It is with much sadness that I have to report the death of my friend and fellow teammate John Hennessy who died on 6th August 2021 after a short illness in Kings Lynn hospital near to where he lived in retirement in Wisbech.

John was a 6' 4 “ second-row forward who joined Irish in 1959/60 and played for the first team for a number of seasons. He played in the same teams with Sean McDermot, John Bamber, Micky Byrne, John Brown, Ronny McCarten to name a few. He played under the watchful eye of Bill Morgan the first team selector supremo. You did not play for Bill’s team unless you were first class and John was. He was awarded his first-team honours cap in 1962/63.

One of John’s other claims to fame, which I don’t think any other London Irish player can boast of is, that his daughter Kathryn, played for the Irish Ladies team for 12 games in the second row, John’s position.

John also captained a Sunday side called The Commercial Casuals. The Commercial was a pub in Brixton frequented by a number of London Welsh Players. One game we turned out with three British Lions players, Welsh internationals, the rest were a balance of London Irish and Welsh first-team players. That may explain why the team was never beaten.
John was my friend for 60 odd years as well as being my dentist and a stauncher friend you could not have. He was also a good sailor owning his own sailing boat. His other close friend was Con O’Mahoney who played first team rugby under the captaincy of Ken Kennedy.

John will be greatly missed by his family and all who knew him.

Joe Armstrong
Wild Geese Captain 1965/68