Blackrock College RFC have lost another larger-than-life figure with the sad news that Michael ‘Bomber’ Browne has passed away.A former player, coach and president of the club, Bomber’s death follows Fergus Slattery’s funeral earlier this week.Originally from Athenry, Co Galway, a teak-tough hooker in his playing days, Bomber went to school in Blackrock College before studying medicine at University of Galway, for which he also played.He represented Corinthians and Shannon before moving to Dublin to practise as a GP, joining Blackrock, where he spent the majority of his playing career and was part of the club’s Leinster Senior League winning team of 1974/1975.In addition to playing for Connacht for many years, during the late 1970s Bomber lived in Newfoundland, Canada, where he had his own GP practice, going on to represent Canada, including on a tour of Wales.He continued playing into his late 40s and won an O’Connell Cup medal alongside his son Michael in the Blackrock frontrow when they beat UCD in the 1982 final in Donnybrook. Soon after his retirement from play, Bomber became the club’s first XV coach, seeing the team to their 1988 Leinster Senior Cup success alongside the late Brian McLoughlin. Bomber lived a full and rich life and, on returning home to Ireland after his time in Newfoundland, became an ophthalmic surgeon at Blackrock Clinic. During this time, he set up an eye clinic in Calcutta, India while volunteering for Goal and visited the country to develop the clinic and help train surgeons.All the while, Bomber remained a devoted rugby enthusiast with his own passionately held opinions on the game, its teams and its players. He could be forthright and dogmatic expressing those views, too. He was well able to express himself, and as his son Barry says: “He didn’t go sideways.” Bomber loved a beer and a laugh, and possessed a wicked, sharp-tongued sense of humour. Above all, though, he was always entertaining company. He didn’t do dull, not even for a second. He also had a particular passion for Connemara and salmon fishing. Bomber became Blackrock’s club president for the 1996-1997 season and remained a well-known stalwart of the club thereafter. In May 2025, Bomber and his brother Noel, along with members of the latter’s local rugby club, Swilers RC in Newfoundland, visited Stradbrook for a friendly between the two clubs.He leaves a void, that’s for sure, and we extend our sincerest condolences to Marion, and his children, Karen, Michael and Barry, as well as his family and close friends.GT