Dundalk man writes history of famous London Irish rugby club

Dundalk native Paddy Lennon has written a new, definitive history of the famous London Irish rugby club.  The 350 page, illustrated book was published on 24th October to coincide with the 125th anniversary of the first match ever played by the club.

Paddy, who returned to live in Dundalk in summer 2021 after over four decades in London, has been associated with the club since the early 1970s. 

He described the research and writing of the book “as a labour of love” that he has been working on for almost ten years and intensively for the last three.

The book traces the history of the club from its origins in the heart of London until the present day.  The club’s first president also had a Dundalk connection, he was Newry born Lord (Charles) Russell of Killowen who was member of parliament for the town from 1880 – 85.

The book has been published by Vision Sports Publishing (VSP) a specialist sports publishing company.  There are full details of the book, including illustrated page layouts, at londonirishbook.com

Patrick (Paddy) Lennon grew up at Scotchgreen, Dundalk and Kilcurry.  He attended the De La Salle Secondary School and went on to University College Dublin where he was awarded a BA.  

After initial roles with what was the Eastern Region Tourism Organisation based in Dun Laoghaire, Lennon moved to London where he pursued his business career in the aviation and leisure industries with Aer Lingus and British Airways before establishing a marketing and communications consultancy in 1985. 

His involvement with rugby union spans five decades, including the transition from the amateur to the professional era.  

He is well known and respected throughout the game for his support for and media work with London Irish among others. 

He first joined the club in 1973 and has been associated with it in a number of roles ever since. He has written and broadcast extensively about the game including “A Short History of Rugby Union” published in 2012.

He is also well known and involved with the Irish Community in London in particular as a result of his work for Aer Lingus and The Irish Times and his role as Chairman of Irish Heritage, the performing arts charity from 2017-21, among others.

Paddy contributed to the establishment of the London Irish (Rugby) Foundation in 2019 and is proud to have an ongoing role in its invaluable efforts to use rugby and its values as a catalyst for improving the lives of less fortunate people.