Donough O'Brien (29 August 1879 – 23 September 1953) was a Welsh-born Irish
cricketer
Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
.
Background
O'Brien was born in
Holyhead
Holyhead (; , "Cybi's fort") is a historic port town, and is the list of Anglesey towns by population, largest town and a Community (Wales), community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales. Holyhead is on Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island ...
,
Anglesey
Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...
,
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
. He was a cousin of the Gwynn brothers, a famous Irish cricket family.
Three of them also represented Ireland at
cricket
Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
. His nephew,
Luke White played for
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...
.
Playing career
A right-handed batsman,
O'Brien made his
first-class debut playing for
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
against
Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
in May 1902.
[First-class matches played by Donough O'Brien at Cricket Archive](_blank)
/ref> This is his only match for Ireland.
He later played twice for the MCC against Oxford University
The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
, in 1906 and 1907.
He died in Alexandria
Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
, Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
[Cricket Archive profile](_blank)
/ref>)
References
1879 births
1953 deaths
Irish cricketers
Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
People from Holyhead
Sportspeople from Anglesey
{{Ireland-cricket-bio-stub