George Hamlet
George Thomas Hamlet (9 April 1881 - 20 October 1959) was an Irish rugby union international.
| Full name | George Thomas Hamlet | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 9 April 1881 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Balbriggan, Ireland | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 20 October 1959 (aged 78) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Dún Laoghaire, Ireland | ||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
Born in Balbriggan, Hamlet was a forward who played for Old Wesley and earned 30 caps for Ireland from 1902 to 1911, which included a stint as captain.[1] His 30 caps remained an Ireland record until the late 1920s and the most by a player from Fingal for over 100 years.[2] He has the distinction of being the first to lead Ireland in a Test against England at Twickenham and was captain of Ireland's 1911 Five Nations campaign, where they lost only to Wales.[3][4]
Hamlet served as president of the Irish Rugby Football Union in 1926 and 1927. He also co-founded and was president of Balbriggan RFC around this period. His son, also named George, was the longest serving member of Sligo RFC.[5]
References
- "Ollie honoured to join Fingal heroes". Irish Independent. 25 May 2012.
- "Will He Equal Record?". Daily Mirror. 12 February 1927.
- "Solid and rich tradition of rugby in the north east". Meath Chronicle. 4 March 2021.
- Griffiths, John (2020). The Strangest Rugby Quiz Book. Pavilion Books. ISBN 1911622447.
- "George was Rugby Club's longest serving member". Irish Independent. 20 July 2011.