Congratulations to Gonzaga on winning the Armstrong Cup for the fourth consecutive season! For the first time in a while there was a close finish, with the result well in doubt heading into the final day.
The last post discussed the void season 1891-92. Moving on to the following season, 1892-93, i.e., 125 years ago, five teams entered: Booterstown & Blackrock, Dublin, Dublin University, Kingstown, and Rathmines. Teams were to play home and away, matches were over six boards, and only overall match results counted. (In case of a tie, there would have been a playoff match.)
Clontarf, the team disqualified in 1891-92, did not take part, though they were still an active club. Dublin C.C. played at least two matches, but were only able to fill 4 boards for one of them and 2 boards for the other; they may have withdrawn from the competition.
Schedules were much more haphazard 125 years ago than today: match dates were agreed at the beginning of the season but could clump in different ways for different teams. The season came down to a struggle between Kingstown and Dublin University, but the two matches between them occurred two weeks apart at the end of the season. Dublin University lost one match to other teams (to Booterstown & Blackrock, assuming Dublin indeed dropped out). Kingstown had drawn against Rathmines.
The first match between Kingstown and Dublin University was played on Wednesday, March 15, 1893, at T.C.D., and resulted in a convincing 4½-1½ victory for Dublin University, who swept the top three boards. The decisive return match was held two weeks later, on Saturday, March 25, 1893, in Kingstown, with the following outcome:
| Kingstown | Dublin University | |
| P. Dunscombe | ½ – ½ | W. E. Thrift |
| W. Cooke | 1 – 0 | A. E. R. Joynt |
| R. J. Dale | 1 – 0 | A. L. Joynt |
| A. Dawson | 1 – 0 | A. Traill |
| T. C. Morris | 0 – 1 | Dr. McHugh |
| J. M. Goldsmith | 1 – 0 | Mr. Cosgrave |
| 4½ – 1½ |
So Kingstown won the match, “thus securing this much-coveted trophy” (Irish Times, March 27, 1893 p. 3), for the first and only time in their history. (Even if Dún Laoghaire is viewed as a successor.) The winning team was Parker Dunscombe, Wheeler Cooke, R. J. Dale, Adrian Dawson, T. C. (Thomas) Morris, and John Mills Goldsmith. These same six players played in all six matches against Dublin University, Booterstown & Blackrock, and Rathmines (it’s unclear if they played Dublin that season).
A summary of the season, with scores of all available matches, has been added to the Armstrong Cup page here.