Eugene O'Donnell Davy (26 July 1904 – 11 November 1996) was an Ireland international rugby union fly-half. Davy was born into an affluent family in County Dublin 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 The 1911 Census of Ireland was the last census that covered the whole island of Ireland. Censuses were taken at ten-year intervals from 1821 onwards, but the 1921 census was cancelled due to the Irish War of Independence The Irish War of ...

, both Davy's parents were originally from County Tipperary and his family were living at 29 Terenure Road East, Rathgar. He attended

Belvedere College Belvedere College S.J. (sometimes St Francis Xavier's College) is a voluntary secondary school for boys in Dublin, Ireland. The school has numerous alumni in the arts, politics, sports, science, and business. History Belvedere owes its origin ...

where he was a contemporary of Kevin Barry. He attended University College Dublin and captained the university rugby team in the 1925–26 season. Davy's club side was Lansdowne Football Club. The club won the Leinster Senior Cup five consecutive times from 1927 to 1931 and the

Bateman Cup The All-Ireland Cup, also known as the Bateman Cup, is a knock-out competition for the winners of the four provincial rugby union cups in Ireland. History The Bateman Cup ran from 1922 to 1939 as a competition for the four provincial cup-winners, ...

(the all-Ireland championship) on three occasions between 1928–29 and 1930–31. He won 34 international caps for Ireland 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* January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Italia ...

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. He played his final international against England 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 ...

he made history by scoring three tries in eight minutes in a 14–11 win over Scotland at Murrayfield. 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 in 1967–68. In 1926 Davy and his brother James founded Davy Stockbrokers, 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 Rugby union players from County Dublin 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