Lawrence Bulger
| Full name | Lawrence Quinlivan Bulger | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 5 February 1870 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | County Clare, Republic of Ireland | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 17 March 1928 (aged 58) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Twickenham, England | ||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Blackrock College | ||||||||||||||||||||
| University | Trinity College, Dublin | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Senior career | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Team | Apps | (Points) |
| National team(s) | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Points) |
| 1896–1898 1896 |
Ireland British Isles XV |
8 4 |
(22) (3) |
Lawrence 'Larry' Quinlivan Bulger (5 February 1870 – 17 March 1928) was an Irish rugby union player, athlete and doctor. Bulger played international rugby for Ireland and in 1896 was chosen to represent a British Isles XV in their tour of South Africa. Bulger, who was nicknamed 'Fat Cupid', was described as an elusive runner and a devastating tackler, one of Ireland's outstanding players.
Lawrence Bulger was born in County Clare in 1870. The Bulger family lived in Moore Street, Kilrush, where his father, Daniel Scanlan Bulger, was a woollen merchant and draper and ran a loan office. His mother Anne, née Delany, was from Limerick. Later the Bulgers moved to Dublin, where Daniel was a stockbroker and city councillor. It was a sporting family. Lawrence and his brother Michael were educated at Blackrock College. Both of Lawrence's older brothers, Michael Joseph Bulger and Daniel Delany Bulger, were notable athletes: Michael also played rugby for Ireland and was one of the umpires whose aid disqualified Italian marathon runner Dorando Pietri at the 1908 Olympics; while Daniel was a five time British AAA athletics champion. Lawrence Bulger was an Irish 220-yard sprint champion, and through his connection with athletics was a representative at the Sorbonne in Paris when Pierre de Coubertin suggested the creation of a modern Olympic Games. Bulger was taken ill at Twickenham on Saint Patrick's Day, 1928 and died shortly after leaving the ground. He was 58.
Lawrence Bulger was a member of the Blackrock College side which won the first Leinster Schools Cup in 1887.
After Bulger left Blackrock, he gained entry to Trinity College, Dublin where he studied medicine. While at Trinity he represented Dublin University Football Club and showed a flair for athletics. Bulger was first chosen to represent Ireland while still playing for Dublin University, when he was selected to face England as part of the 1896 Home Nations Championship. Played at Meanwood Road in Leeds, Bulger was part of a victorious Irish team, and managed to appear on the score sheet when he converted both of the Irish tries. He was reselected for the next two games of the tournament, both played at Lansdowne Road, a draw against Scotland and a win over Wales, Bulger scoring another conversion in the later match. Ireland finished the Championship at the top of the table, making Bulger a Home Nations winning player, though he could have been a Triple Crown winner if he had scored from a penalty kick in the Scottish game. Bulger was reselected for the 1897 Championship which was played against only two opponents after Wales withdrew from the IRB due to the Gould Affair. Bulger scored in both games, with a try against Scotland and in the game played at home to England, he became the first Irish player to score a goal from a mark in an international as well as the highest scoring Irishman in the competition to date when another try took his tally for that game to seven points. Bulger's last campaign for Ireland was during the 1898 Home Nations Championship; now playing for Lansdowne. His penalty goal was decisive in the win over England, but he was part of a losing Ireland team in the last two games of the tournament. The match against Wales, at Limerick on 18 March, was his final game for his country.
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