Patrick O Connell: UCDs First Rugby Captain (1910/11)

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1 Patrick O Connell: UCDs First Rugby Captain (1910/11) The available records of UCD RFC indicate that Patrick O Connell was the first person to captain the club (i.e. in season 1910/11) and that, subsequently he was awarded 6 caps for Ireland in 1913 and 1914 while playing for Bective Rangers. Apart from this, very little is known about him and, unfortunately, some personal details have been incorrectly noted. It is hoped that this article clarifies the main aspects of his life. The Early Years The first record relating to the above Patrick O Connell can be found in the baptismal register of the parish of Castleliney, Templemore, Co. Tipperary dated 20 th February, 1892 and this is consistent with the 1901 Census of Population which reports an O Connell family at this address, which was Catholic. The Census reports Patrick as the second youngest in the family of William O Connell (a farmer) and Bridget (nee Coffey). The seven children consisted of 4 sons and 3 daughters. The 1911 Census (conducted on Sunday 2 nd April) describes both Patrick (aged 19 years) and his youngest brother, Thomas (aged 17 years) as Scholars. In addition, the household included 2 farm servants and 1 domestic servant. After a spell at National School, Patrick and his younger brother, Thomas, attended Cistercian College, Roscrea during the years , and their address is listed as Templemore, Co. Tipperary. The Roscrea College was founded by the Cistercian monks in 1905 as a monastic boarding school for boys and so the O Connell brothers were part of the first cohort of students in the newly opened school. Initially, the college used to play Gaelic football and hurling but then switched over to rugger. It is remarkable to note that within a few years, the School s senior and junior cup teams both reached the Leinster schools finals, for the first time, in March Both of those finals were contested between Roscrea and Blackrock; both finals went to replays after scoreless draws, and both replays were won by Blackrock by small margins. The senior scores were (0 0 and 6 3) and the junior scores were (0 0 and 6 4). The Irish Times noted that, in the replay, Roscrea battled bravely but 1

2 in the end they had to bow to the inevitable and acknowledge the superiority of the Rock as their predecessors in the field have done so often during twenty years. This was a reflection of the fact that Blackrock had won the senior schools cup 18 times in the first 24 years of the that competition. The Roscrea senior cup team was captained by prop forward, Patrick O Connell, in his second year on the team, and the Roscrea College Centenary history refers to him as as our first rugger international. His younger brother, Thomas also played in that final. There was some consolation for Patrick O Connell since he was subsequently selected on the Leinster Schools team that played both Ulster and Munster in end of season fixtures. Studying Medicine An advertisement appearing in The Freeman s Journal in September 1910 indicated that Mount St. Joseph College, Roscrea possessed special advantages for health and recreation owing to its situation and extensive grounds and the continued success of its pupils at the University examinations is the most convincing proof of the soundness of the education imparted. Supporting these claims was its reported success rate of 92% of its pupils in the latest (summer 1910) National University Matriculation exam. Two of these successful students were Thomas and Patrick O Connell. The Calendar of the National University of Ireland includes the following names and affiliations of successful matriculation candidates and the existence of two Patrick O Connell s, both of whom who would study Medicine, has the potential to create difficulties for historians. O Connell, Patrick (Roscrea) O Connell, Thomas O Connell, Patrick (Cork) Mount St. Joseph s College, Roscrea Mount St. Joseph s College, Roscrea Christian Brothers College, Cork The brothers, Patrick and Thomas O Connell, who attended Roscrea, are listed as students in the Faculty of Medicine at University College, Dublin, with an admission date of (October) In contrast with modern times, in order to gain admission to UCD, matriculated students were required to produce a certificate of character from the head of school last attended and students were also required to attend before the President and sign an engagement to observe the rules of the College! The O Connell brothers are further listed, for example, as second year medical students for the session 1911/12. (Of interest is that 2

3 another Patrick O Connell is progressing through the Medical faculty in University College, Cork at the same time and appears on official pass lists). In UCD, the, then, Medical faculty consisted of Professors who were well-known for their involvement in sport and these included Professor Meehan and Professor McLoughlin (Rugby), Professor Collingwood (Soccer) and Professor Sigerson (Gaelic Football). The Medical faculty of UCD was then located at Cecelia Street, which is now part of the Temple Bar area of Dublin. Many of UCD s medical students at that time, including Patrick O Connell, participated in the Dublin Hospitals Cup a trophy first played for in 1882 and which is acknowledged as the oldest rugby competition in the world. The NUI Calendar for 1915 is most interesting since it reports the THREE above mentioned matriculation students passing their medical examination in autumn 1914 in University College, Dublin. This implies that the Cork Patrick O Connell transferred from University College, Cork to University College, Dublin around that time and he subsequently graduated in Medicine in UCD in spring, 1916 with an address The Forts, Lixnaw, Co. Kerry and he subsequently practiced in London for many years. Remarkably, around that time the Tipperary Patrick O Connell transferred from UCD to the Royal College of Surgeons and passed his final professional exam there in December 1916, with his address being listed as Castleliney, Templemore. (In spring 1916, Thomas O Connell, with an address as Castleliney, Templemore, qualified as a doctor from UCD and subsequently practiced in Manchester). (The above dates of graduation, together with addresses are confirmed by various Medical Registers, published by the General Medical Council). In 1918, Patrick O Connell went to London where he worked as a locum and, thereafter, he worked in Southampton. While working in Southampton Patrick O Connell met his future wife, Iverna, whom he married in 1919 and, soon took over the practice of his father-in-law, Dr. O Meara. He practiced in the dockland area for many years and was well-liked and respected. The Rugby Years: UCD, Bective, Leinster and Ireland The season 1910/11 is considered to be the first official season of UCD RFC having being affiliated to the Leinster Branch, as a junior club, in January The club s first official match as far as current records show was played against University College, Galway in March, 1910 (Lost 3 6) at Castle Avenue in Clontarf. (UCD only acquired its own playing 3

4 fields some years later). The National Student (November, 1910) is rather critical of the rugby club and wrote... one other club for whose existence we could only apologise. This is the Rugby Club...having a most invertebrate set of playing members and followers, it succeeded in lowering our prestige...we are glad to see that none of last year s incapables have been included. Patrick O Connell was captain of UCD RFC in their first season (1910/11). His election was likely approved at a general meeting of the rugby club, held in the Anatomy theatre, Cecelia Street, on Friday 18 th November However, for the 1910/11 season, UCD RFC only played a handful of matches e.g. v. Dental Hospital, Knockbeg College, Trinity Thirds and Wanderers A. They were all friendly matches and no fixtures in either the Junior League or Junior Cup were played. The UCD team (v. Trinity Thirds) is listed as: Donoghue, Mahony, Collins, Coyne, Moriarty, Carroll, Slattery, Richardson, Higgins, Pierce, Burns, Murnane, Stokes, O Donnell and P. O Connell (captain). (O Connell was the only player to have the initial of his forename printed!). However, it is interesting to note that during this season (1910/11) O Connell and Stokes also played competitively for Bective and Blackrock respectively and both would become Irish internationals in subsequent seasons while playing for those clubs. For example, Patrick O Connell had already played a junior league match for Bective in October 1910 before playing with UCD and, a few months later, played for Bective in the Leinster senior cup final that season against Wanderers (Lost, 0 9). For the following season (1911/12) newspaper team lists report Patrick O Connell playing regularly for Bective and, in an early season match against Trinity he is mentioned as being prominent amongst the Rangers eight. Thus, it appears that his playing involvement with the UCD rugby club lasted only for one season. Progress up the rugby representative ladder was swift for Partick O Connell and, perhaps, this was facilitated by playing for such a prestigious club, Bective, who had many internationals in their side. On Saturday 2 nd December, 1911 he achieved his first Leinster cap against Ulster at Lansdowne Road. Ulster were convincing winners (30 5) but O Connell must have played well since he was retained to play against Mumster the following week. (Formal interprovincial matches were not played against Connacht at that time). In January 1912, he was selected at prop forward (as a Bective player) for County Dublin i.e. Leinster against Gloucestershire, with his Bective team mates, Minch and Abraham. 4

5 In 1912/13 O Connell played for Leinster against Northampton (November, 1912) but did not play that season in the interprovincial series. Actually, he played for Leinster seconds against Connacht at the same time as the Final Trial was played. The international season started badly for Ireland with successive and comprehensive defeats by South Africa, England and Scotland. For the next international against Wales on 8 th March (1913), The Freeman s Journal, reported that P. O Connell (Bective Rangers) would replace the selected E. Jeffares (Wanderers), who was unable to play but it considered that the inclusion of O Connell would not weaken the side to any extent. In contrast to the logistical arrangements of modern times, it was reported that a rough passage was experienced crossing from Kingstown to Hollyhead and the Irish team stayed overnight in Shrewsbury before continuing their journey to Swansea the following day. Ireland played well but narrowly lost (13 16) and all the forwards did excellently, not one man being a flincher. Patrick O Connell was retained for the French match in Cork, which Ireland won (24 0), with a midday kick-off in order not to clash with the Cork Races. For the season 1913/14, O Connell played regularly for Bective and for whom he won the senior cap. (It is interesting to note that at the end of the season, April 1914, when UCD won their first trophy the Junior Cup the Senior cup was won that same day, by Bective). That season, he was capped by Leinster against both Ulster and Munster in the interprovincial series and also played for Leinster against Yorkshire. He won an additional four international caps starting with France (A: Won 8 6) a match played on 1 st January - and then England (A: Lost 12 17), Scotland (H: Won 6 0) and his final test was against Wales (H: Lost 3-11) in which his Bective team-mates, Abraham and Collopy, also played together with a former rugby coach at the Roscrea College, George Killeen. In all, Patrick played six successive Five Nation championship matches in a period of twelve months not a bad performance for a 21 year old. It is logical to suggest that Patrick s international career should have been a lengthy one. However, World War 1 caused a halt in competitive rugby and no representative matches would be played until the 1919/20 season. In addition to rugby, Patrick O Connell was a talented athlete. There is a photograph of him in The Irish Times putting the 16lbs. shot at the University Sports in May He is described as rugby international and as strong as an ox (who) should make a champion in the end. Indeed, he easily won that event by a large margin of 3 feet. His athletic prowess 5

6 was further emphasized by being a member of the victorious Mater hospital relay race team that same day and he ran the 880 yard leg! Throughout his life, Patrick O Connell s interest in rugby continued, for example, by his membership of the local Trojans rugby club in Southampton. Patrick and Iverna had two children - Terence and Shelia. Patrick O Connell died on 2 nd December, 1955 and his wife died in Most of Patrick s 6 surviving grandchildren and 8 great, grandchildren now live in the South of England and are extremely proud of his rugby achievements and his medical career which spanned 4 decades. We now know a little bit more about the late Dr. Patrick O Connell. As a prominent schoolboy rugby player, he gave UCD RFC an important focus point and profile in its first year of existence. His rugby talent was soon acknowledged by both the Leinster and Irish selectors and, had not the tragic events of World War 1 occurred, it is plausible to suggest that he would have had a long rugby career in representative rugby. His captaincy of UCD RFC also underlines the unique contribution which medics have made our club over many years. Comments on the above many be sent to: Peter.clarke@ucd.ie 8 October, 2013 (2229) 6