) was an Irish rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 player and cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

er. He was a right-handed batsman.

Playing career

Primarily noted for his bowling prowess during early outings with the Dublin University

Dublin University Cricket Club

Dublin University Cricket Club is a cricket team in Ireland. They currently play in the Leinster Senior League, and in the past had first-class status, and played against several sides that were touring England, including the Australians , South Africans and West Indians .Their first first-class...

 XI, Gwynn took 44 wickets at an average of 8.14 in Trinity's

Dublin University Cricket Club

Dublin University Cricket Club is a cricket team in Ireland. They currently play in the Leinster Senior League, and in the past had first-class status, and played against several sides that were touring England, including the Australians , South Africans and West Indians .Their first first-class...

 annus mirabilis of 1893, a season which witnessed victories over Leicestershire

Leicestershire County Cricket Club

Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland....

, Oxford University

Oxford University Cricket Club

Oxford University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team, representing the University of Oxford. It plays its home games at the University Parks in Oxford, England...

, Warwickshire

Warwickshire County Cricket Club

Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Warwickshire. Its limited overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears. Their kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor...

 (dismissed for a paltry total of 15 runs) and a draw against Essex

Essex County Cricket Club

Essex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Essex. Its limited overs team is called the Essex Eagles, their team colours this season are blue.The club plays most of its home games...

.

Gwynn, who recorded the highest first class average (56.87) amongst those batsmen who completed ten innings or more during the English season of 1895, enjoyed another remarkably productive season in 1896, plundering over a thousand runs in Trinity flannels, a superlative effort complemented by a haul of 93 wickets at 9.37. Gwynn's irrepressible form reputedly earned him an invitation to represent England against Australia in the second Ashes

The Ashes

The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...

 Test at Old Trafford in July 1896. However, concurrent university examinations rendered Gwynn unable to participate. Instead, English cricket was introduced to the wizardry of K.S. Ranjitsinhji, who took Gwynn's place.

He made his debut for Ireland

Irish cricket team

The Ireland cricket team is the cricket team representing all of Ireland. Because of political difficulties, the Irish Cricket Union was not elected to the International Cricket Council until 1993, and qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 2007. The Irish Cricket Union is the...

 against I Zingari

I Zingari

I Zingari are English and Australian amateur cricket clubs.-History:...

 in July 1892 and went onto play for Ireland 13 times, his last game coming in May 1902 against the MCC

Marylebone Cricket Club

Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...

. Two of his matches for Ireland had first-class

First-class cricket

First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...

 status.

He also played first-class cricket in two Gentlemen v Players

Gentlemen v Players

The Gentlemen v Players game was a first-class cricket match that was generally played on an annual basis between one team consisting of amateurs and one of professionals . The first two games took place in 1806 but the fixture was not revived until 1819. It was more or less annual thereafter...

 matches, representing the gentlemen, and four matches for Dublin University

Dublin University Cricket Club

Dublin University Cricket Club is a cricket team in Ireland. They currently play in the Leinster Senior League, and in the past had first-class status, and played against several sides that were touring England, including the Australians , South Africans and West Indians .Their first first-class...

 in 1895, for whom he made his top score of 153 not out against Leicestershire

Leicestershire County Cricket Club

Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland....

. In all, he amassed 3,195 runs and 311 wickets for Dublin University, in addition to 499 runs and 14 wickets for Ireland.

Rugby Union

Remarkably, Gwynn also represented Ireland

Ireland national rugby union team

The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...

 seven times at rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

, debuting against Scotland

Scotland national rugby union team

The Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...

 at Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

 in February 1893. He featured in all three legs of Ireland's 1894 Triple Crown

Triple Crown (Rugby Union)

In rugby union, the Triple Crown is an honour contested annually by the four national teams of the British Isles who compete within the larger Six Nations Championship: England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. If any one team manages to win all their games against the other three they win the...

-winning campaign.

Death

Lucius Gwynn was diagnosed with tuberculosis

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...

 late in 1902. He finally succumbed to the disease on December 23 1902, in the care of a Swiss sanatorium

Sanatorium

A sanatorium is a medical facility for long-term illness, most typically associated with treatment of tuberculosis before antibiotics...

 which had vainly attempted to restore him to health. He was 29 years old.

Family

Two of his brothers also represented Ireland at cricket (Arthur

Arthur Gwynn

Arthur Percival Gwynn was an Irish cricketer and rugby union player.-Career:Gwynn was born in Ramelton, County Donegal, Ireland...

 and Robert

Robert Gwynn

Robert Malcom Gwynn was an Irish cricketer. A right-handed batsman and right-arm slow bowler, he played once for the Ireland cricket team in 1901 and also played four first-class matches for Dublin University in 1895.-Playing career:Gwynn made his first-class debut for Dublin University against...

) as did his cousin Donough O'Brien. A third brother, John

John Tudor Gwynn

John Tudor Gwynn was an Irish cricketer. He did not represent the Ireland cricket team internationally, and played his cricket in India, representing the "Europeans" in two first-class matches against the "Indians" in 1919 and 1920.Gwynn came from a cricketing family...

 played first-class cricket in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, and his nephew John

John David Gwynn

John David Gwynn ) was an Irish cricketer.Gwynn was born in County Dublin, Ireland. A right-handed batsman, he played one first-class match for Dublin University against Northamptonshire in July 1926, a match that also featured the Irish playwright Samuel Beckett.-Family:Gwynn came from a...

 also played for Dublin University.

See also

• List of Irish cricket and rugby union players