Family Traditions. Since the ground opened on Valentine Whelan’s dairy farm in 1904, there has been a remarkable loyalty of certain families to the club, with the Whelan torch passing on to Billy and Moya, to Frank and Maurice and now to Roger and Heather. From the emergence of Brendan (Ginger) O’Brien in the 1950s we have had all five of Brendan and Camilla’s sons, Paul, Gerard, Conor, Niall and Kevin playing for the Firsts and daughter Ciara, an established hockey international, playing on the women’s teams. We have had two generations of O’Mearas since the late Joey, who left us so early, grew up with Ginger in the 1950s. Three of Joey and Valerie’s sons, Gareth, Graeme and Gregory have played Firsts. While it is some years now since Declan Tanham retired, an incredible eleven Tanhams played Firsts from 1940 to Declan’s retirement some twenty years ago, while Violet was a pioneer of the first Women’s team in the 1940s. Ever-present has been Derek Scott, who, since 1948, has been our representative on the Leinster Cricket Union Executive. Derek was assistant honorary secretary of the Irish Cricket Union from 1953 to 1974 and then honorary secretary from 1974 to 1997. He was president of the ICU for 2001, the third Railway Union man to achieve this distinction, following Leonard Amoroso, 1953, and Kyrie Tanham, 1967. Frank Whelan, a player and administrator of impeccable Railway tradition and loyalty, is the current President-elect of the Leinster Cricket Union. Other members have made significant inputs in administration and coaching at the provincial and national levels over the years, including Brendan O’Brien, Rodney Molins, one of several new members whom we welcomed, with Desmond Watson their invaluable scorer, when the Carlisle Club closed down, Denzil Tipping, Joey O’Meara and Graham Guthrie. Promotion to the senior ranks!  We experienced the light of chiaroscuro when, in 1904, cricket was one of the original clubs founded at Park Avenue. We were promoted to senior ranks in 1911. There were no leagues then but, in 1918, the Seconds won the Intermediate Cup. When the Senior League was inaugurated in 1919, we were a founder member.Our best player then was Louis Bookman who scored many fine centuries and played for Ireland on 14 occasions between 1920 and 1930. He went to Leinster after receiving an unfortunate knock on the head. The chiaroscuro light returned when the Firsts, captained by Kyrie Tanham, won the Intermediate Cup in 1939. In 1940 we entered the new Senior Railway, As a junior team, we played in the Senior Cup and Billy Whelan, on debut, took six for nine, including a hat-trick in the cup match against Civil Service at Park Avenue in 1940. We should also recall that in 1946 the Thirds, captained by Eddie Hayes, won the double of Minor Cup and League. Chiaroscuro, alas, was soon to switch again. Our batting was weak and we struggled for some years, but Kyrie Tanham and Billy Whelan continued to play Firsts until the late 1950s. Many good cricketers joined us in the 40s and 50s, including Leonard Amoroso, Des Tubbert, Dermot McNeaney, Barney Colgan, Kevin Dempsey, Johnny Lombard, Ken Ayling, Eddie Tew, Frank Miller, Don Banks, Niall McConnell, Noel Fitzsimons, Gerry Harvey, Garry Connolly, Edgar Pigot and Michael Brennan. Great Teams of the sixties!  The tide turned again during the late 1950s, when our schoolboys, most of them from the Sandymount area, won the leagues at all age levels. They included Dessie Byrne, Brendan O’Brien, Joey O’Meara, Des, Brian and John Donnelly, Leo Behan, Kevin Brennan, Jim MacKenzie and Brian Grehan. In 1960, captained by Derek Scott, we won the Senior League for the first time. The bowlers were dominant with Niall McConnell taking 70 wickets for 788 runs and Edgar Pigot finishing with 40 wickets for 583 runs. In 1961, we were defeated by Trinity College in the Senior Cup final at Sydney Parade, and Graeme Guthrie, soon to be one of our own, scored 73. The next year, 1962, the League was won again under the captaincy of Edgar Pigot. Further glory followed with the winning of the Leinster Senior Cup in 1967, when Brendan O’Brien was captain. Brendan was by this stage established on the Irish team becoming, with Joey O’Meara, the only Railway man to be capped during those years. Joey O’Meara’s incredible bowling in 1962 when he took 6 for 3 against Malahide, 4 for 19 against Clontarf and 7 for 58 against Phoenix was rewarded with caps for Ireland in 1963. Frank Miller, of course, had won all of his 16 caps with Railway between 1949 and 1955.  Brendan O’Brien continued, for nearly another forty years, as our pre-eminent run machine, achieving more runs and appearances than anybody else ever in Leinster Senior cricket. During the 1960s, the Seconds won the Cup in 1963 and Section A of the League in 1967. The late Niall McConnell, consistent over thirty years, accumulated more wickets than any Railway bowler, before or since, to finish in 1978 with 1033 wickets, exactly the same as Gerry Kirwan of Clontarf was to achieve, but behind the invincible Jimmy Boucher who finished with 1313 wickets. Niall then played for Wexford Wanderers for several more years. We had the imperious Irish international wicket-keeper, Frank Miller, in the 1950s and he was followed by Dessie Byrne who, over a 32 year career from 1955 to 1987, had a total of 478 dismissals which, uniquely, were made up of more stumpings (254) than catches (224). The current Irish wicket-keeper is Niall O’Brien, who, in 2003, with Kent, was the first Railway member to win an English county contract. The1970s were years of relative shade, and none of the men’s sides won anything, but they saw the introduction of the Fourths, soon to be followed by a Fifths where the usual captain, Fred Austin, never needed a new ball, the old black one, with its seamless magic, being made to last a whole season. There was also a Sixths from 1984 to 1989. Success at Junior Level!  While the men’s Firsts did not win a senior trophy from 1967 until the promotion as winners of Section B in the Belvedere Bond League in 1994, the Junior teams were inspired by people like Neville Clarke, Rangan, Graham Chisholm, Fred Austin, Brian Cross,  Dave Moore and  Eddie Tillain. Numerous trophies were won: Seconds - Senior 3 League in 1980, Senior 2 Cup in 1986, Tillain Cup and Senior 2 League in 1987; Thirds - Intermediate A League in 1979, Middle Cup in 1989, Middle A League in 1990, Middle A League and YMCA Salver in 1998, Middle A League in 2000; Fourths - Junior B League and Junior Cup in 1979, Junior A League in 1981 , Intermediate B League in 1982, Intermediate A League and Whelan Cup in 1985, Intermediate A League in 1997, Middle B League in 1998; Fifths - Junior C League in 1981, Minor Cup in 1994. The Sixths did not win any league but were watched by President Ronald Reagan in the Phoenix Park in 1984. The recent decades have seen an increase in the number of awards for playing and for fair play. Winners of playing awards have included Graeme Guthrie, Crawford Tipping, Denzil Tipping, Brendan O’Brien, Ross Wynne and Simon Grehan. Fair play winners included Rodney Green, Rodney Molins, Alan Corcoran, Dwaine Ferriera and Gareth Carroll. Building on our Youth!  The brilliant team of the 1960s arose from the youth team of the 1950s and, likewise, the achievements of to-day are based on the schoolboys of the 1990s, inspired by the dedication of many coaches and helpers, especially Brian Donnelly, David Carroll,  Simon Milton and Elaine Coburn. It all started with the Under Elevens, captained by Roger Whelan, winning the Molins Cup in 1992. Seven members of that team have since represented Ireland at underage levels, Kenneth Caroll U-17 and U-19, Gregory O’Meara U-17, Conor Mullen U-15, Kevin O’Brien U-15, U-17 and U-19, Niall O’Brien, U-15, U-17, U-19, “A” and Full, with 16 senior caps to date and now a full-time professional with Kent CCC, Roger Whelan U-15 and “A”, and Michael Boland U-13 (as a Pembroke player). Kevin O’Brien, in Bangladesh in February-March 2004 for the U-19 World Cup, was called into full senior squad in 2003, and is contracted to the MCC at Lord’s for the coming season. The U-11s won the Molins Cup again in 1994, captained by Kenneth Carroll, and in 1995, under Kevin O’Brien and in 2002, under David Mays. The U-13s won the cup final in 1994 under Roger Whelan and again in 1995 under Mark Bradley. The women return!  Women’s cricket started in Railway Union during the 1940s, led by Violet Tanham and Moya Whelan. They played in the leagues with modest success, but there was a keenly-fought annual match against the schoolboys. Women’s cricket returned in the late 1970s.The Railway women were to be a significant force as both players and administrators, but their record has also been one of chiaroscuro. Numerous league and cup wins and individual players' awards led to the Firsts winning the Pilkington Plate in 1997. The Firsts won the Junior 2  League in 1984, the Junior Cup in 1990, The Division 2 League and the Junior Cup in 1991, the Division 3 League in 1994 and Division 2 League in 1996. The Seconds won the Division 4 League in 1985, Division 3 League in 1987, the Minor Cup in 1992 and the Windmill Leisure Minor Cup in 1993. The youth team won the Under 15 League in 1992 and 1994. Winners of individual trophies include Mary Breen (née McDermott), Helena Carter,  C. Coolican, Nikki Squire, Linda Finnerty, Hilary O’Reilly, Ciara O’Brien, Heather Whelan and Joanne Keeley. Nikki Squire, with 37 Irish caps between 1991 and 2001, captained Ireland on six occasions and was the victorious captain in the European Cup in 2001. She also captained South Leinster and Ulster. Hilary O’Reilly and Sharon Molins captained South Leinster. While, sadly, the women’s team has now gone into the shade, we know the cycle will turn again. Great contributions have been made by such members as Mary Breen, Elaine Coburn, Judy Cohen and Hilary O’Reilly. Mary was president-elect of the IWCU before its amalgamation with the ICU, Elaine Coburn has been president and treasurer of the IWCU. Judy Cohen was the last president of the IWCU in 2001 and has also been secretary. She has been Irish scorer since 1986. Hilary has also served as president and was manager of the Irish team in the 1988 World Cup in Australia. Our Club has had to fight its way for sponsorship so that it can achieve its potential and we have been lucky to benefit from the generosity of such people as Rangan, Paul Barry, Eddie Tillain and Joey O’Meara, among others, who hassled everyone they knew on the highways and the byways and often the fairways. Thanking our sponsors! Our Club has had to fight its way for sponsorship so that it can achieve its potential and we have been lucky to benefit from the generosity of such people as Rangan, Paul Barry, Eddie Tillain and Joey O’Meara, among others, who hassled everyone they knew on the highways and the byways and often the fairways.  We are opening our new century with many more runs ahead of us. While we may have some great days, we shall still not allow the light to dazzle nor the shade to depress. Chiaroscuro it needs both light and shade to achieve its effect. Home  Fixtures  Results   Gallery  Forum  Youth Page  Contacts  Links This website is not owned by Railway Union Cricket Club but has the full support of the Club. Some of the opinions expressed on the website may not be the expressed opinions of the club itself. The information on this web site may not be reproduced in any way without the prior permission of the Webmaster or the Cricket Club. All photography and or graphics used on this website may not be used anywhere else without the prior written consent of the Webmaster or the Cricket club otherwise there may be an infringement of copyright law. © Copyright Railway Union Cricket Club Designed and maintained by John Corcoran.