I
Thomas Crean Clongowes 1881-1883 Thomas Crean (1873-1923), military doctor, VC holder and rugby international, was a native of Dublin, who attended Clongowes in 1881-3. While a medical student at the Royal College of Surgeons, he played rugby for Wanderers. Burly, fast and possessing excellent ball skills, he won nine Irish caps and played in all three games of Ireland’s first triple-crown win in 1894. In 1896 he played with the British touring team in South Africa, captaining the side in two winning matches. He was a popular member of the touring party, and afterwards decided to settle in South Africa, where he established a lucrative medical practice at Johannesburg Hospital. In the Boer War he fought as a trooper in the Imperial Light Horse, participating in the reliefs of Mafeking and Ladysmith. Appointed captain, he transferred to surgeon-captain with the regiment. In 1901 he won the Victoria Cross for his courage in treating wounded soldiers at Tygerskloof, while himself wounded and under fire. He served in the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1902-6. He then established a successful practice in Harley Street, London. In 1914, on the outbreak of war, he rejoined the RAMC, serving with the 1st Cavalry Brigade and in 1915 won the DSO for his courage. He was wounded several times and twice mentioned in dispatches. Promoted major, he commanded a field-ambulance unit in France, returning to England in 1917 to take charge of a hospital for the wounded at Ascot. The strain of military service left him in poor health. He struggled to resume his Harley Street practice after the war. In 1922 he was adjudged bankrupt and died the following year. In 2001 the South African government produced a postage stamp in his honour.
22
Clongownians of Distinction
