Declan Branigan holds an Honours Degree in General Agriculture, qualifying from University College Dublin in 1974 and also holds a M.Agr.Sc. in Soil Science, publishing his thesis in 1977. He has 30 years professional experience as an agriculturist and soil scientist.

An international amateur golfer, he has represented Ireland at home and abroad on 56 occasions, both in the Home Internationals and European Championships. During his golfing career, he has twice been Irish Champion, twice East of Ireland Champion and twice West of Ireland Champion. In addition to these achievements, he holds the distinction of having won the Willie Gill Memorial Trophy, awarded to Ireland’s most consistent amateur golfer, on three separate occasions – a feat yet unequalled. During his golfing career he has played competitively on Europe’s finest golf courses.

Given the unique combination of his academic and sporting talents, it was a foregone conclusion that Declan Branigan would eventually face the challenge of creating quality golf facilities. To this end he formed a company with his friend Des Smyth in 1988 and assumed full responsibility for design specification and maintenance programs. During a five year period the Company successfully concluded 14 major projects in Ireland.

In 1994, Declan formed his own company (Declan Branigan Design) which deals with all aspects of design, construction and maintenance of golf courses. To date the company has completed numerous projects and is retained by many of Ireland’s finest courses on a consultancy basis. The company is also responsible for all maintenance at Ashbourne and Seapoint Golf Clubs. But wait, there’s more