Vintage Footage
Vintage Footage
A quick search of the term ‘ireland rugby’ gives you access to a wealth of footage inlcuding such gems as Cork Constitution against Bective from 1921 and some classic Ireland matches captured on newsreel.
For the full list visit British Pathé on youtube – click here
The British Pathé archive includes club, provinicial and international footage ranging from the 1920s to the 1970s including this one from 1922 featuring Queens against UCC in the Dudley Cup
Famed Irish poet Louis MacNeice wrote a poem entitled 'Rugby Football Excusion' about his trip from London to Dublin to watch Ireland play England in 1938.
The poem tells the story of MacNeice’s journey from London to Dublin to watch the match and evokes the trip by train and boat to Lansdowne Road.
England ruled the roost that day and MacNeice perfectly captures the unusually high-scoring flavour of the match:
Lansdowne Road – the swirl of flags and faces
Gilbert and Sullivan music, emerald jerseys;
Spire and crane beyond remind the mind on furlough
of Mersey’s cod and Rome’s.
Eccentric scoring – Nicholson, Marshall and Unwin,
Replies by Bailey and Daly;
Rugs around our shins, the effortless place-kick
Gaily carving the goalposts.
Highlights of the match – showing the scoring sequence as described and even the ‘rugs around our shins’ – can be seen in this footage from British Pathé news: