Founded in September 1893 and disbanded in 1907, it is safe to say that in the short period of its existence Palmerston Hockey Club in Ireland established a record which has never been surpassed by any other hockey club in the country. In six successive seasons the First XI only lost two matches out of 160 played and in one of these seasons it scored 102 goals with only seven goals scored against it. The two matches lost, each by a margin of one goal, were the Irish Senior Cup ties against Dublin University in 1901 and 1902.

Palmerston owed much of its greatness to the brothers Peterson – Jack and Walter, full backs; Nick, right half; Cecil, centre forward; Willie, inside left, and Bertie, outside right. Four had learned their hockey at Avoca School and all gained their green caps. Although four members of Palmerston figured on the first Irish International team that played against Wales in 1895, it was not until after the advent of the Petersons in 1899 that the club achieved its greatest successes.

So strong was the Palmerston team that in 1904 that the Irish selectors decided to place nine of the eleven in the field against England. The two remaining players were WM Johnstone of Three Rock Rovers, who took the place of B Peterson at outside right and was appointed Captain, and RB Douglas of Royal Hibernians, who filled the position of goalkeeper. The result justified the selector’s confidence as the team was victorious and Ireland won the Triple Crown for the first time.

A club whose first team remains practically unchanged for a number of years is bound in time to suffer from lack of new members, and this is what happened to Palmerston, whose numbers dwindled until, in 1907, it found itself unable to carry on and decided to disband. Some of its best players transferred to the Monkstown Club and assisted it to win the Irish Senior Cup, the blue riband of Irish hockey, a few years later.

This article is taken from the book Hockey in Ireland by TSC Dagg, published in 1944. Mr Dagg played for Ireland before WW1 and his son also played for Ireland in the mid 1930s.