Dolway Bell Walkington (25 January 1867 – 18 April 1926) was an Irish

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player and

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

. Walkington played club rugby for

North of Ireland FC North of Ireland Football Club is a former Irish rugby union club that was based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was the first rugby club formed in what is now Northern Ireland and only two other clubs - Dublin University Football Club, Dublin ...

and international rugby for

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, winning eight

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

. Although captaining Ireland twice, he is more often remembered for his poor eyesight and the fact that he occasionally wore a

monocle A monocle is a type of corrective lens used to correct or enhance the visual perception in only one eye. It consists of a circular lens placed in front of the eye and held in place by the eye socket itself. Often, to avoid losing the monoc ...

while playing, removing it when required to make a tackle.Rugbyfootballhistory.com
Apparel - UniformGodwin (1984), 29.

Rugby career

Walkington was born in Belfast in 1867. His brother, Robert Walkington, was an Irish international player before him, and later became the President of the

Irish Rugby Union The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) () is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland (both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ground at Aviva Stadium, where a ...

.Griffiths (1987), 3:3. The brothers never represented Ireland together, Robert playing between 1875 and 1881, and Walkington from 1887 until 1891. Walkington was first called to play for Ireland in the country's opening game of the

1887 Home Nations Championship The 1887 Home Nations Championship was the fifth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 8 January and 12 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Scotland won the championshi ...

against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It was an historic game, as Ireland beat the English for the very first time, after 12 unsuccessful attempts. Walkington missed the next game of the tournament at home to

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, but was reselected in the final game which saw Ireland lose to

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

. The Irish team and Walkington had their revenge the next year when Wales were beaten at

Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road Stadium (, ) was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for the Aviva Stadium on ...

, but it would be two years until Walkington played for Ireland again. He did not play the final game of the 1888 Championship, none of the 1889 tournament and also missed the touring Māoris. In 1890 he was selected in the final two games of the

Home Nations series The Home Nations Series, also known as the BetVictor Home Nations Series for sponsorship reasons, is a snooker tournament series in the four home nations of the United Kingdom. It began in the 2016–17 snooker season, combining two existing tou ...

a draw at home to Wales and a narrow away loss to England. In

1891 Events January * January 1 ** A strike of 500 Hungarian steel workers occurs; 3,000 men are out of work as a consequence. **Germany takes formal possession of its new African territories. * January 4 – The Earl of Zetland issues a ...

he was given the captaincy of the national team and for the first time played an entire Home Nations campaign. Unfortunately Ireland suffered extremely heavy defeats in the first two games, with Scotland and England both running in five tries and Ireland failing to score in either. The captaincy was removed from him for the final game, played at

Stradey Park Stradey Park (Welsh: ''Parc y Strade'') was a rugby union stadium located near the centre of the town of Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It was the home of the Scarlets region and Llanelli RFC rugby teams. The stadium was a combination of ...

in Wales, and given to

Robert Stevenson Robert, Rob, or Bob Stevenson may refer to: * Robert Stevenson (civil engineer) (1772–1850), Scottish lighthouse engineer * Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894), Scottish writer ("Treasure Island"), grandson of lighthouse engineer Robert Stevenso ...

. The match was a far closer affair than the previous two games, with a failed Irish conversion being the difference between the loss they suffered and the draw they could have taken. Walkington scored his only international points during this match with a dropped goal, equaled by Wales'

Billy Bancroft William James Bancroft (2 March 1871 – 3 March 1959) was a Welsh international fullback, who played club rugby for Swansea, and a county cricketer for Glamorgan, for whom he was the first professional player in 1895. Bancroft was seen as ...

during the game. Walkington was described as "one of the best fullbacks produced by Ireland before the turn of the century", but only in bright conditions. His poor eyesight hindered him as the light failed when "his delicate sight tells terribly against him".Griffiths (1987), 3:7.

Notes

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walkington, Dolway 1867 births 1926 deaths Rugby union players from Belfast Ireland international rugby union players Ireland national rugby union team captains Irish rugby union players Rugby union fullbacks Irish solicitors North of Ireland F.C. players Lawyers from Belfast