on the free app, and this then allows you to book courts, rackets, balls and keep up to date with all club activities. Courts are booked by the hour.
Farrell assures that people only need to turn up in their sports gear as rackets are available to rent.
“We also have rackets and sporting gear for purchase, should it be required. We have premium changing facilities that include soaps from local cork company Ground Wellbeing and Dyson hairdryers. We're trying to ensure that every aspect of your visit is suitably tended to,” he said.
There is a team of coaches at the club, both male and female, who, Farrell says, are available for both groups or one-on-one lessons.
“They're as enthusiastic about introducing newcomers to the sport as they are about pushing the die-hards to higher levels. We intend to establish a Youth Academy in the new year to introduce the sport to the next generation of players. We believe that this can play an integral part in helping develop their sporting and social skills,” he said.
Farrell said they also plan to run social events and leagues, where players of all standards, from absolute beginners to semi-pros, can come and participate in games.
“Players can come individually or in groups to participate. It's a super casual environment in which to meet new people and make new friends,” he said.
The Hive is open from 10am to 11pm, and is closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
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