BROTHERS IN ARMS, By Ger Siggins
It is all Heatley’s fault. Forty-eight hours after Pembroke snatched the Leinster Premier League from Merrion in a thriller, the Tector Don texted me.
‘Three brothers win the Leinster senior league with one club and the following year win with another club. Done before?’
And there he left it, ticking round my head like a timebomb. I was confident that it never been done before, but wondered how many threesomes had won a league together.
I resisted for two days before taking a deep dive into Derek Scott’s league records, subsequently updated by Gerry Byrne and Paul Reynolds, but came up with quite a few more than I expected.
Firstly, Jack, Harry and Tim’s back to back leagues (YMCA 2023, Pembroke 2024) is unprecedented, although Joe, Johnny and Peter Byrne (Leinster 1998, Pembroke 2002) also won a league with two clubs.
The very first trio to win a league were one of the most distinguished of Irish cricket families, the Pigots of Phoenix. In 1924 David, Tom and Jim turned out for the champions, although DR only played twice and the others once each.
The following season they were joined by Joe, although only DR was a regular.
The Phoenix Park club provided the next set, the fabled Quinns, all four of whom played for Ireland. Frank, Gerry and Paddy all played in the 1936 side, and were still there twenty years later for another title. In between they also collected winners medals in 1942, 1943 and 1949. For the last four of their five leagues they were joined by a fourth brother Kevin, who was also a rugby international.
The Carroll brothers, Francis, Gerry and Michael, were all on Clontarf’s 1961 league winning side, while the 1971 Malahide champions included Seán, Gerry and Barry O’Brien.
It was nearly 20 years before another trio of brothers won a league, and it was the maiden title for the Hills who included Matt, Mick and Willie in 1989. The latter had a peripatetic career but was back at the Vineyard alongside his big brothers to win the 2008 league.
Adrian, Matt and Conor D’Arcy played on Clontarf sides during the 2007 and 2009 winning seasons.
The next up were the Tuckers, Diarmaid, Fiachra and Lorcan, who won the league in 2019, and joined up with the Tectors this year – the first time TWO sets of three have been champions.
So it's a short list: Pigot, Quinn, Carroll, O'Brien, Dwyer, Byrne, D'Arcy, Tucker and Tector. Who's next?
