James Cecil Parke (26 July 1881 – 27 February 1946) was an Irish

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 it ...

player, tennis player, golfer, solicitor and

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

veteran. He became an Olympic silver medallist, Davis Cup champion, Wimbledon Mixed Doubles winner and Australasian Championships winner in both Singles and Doubles. He has often been referred to as Ireland's greatest ever sportsman.

Early life

James Parke was born in the town of

Clones Clone or Clones or Cloning or Cloned or The Clone may refer to: Places * Clones, County Fermanagh * Clones, County Monaghan, a town in Ireland Biology * Clone (B-cell), a lymphocyte clone, the massive presence of which may indicate a pathologi ...

located in

County Monaghan County Monaghan ( ; ga, Contae Mhuineacháin) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Ulster and is part of Border strategic planning area of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Monaghan. Monaghan County C ...

, Ireland. He was one of eight children to Emily (nee Pringle) and William Parke. When he was nine years old, Parke played for his hometown's chess team. He attended the Portora Royal School in

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from ga, Inis Ceithleann , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,823 a ...

and after graduation he attended Trinity college to study law. Having been a part of the Irish golf team in 1906, Parke was also considered a top-class track and field sprinter and a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er.

Rugby career

From 1901 to 1908, Parke played on the rugby teams of Monkstown, Dublin University. He also played on the provincial level for

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of ...

. Between 1903 and 1909, he also played in twenty games for the Irish national team. Parke captained Ireland on three occasions. He helped Ireland win two of their three 1906 Home Nations matches, resulting in a shared championship with Wales. In his final international cap, Parke kicked a penalty and a conversion to help seal a 19–8 victory in Ireland's first match against France.

Tennis career

As a tennis player, Parke was a baseliner whose best shot was a running down-the-line forehand. Through his career, Parke achieved a number of feats. Having already became the European singles champion in 1907, Parke later won a silver medal in the 1908 Olympics in men's doubles, the Australian men's singles and doubles tennis titles in 1912, and the Wimbledon mixed doubles title in 1914. He won eight Irish Lawn Tennis Singles titles, four doubles and two mixed titles. Parke was ranked world No. 4 in both 1913 and 1920 by A. Wallis Myers of

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

.United States Lawn Tennis Association (1972). ''Official Encyclopedia of Tennis'' (First Edition), p. 422. He was described as having the strongest claim to the "championships of the world" by P.A. Vaile for the 1914 season. Having already played in the Davis Cup (then known as the International Lawn Tennis Challenge), he defeated

Norman Brookes Sir Norman Everard Brookes (14 November 187728 September 1968) was an Australian tennis player. During his career he won three Grand Slam singles titles; Wimbledon in 1907 and 1914 (the first non-British individual to do so) and the Austral ...

and Rodney Heath in the Challenge Round on 28–30 November 1912, helping the British Isles capture the Cup in one of his greatest accomplishments. The following year he beat

Maurice McLoughlin Maurice Evans McLoughlin (January 7, 1890 – December 10, 1957) was an American tennis player. Known for his powerful serve, overhead, and volley, McLoughlin was the first male tennis champion from the western United States. Biography He was ...

and Richard Norris Williams in the Challenge Round on 25–28 July 1913. However, the British Isles lost the meeting against the USA. Parke wore a four-leaved shamrock during every match he played.

Military

At the outset of World War 1, Parke enlisted in the Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians) with the rank of captain (1914), before switching to the Essex regiment where he was promoted to Major in 1917. He was wounded twice, at Gallipoli and on the Western front.

Personal life

Parke married Sybil Smith in 1918 and moved to her hometown of Llandudno,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

in 1920 where he joined Chamberlain and Johnson law practice. He died in Llandudno in 1946 following a heart attack.

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 title

Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Mixed doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Parke, James Cecil 1881 births 1946 deaths Australasian Championships (tennis) champions British male tennis players Dublin University Football Club players Ireland international rugby union players Irish male golfers Irish male tennis players Irish rugby union players Leinster Rugby players Monkstown Football Club players Olympic tennis players of Great Britain Sportspeople from County Monaghan Tennis players at the 1908 Summer Olympics Wimbledon champions (pre-Open Era) Olympic medalists in tennis Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's singles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics World number 1 ranked male tennis players Rugby union players from County Monaghan Rugby union centres