Simon Coyle recently came upon two extremely rare photographs that were saved from destruction by a very diligent individual. 

Liam Farrell from Ratoath in Co. Meath who works with Hegarty Demolition, was doing a renovation / demolition job on an old building and spotted two photographs heading for the skip. He kept them in his shed for sometime and recently came accross them again. Liam took the conscious decision to research them and found the historic link to the Barbarians and Lansdowne Football Club. 

Doing his own research, Liam identified J.J. Coffey as being a pivotal member of LFC but he also realised poignancy of the fact that several members of the 1903 cup winning side actually went on to fight in World War 1 and never returned. These members names are immortalised on the Great War Memorial hanging in the clubhouse today. Many thanks to Liam for his diligence and his kindness in giving these back to the club.

On a further note, Simon and his team should be congratulated on the effort involved in restoring the memorial to its original condition. If you haven’t seen it yet, stop for a minute and cast your eye upwards in the lobby.

LFC Leinster Senior Cup 1903

Lansdowne Leinster Senior Cup winners 1903.

The players listed as killed in action here are W.P. Bridge, R.S. Swan & W.J. Law. 

barbarians 1909 cardiff

1909 Barbarians FC tour to Newport, Cardiff and Leicester. JJ Coffey won his Barbarians cap here at Cardiff