Karl Mullen

Karl Mullen
Mullen in New Zealand in 1950
Birth nameKarl Daniel Mullen
Date of birth(1926-11-26)26 November 1926
Date of death26 April 2009(2009-04-26) (aged 82)
UniversityBelvedere College
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
Occupation(s)Gynaecologist
Rugby union career
Position(s) Hooker
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
Old Belvedere[1] ()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1947–1952
1950		 Ireland
British Lions		 25
4

Dr Karl Daniel Mullen (26 November 1926 – 27 April 2009[1]) was an Irish rugby union player and consultant gynaecologist who captained the Irish rugby team and captained the British Lions on their 1950 tour to Australia and New Zealand.

Mullen was born in Courtown Harbour, County Wexford and educated at Belvedere College and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. He played as hooker, winning 25 caps[2] for Ireland from 1947 to 1952. He captained the Irish team to their first Grand Slam in the 1948 Five Nations Championship and was one of eight players from that team who lived to see the country's next Grand Slam in 2009.[1]

He was also selected to captain the 1950 Lions Tour to Australia and New Zealand, during which the Lions lost the Test series against the All Blacks 3-0, with one game drawn, but won the test series against Australia 2-0.[3] He played four tests for the Lions on that tour; two against New Zealand and two against Australia. He missed the third and fourth tests against New Zealand through injury.

  1. ^ a b c Mairs, Gavin (27 April 2009). "Former British and Irish Lions captain Karl Mullen has died, aged 82". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 27 April 2009.
  2. ^ McKittrick, David (8 February 2007). "Theatre of Green: Gaelic games end a century of separatism". The Independent. Archived from the original on 1 April 2007. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  3. ^ 1950 – New Zealand and Australia. lionsrugby.com