Rugby legend Jack Kyle will be the first in a diverse range of speakers in this year’s Northern Bank Ulster Museum Lecture Series next month.
Best known as one of Ireland’s Grand Slam heroes of 1948, Jack Kyle has experienced what can only be described as an amazing and awe inspiring journey through life.
On March 10, in conversation with BBC sports presenter Stephen Watson, he will discuss the career which led to him being voted Ireland’s greatest ever rugby player in 2002.
When he retired from international rugby in 1958, his total of 46 caps from 11 seasons, which yielded seven tries, was a world record.
His list of honours includes a Triple Crown in 1949 and as a British Lion in 1950 he mesmerised the All Blacks to such an extent that he is still revered to this day in New Zealand.
But Jack Kyle the sportsman is only part of the story. When his playing days ended, the Queen’s university medicine graduate travelled to Indonesia to work as a surgeon for two years, before taking up a position in Zambia.
For over three decades his home was Chingola, a mining town in the north of the African country, where he was the only surgeon for miles around.
In 2007 he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Irish Journal of Medical Science and the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland for his outstanding humanitarian work. He has also been awarded an OBE.
In 2001 he helped establish the Jack Kyle Bursary Fund in support of the Queen’s University RFC.
Gillian McLean, Director of Marketing, Communications & Trading for National Museums Northern Ireland, said: “We’re most grateful to the Northern Bank for helping us to continue to offer these popular lectures through their loyal partnership.
“We’re now in our 31st year of the Series and once again we are offering speakers which we believe will entertain, inspire, educate and engage with lecture-goers across a range of tastes and interests.”
Rosamond Bennett, Head of Communications, Northern Bank said of the partnership: “The lecture series is Northern Bank’s longest-standing sponsorships and one of our most enduringly popular, attracting both regular fans of the series and new audiences alike. The range of guests this year offers something for everyone, from sport to literature, psychology and photography.
“The Ulster Museum is a perfect venue in which to host a series that brings together so many diverse stories, experiences, thoughts and opinions and we look forward to a great start to this year’s series with Jack Kyle.”
Jack Kyle’s lecture takes place in the Ulster Museum on Thursday March 10 at 7.30pm.
For more information go to www.nmni.com or to book tickets for any of the events call the Ulster Museum on 028 9044 0017.
