Eugene O'Donnell Davy (26 July 1904 – 11 November 1996) was an

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 ...

international

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 ...

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

. Davy was born into an affluent family in

County Dublin County Dublin ( or ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and holds its capital city, Dublin. It is located on the island's east coast, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Until 1994, County Dubli ...

on 26 July 1904.http://sv1.sotic.net/scrum/players.php?player=23770&includeref=dynamic He was one of nine surviving children of Thomas Davy, a merchant, and his wife Alice. According to 1911 Irish census, both Davy's parents were originally from

County Tipperary County Tipperary () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary (tow ...

and his family were living at 29 Terenure Road East,

Rathgar Rathgar () is a suburb of Dublin, 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 (off ...

. He attended

Belvedere College Belvedere College Society of Jesus, S.J. (sometimes St Francis Xavier's College) is a fee-paying voluntary secondary school for boys in Dublin, Ireland. Formally established in 1832 at Hardwicke Street in north inner city Dublin, the school was ...

where he was a contemporary of

Kevin Barry Kevin Gerard Barry (20 January 1902 – 1 November 1920) was an Irish Republican Army (IRA) soldier and medical student who was executed by the British Government during the Irish War of Independence. He was sentenced to death for his part in a ...

. He attended

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

and captained the university rugby team in the 1925–26 season. Davy's club side was

Lansdowne Football Club Lansdowne Football Club, is a rugby union team based in Dublin, Ireland. Called Football Club instead of Rugby Football Club due to being founded before the formation of the IRFU. It was founded in 1872 by Henry Dunlop as the ''Irish Champion Ath ...

. The club won the Leinster Senior Cup five consecutive times from 1927 to 1931 and the Bateman Cup (the all-Ireland championship) on three occasions between 1928–29 and 1930–31. He won 34 international caps for

between

1925 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...

and

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

. His debut was on 14 March 1925 against

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 ...

. He played his final international 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 ...

on 10 February 1934. In his international career he scored eight tries and three drop goals and was part of the Irish team that shared the 1926 Five Nations Championship. In

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on J ...

he made history by scoring three tries in eight minutes in a 14–11 win over

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 ...

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen, Saughtonhall and Roseburn. The A8 road (Scotland), A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murra ...

. As of January 2009, he is among the top twenty try-scorers in Irish rugby history. He was manager of Ireland on their victorious 1967 tour of Australia. He also served as president of the

IRFU IRFU or Irfu may refer to: * Irish Rugby Football Union, The Irish rugby football union (IRFU), is the national rugby association of Ireland *Interprovincial Rugby Football Union, a four-team league that merged with the Westerm Interprovincial Rugb ...

in 1967–68. In 1926 Davy and his brother James founded

Davy Stockbrokers Davy Group is Ireland's largest stockbroker, wealth manager, asset manager and financial advisor and has offices in Dublin, Belfast, Cork (city), Cork, Galway and London. Davy offers services to private clients, small businesses, corporations an ...

, now one of Ireland's leading providers of financial services. He died on 11 November 1996, aged 92. In 1999 UCD inaugurated the 'Davy Bursary' in his honour. He was one of thirty-two former Belvedere pupils profiled in Oliver Murphy's book ''Belvedere’s Rugby Heroes'' (2006).

Footnotes

External links

A photograph of the Irish team that played England in 1926, Davy is first on the left in the front row.

Davy's international career statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davy, Eugene 1904 births 1996 deaths Alumni of University College Dublin Irish rugby union players Ireland international rugby union players Ireland national rugby union team captains Rugby union players from Dublin (city) Irish rugby union coaches Rugby union fly-halves University College Dublin R.F.C. players Lansdowne Football Club players People educated at Belvedere College People from Rathmines Stockbrokers Irish sports executives and administrators Rugby union executives