Analysis: with his imposing figure, Dave Gallaher from Ramelton, Co Donegal captained the first-ever New Zealand All Blacks to decisive victory in 1905
As Ireland take on New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup in Paris, it's a good time to remember that one of the greats of New Zealand rugby was born in Ireland. Dave Gallaher hailed from Donegal but ended up captaining the side known as the "Original All Blacks" during their 1905 tour of Europe and North America. Given the tremendous success of the team that he led, he is claimed as Irish and a New Zealander by both countries respectively, having an entry in both the Dictionary of Irish Biography and its New Zealand equivalent.
Born in the town of Ramelton in 1873, he emigrated to New Zealand with his family in 1878 at the age of five. The move seems to have prompted the family name to change from Gallagher to Gallaher. They eventually settled in the town of Katikati in the North Island. Katikati was populated by Maori long before a group of Ulster Scots families settled there in the 1870s.
Gallaher’s father James, who was a shopkeeper in Donegal, worked as a farmer in New Zealand. His mother, Maria, worked as a teacher. The family moved to the city of Auckland around 1889 and it was there that he got his first taste of rugby, joining the Ponsonby Rugby Football Club. He played as a forward and was popular among his comrades. He found work as a labourer and played 26 matches for Auckland between 1896 and 1909.
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From RTÉ Archives, thousands of people turn out in County Donegal for a unique visit by the All Blacks, to honour their first-ever captain Dave Gallaher, who was born in Ramelton, 2005.
An imposing figure, standing at 6ft and weighing in at 13st, Gallaher was chosen by his teammates to captain the New Zealand team which embarked on a tour of Europe and North America in 1905. There are a number of firsts associated with this tour. It was the first time they played outside of Australasia and they wore a strip of black jerseys, shorts and socks, earning them the nickname of the All Blacks. It was also during this tour that the haka was popularised.
They played against Ireland for the first time at Lansdowne Road on November 25th that year, winning by 15-0 in front of around 12,000 spectators. One of the All Blacks was reported to have said that the crowd "seemed almost as pleased at our victory as they would at their own". They won all but one of their 35 matches, losing against Wales by 3-0 in front of a crowd of 40,000 at Cardiff Arms Park in December.
When summing up the All Blacks' 1905 tour in October 1906, a writer in the Irish Times said that while they won their first match in England "by a big score, the Press could not see anything brilliant about their display". The writer claimed that in spite of this, the All Blacks were "were made little gods of and by the time the tour was ended they had made a show of every team of note". Gallaher retired from playing after the tour but remained part of the setup as a selector and coach to the team. In all, he played 36 games for the All Blacks and captained the side on 13 occasions.
Even though it was fought thousands of kilometres away, the First World War had a major impact on New Zealand. From a population of just over 1 million, more than 120,000 New Zealanders enlisted and around 100,000 served overseas. Dave’s younger brother, Douglas, was killed in action in June 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. Dave had some military experience as he had volunteered to fight in one of the New Zealand regiments during the Boer War in 1901. He returned to New Zealand in 1902 and made his debut for the All Blacks in 1903.
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From RTÉ Archives, Donegal prepares for a visit of the New Zealand rugby team to commemorate the centenary of the first ever All Black captain Dave Gallaher (Broadcast 4 November 2005)
It is said that he "imposed military discipline on his teams". He enlisted when he heard of his brother’s death and was a sergeant in the 2nd Battalion Auckland Regiment of The New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF). He died age 43 of wounds on October 4 1917 during the Third Battle of Ypres, one of 13 former All Blacks to die during the War. Buried in Nine Elms British Cemetery near the Belgian town of Poperinge, his simple gravestone contains the inscription "Serjeant D. Gallaher, N. Z. Auckland Regt". It lists his date of his death and service number and also contains a silver fern above "New Zealand".
The grave has become a kind of pilgrimage site for All Blacks teams who have visited it since the 1920s. During a visit in 1925, a wreath was brought from New Zealand and placed on his grave. One of the 1925 team was a member of the original team that went on the 1905 tour with Gallaher. A statue to Gallaher complete with his signature moustache and rugby ball in hand, stands guard outside Eden Park, the home of rugby in New Zealand. This is just one of the ways in which this original All Black is remembered: there are also trophies in New Zealand and rugby grounds in Ireland named after him.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
