HEALTH SCIENCES The Hospital Pass - 140 years of Dublin Hospitals Rugby Rugby football emerged as a popular sport in the United Kingdom and Ireland in the mid-1800s and Ireland’s first rugby club, Dublin University Football Club (DUFC) was established in 1854 by students attending Trinity. A key role in the development of the club and rugby was played by Trinity medical students. Several of the Dublin hospitals attended by these students then fielded rugby teams which played against each other and other Dublin clubs. In turn, this led to the the establishment in 1882 of an inter-hospital challenge competition called the Dublin Hospitals Cup. This has been run on a continuous basis for the past 140 years. A history of the competition, The Hospital Pass, has now been published. It details the remarkable association of Trinity and the medical profession with the development of rugby in Ireland. A Trinity medical graduate, William Cox Neville played a key role in the establishment of the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), and was responsible for the all-Ireland organisation of the sport. A pivotal meeting arranged by Neville took place in 1878 in house number 9 in Trinity. At this time, rugby in Ireland was governed by two unions, one based in Ulster called the Northern Union and the second representing the rest of Ireland, the Irish Football Union. At the meeting it was agreed by representatives of the two unions to amalgamate, forming the IRFU. The role of Neville in the origin of the IRFU has received little attention; he went on to captain Ireland in 1879 and later was appointed President of the IRFU. Neville was among the first of 50 Trinity medical and dental students who played international rugby for Ireland, six captaining the side. All played in the Dublin Hospitals Cup competition and were also members of DUFC. Many became household names. They include the Clinch family with four generations involved.
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