RUGBY LEGEND Jack Kyle has paid tribute to his Grand Slam teammate Dr Karl Mullen, whom he described as a “very, very dear friend”.
Dr Kyle spoke at the funeral Mass in Kilcullen, Co Kildare, yesterday morning, where he was joined by other members of the 1948 Grand Slam-winning team, Jimmy Nelson, Bertie O’Hanlon and Jim McCarthy.
Recalling a meeting with Dr Mullen just a few weeks ago, Dr Kyle said: “He kept saying to me, ‘We had great times, we had great times.’ At the end of a long life isn’t it a wonderful thing to be able to say? It was a wonderful epitaph to be able to take away from him.”
Dr Mullen’s daughter Mary said her father was delighted that an Irish team finally won the Grand Slam this year. He did not speak much about his accomplishments in rugby, she revealed, preferring to focus on the camaraderie and friendship that he had enjoyed over the years.
She said he was also modest about his professional life as a distinguished gynaecologist, though “he delivered enough babies to fill Lansdowne Road”.
Fr Michael Sheil told the large congregation in the Church of the Sacred Heart and St Brigid that Dr Mullen was a “great Christian” who was now united with his wife Doreen, who died one year ago this week. He had lived “a life of giving and sharing and loving”, Fr Sheil said.
Among those who attended the funeral were former Ireland and Lions captains Ciarán Fitzgerald and Ronnie Dawson. Former Irish internationals there included Niall Brophy, Micky Quinn, Jimmy Kelly, Ollie Campbell, Bill Mulcahy, Mick Hipwell, Alan Duggan, Tommy Doyle, Willie Duggan and Moss Keane.
The Taoiseach was represented by Comdt Cormac Kirwan.
Sir Anthony and Lady Chryss O’Reilly, IRFU president John Lyons and chief executive Philip Browne, and former president Paddy Madigan were also among the mourners.
Prominent media figures included Marian Finucane, John Bowman, Gay Byrne, Eddie Hobbs, commentator Jim Sherwin and former Irish Times rugby correspondent Edmund Van Esbeck.
International rugby referee Alain Rolland attended, as did former GAA president Jack Boothman.
Fianna Fáil TD and former minister of State Seán Power was there, as was former Progressive Democrats senator John Dardis, representing Newbridge RFC, of which Dr Mullen was a former president.
Author Ulick O’Connor and former Supreme Court judge Hugh O’Flaherty also attended. Also present were Rathsallagh golf club president John Mullan and Leo Powell, editor of The Field.
Dr Mullen is survived by his children, Louise, Niamh, Mary, Gaye, Anna, Karl, Paul and Marc. He had 18 grandchildren, one of whom is the Irish showjumping international, Cian O’Connor.
