AD ‘Coo’ Clinch was capped in 1892 and his more famous son Jammie Clinch was capped in 1923; two further generations, Jim and Paul both captained DUFC and Paul played high level representative rugby for Ireland. Larry Bulger and his brother Michael, prominent members of DUFC, were capped for Ireland (in 1896 and 1888 respectively) and in Larry’s case played for a British side touring South Africa, a forerunner of the Lions touring side. Denis Cussen, who played on the wing for Ireland, held the record for the 100 yards sprint and competed in the Olympics in 1928. Several other Hospitals Cup players excelled in other sports, with three others competing in the 1928 Olympics and a few winning all-Ireland Gaelic football medals. Frank Stoker won the Wimbledon doubles tennis trophy in 1890 and 1893 and Kevin O’Flanagan was a dual soccer and rugby international player. In more recent times, Paddy Johns who studied dentistry, was a stalwart member of the Ireland side (capped in 1990) and one of the first to join the professional ranks. In addition to Trinity graduates, many medical and dental students who attended University College Dublin (UCD) and Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) hospitals were also capped for their country and in some instances became Lions tourists. In this latter group the names Karl Mullen, Bill Mulcahy and Barry Bresnihan stand out. The inaugural Dublin Hospitals Cup final took place in Lansdowne Road in March 1882 and involved two Trinity associated hospitals with the Meath Hospital defeating Sir Patrick Dun’s Hospital, scoring 5-3. A cup designed by world renowned silversmith Paul Storr was purchased and is awarded annually to the winning side. It is the oldest and most valuable trophy in Irish sport. A highly decorated Cup winners silver medal was also designed and awarded to the winning side. Although Trinity hospitals dominated the competition in earlier decades, in time the two UCD hospitals, the Mater and St Vincent’s and teams from the RCSI hospitals (now Beaumont) were frequently victorious. The Dental hospital, now Trinity based, achieved 8 notable victories over the years. This included a famous three-in-a row success in the late 1950s. In the team were several highly talented players including Roly Meates who went on to successfully coach DUFC for almost 30 years, and also coach Leinster and Ireland. The Hospital Pass records the 140 years of the cup competition, suspended only on two occasions - during World War One from 1915 to 1919 when many players joined the armed services with several losing their lives; and in 2020 because of the COVID pandemic. Archived records of the competition have been carefully maintained over the years. In addition, generous coverage of the tournament in newspapers, especially in the 1950 to 1980 period, provide many details of individual games and the team sheets of players who played in the final. These full team details are all included in the book, as are many team and other relevant photographs.
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