Basil Maclear

{{short description|Ireland international rugby union footballer}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}

{{Infobox rugby biography

| image = Basil MacLear.jpg

| name = Basil Maclear

| birth_name =

| nickname =

| birth_date = 7 April 1881

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1915|5|24|1881|4|7}}

| birth_place = Portsmouth, England

| death_place = Ypres salient, Belgium

| height =

| weight =

| ru_currentteam =

| ru_currentposition =

| ru_position = Centre, wing

| ru_clubupdate =

| ru_proclubs = Cork County
Monkstown

| ru_clubyears =

| ru_clubcaps =

| ru_clubpoints =

| ru_province = Munster

| ru_provinceyears =

| ru_provincecaps =

| ru_provincepoints =

| ru_provinceupdate =

| ru_nationalyears = 1905–1907

| ru_nationalteam = Ireland

| ru_nationalcaps = 11

| ru_nationalpoints = (18)

| ru_ntupdate =

| other =

| spouse =

| children =

| relatives =

| school = Bedford School

| university =

}}

Basil Maclear (7 April 1881 – 24 May 1915) was an Irish rugby international. He played eleven games for Ireland between 1905 and 1907.

Personal life

Maclear was the grandson of Sir Thomas Maclear, Her Majesty's Astronomer in Cape Town, South Africa, and one of five sons of a Bedford Doctor, Major Henry Wallich Maclear. He was later sent to Fermoy in County Cork by the British Army. Like three of his brothers, Maclear was killed in action during World War I, serving as a captain with the Royal Dublin Fusiliers during the Second Battle of Ypres. His remains were not recovered and his name is recorded on the Menin Gate memorial nearby.[http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1622212 Maclear, Basil], Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Retrieved 30 December 2008

Career

Maclear played his first international game on 11 February 1905 against England, a game which Ireland won 17–3. He scored four tries and three conversions during his eleven international games for Ireland. In the match against New Zealand on their 1905 tour, he was captain of Munster, which ended up losing 33–0.

Maclear was one of 25 individuals inducted to the World Rugby Hall of Fame during ceremonies held at Wembley Stadium during the 2015 Rugby World Cup.{{cite press release |url=http://www.irishrugby.ie/35597.php |title=Kiernan, Maclear & Slattery Inducted Into World Rugby Hall Of Fame |publisher=Irish Rugby Football Union |date=21 September 2015 |accessdate=26 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427004859/http://www.irishrugby.ie/35597.php |archive-date=27 April 2017 |url-status=dead }}

See also

References

{{Reflist|refs=

[http://www.espnscrum.com/ireland/rugby/player/1699.html Basil Maclear]. espnscrum.com

[https://web.archive.org/web/20071121232421/http://www.irishrugby.ie/227_7678.php?includeref=dynamic&player=24093 Basil Maclear]. IRFU Profile

[http://www.patrickcomerford.com/2015/12/basil-maclear-1881-1915-irish-rugby.html Basil Maclear (1881–1915), Irish Rugby superstar with Comerford ancestors]. patrickcomerford.com (17 December 2015)

[http://therugbyhistorysociety.co.uk/irishww1.html Irish Internationals who Died in World War 1]. therugbyhistorysociety.co.uk

}}