Page 141 - Gonzaga Record 1950-59
P. 141
Rugby
‘Sport was a less successful part of the early Gonzaga,’
Charles Lysaght wrote in 1985, ‘giving the school an image
of being a slightly precious place devoted to things of the
mind.’ He follows this assertion with the immediate
qualification that the number of pupils was too small to
compete with larger and long-established schools in rugby.
He lists the usual opponents in the early years as Belvedere
seconds, St Paul’s Raheny, De La Salle (?), Monkstown
Park and St Conleth’s. The view from the perspective of
nearly 65 years later is clearly different, even if a victory in
either the Leinster Senior or Junior Cup competitions still
eludes us.
Nevertheless, the College can claim to have seen
players of great distinction pass through its hands during the
‘fifties: brothers Con and Tom Feighery and Vincent Becker
(all left the school during the first decade), and Barry
Bresnihan (’62). Tony Ensor (’68) too shed the last of his
milk teeth as a player on Gonzaga pitches in the late ‘fifties.
Their international achievements are recorded in Gonzaga
at Sixty (see section on Rugby).
As mentioned earlier at the end of the brief obituary
note on Barry Bresnihan, the College is very pleased to have
in its possession four scrap-books in which he collected
records of his career as an international for Ireland and also
of his two tours with the Lions. These were purchased for
the archive by Garrett Sheehan (’64) and his generosity is
acknowledged with gratitude.
140
‘Sport was a less successful part of the early Gonzaga,’
Charles Lysaght wrote in 1985, ‘giving the school an image
of being a slightly precious place devoted to things of the
mind.’ He follows this assertion with the immediate
qualification that the number of pupils was too small to
compete with larger and long-established schools in rugby.
He lists the usual opponents in the early years as Belvedere
seconds, St Paul’s Raheny, De La Salle (?), Monkstown
Park and St Conleth’s. The view from the perspective of
nearly 65 years later is clearly different, even if a victory in
either the Leinster Senior or Junior Cup competitions still
eludes us.
Nevertheless, the College can claim to have seen
players of great distinction pass through its hands during the
‘fifties: brothers Con and Tom Feighery and Vincent Becker
(all left the school during the first decade), and Barry
Bresnihan (’62). Tony Ensor (’68) too shed the last of his
milk teeth as a player on Gonzaga pitches in the late ‘fifties.
Their international achievements are recorded in Gonzaga
at Sixty (see section on Rugby).
As mentioned earlier at the end of the brief obituary
note on Barry Bresnihan, the College is very pleased to have
in its possession four scrap-books in which he collected
records of his career as an international for Ireland and also
of his two tours with the Lions. These were purchased for
the archive by Garrett Sheehan (’64) and his generosity is
acknowledged with gratitude.
140
