Alfred Ronald Dawson was born in Dublin on 5 June 1932 and educated at St Andrews College and Dublin Institute of Technology before qualifying as an architect. He played for the Wanderers club in Dublin and between 1958 and 1964 set a new record as Ireland's hooker with 27 caps. He also led Ireland in 11 internationals and in 1959 was appointed captain of the British Isles tour to Australasia. His 20 games on tour included all six tests against Australia and New Zealand. In 1968 he was assistant manager of the British Isles tour to South Africa, became Ireland's first national coach in 1971, and went on to become president of the IRFU. An equally distinguished Barbarian, Ronnie Dawson played 22 games for the Club and his seven captaincies included the historic win over South Africa in 1961. He served on the Barbarian committee from 1967 to 1988 and in 2012 became a vice-president.