Irish code-breaker O’Flanagan passes

MICHAEL O’FLANAGAN’S call to i nternational arms to play England at Dalymount could only have happened of its t i me, September, 1946.

Working at his Marlborough Street pub after lunch, O’Flanagan took a ‘phone call from a selector asking him to report for duty at Phibsborough later that day’ as Ireland were a man short.

As O’Flanagan (below) l ater recalled, his preparation wasn’t i deal. ‘ I went home to Terenure for a bite to eat, had a short rest and then headed off to Dalymount.

‘It was not really sufficient notice as only the previous evening I had brought a party of English journalists to Templeogue Tennis Club and I hadn’t got home until nearly two in the morning.’

Unflappable, O’Flanagan arrived at Dalyer, armed with boots, and played alongside his brother Kevin as Ireland lost 1-0 to a late Tom Finney goal.

O’Flanagan’s passing yesterday, just shy of his 93rd birthday, has robbed Irish sport of one its most remarkable trail-blazers.

O’Flanagan was a stalwart of the Bohemians team of the early 40s, scoring 31 goals in 31 games in the 1940-41 season. He joined Lansdowne RFC in 1947 and played centre f or Ireland against Scotland in the Grand Slam year of 1948. Uniquely, the O’Flanagans remain the only brothers to play football and rugby at senior level for Ireland.

Ar dheis Dé, go raibh ar anam.