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

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player and

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner 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 ...

. 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 and Wanderers - wer ...

and international rugby for

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, 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, generally with a wire ring around the circumference that can be attached to a string or wire. The other ...

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) ( ga, Cumann Rugbaí na hÉireann) 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 ...

.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 Six Nations Championship, Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 8 January and 12 March. It was contested by England national rugby union team, England, ...

against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. 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 country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

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

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

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

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

Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road Stadium ( ga, Bóthar Lansdún, ) 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 ...

, 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 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 tournaments, the Scottish Open and Welsh Open, with two newly created tourname ...

a draw at home to Wales and a narrow away loss to England. In 1891 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 s ...

in Wales, and given to

Robert Stevenson Robert Stevenson may refer to: * Robert Stevenson (actor and politician) (1915–1975), American actor and politician * Robert Stevenson (civil engineer) (1772–1850), Scottish lighthouse engineer * Robert Stevenson (director) (1905–1986), Engl ...

. 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 A drop goal, field goal, or dropped goal is a method of scoring points in rugby union and rugby league and also, rarely, in American football and Canadian football. A drop goal is scored by drop kicking the ball (dropping the ball and then kicki ...

, 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 o ...

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

* *

External links

Dolway Walkington player profile
Scrum.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Walkington, Dolway 1867 births 1926 deaths Rugby union players from Belfast Ireland international rugby union players Irish rugby union players Rugby union fullbacks Irish solicitors North of Ireland F.C. players Lawyers from Belfast