Denis Daly

Denis Daly won his Olympic gold medal as a member of the Foxhunters team but despite being one of the more accomplished polo players of his time never represented Ireland, nor played in the Westchester Cup. He was the son of the Irish Peer, Lord Dunsandle, who, at the time of his death in 1893 left land comprised of over 33,000 acres in County Galway and 3,514 acres in County Tipperary, which included Thomastown Castle, near Golden, and land in Thomastown and Thurles. The land was inherited by his two surviving sons, William Daly and his younger brother Denis, who later sold it to the Land Commission. Neither Denis nor William could inherit the title of Baron Dunsandle and Clanconal on their father’s death in 1893 as their parents were not married at the time of their birth. Denis Daly served with the 18th Hussars, where he most probably learned polo in India, until his retirement from the army in 1893. At the age of 52, Daly re-joined the army on the outbreak of World War I and served as a major in the Army Remount Department. Daly was a keen follower of all forms of sport – he also refereed polo games, rode point-to-point, played tennis, loved hunting and shooting, and was a motor car enthusiast. On the death of his father-in-law, Albert Brassey, Denis Daly succeeded him as Master of the Heythrop.