The 63-year-old, who was killed in a road accident on Tuesday, will be remembered as a true giant of the sport who helped mastermind one of Irish's rugbys finest achievements.

A larger-than-life character, back-row forward Doyle won 20 caps for Ireland between 1965 and 1968, three of them with his younger brother Tommy in the same team, and scored a debut try against France at Lansdowne Road.

He toured South Africa with the 1968 Lions, while a successful club career included spells with Garryowen, Blackrock College, University College Dublin (UCD), Edinburgh Wanderers and Cambridge University.

As a coach, Doyle enjoyed great success with Leinster where he oversaw inter-provincial championship honours five years in succession between 1979 and 1983.

Those triumphs provided an obvious springboard to the national set-up, and he was at the helm of Ireland's 1985 squad which secured Five Nations Championship and Triple Crown glory.

The Triple Crown was clinched against England in Dublin, a tense 13-10 verdict gained through a late Michael Kiernan drop-goal.

Captained by St Mary's College hooker Ciaran Fitzgerald, Ireland won the championship by a point from France, Doyle's heroes included the likes of Donal Lenihan, Willie Anderson, Phil Orr, Brendan Mullin and Hugo McNeill.

Ireland had to endure a 19-year wait for their next Triple Crown, a feat achieved earlier this season in the 2004 RBS 6 Nations by Brian O'Driscoll and company.

Doyle's life off the field, where he later became a newspaper and television rugby pundit, proved just as eventful.

Born in Castleireland, County Kerry, he studied to become a vet, and went on to become a leading expert in the poultry diseases.

He survived a major heart attack in 1987, and then nine years later, was hit by a brain haemorrhage.

Doyle's remarkable fightback from that latter illness inspired his book Zero Point One Six: Living Extra Time named after the percentage of people who actually recover from such a condition.

But perhaps one of his favourite sayings, often preached while at his pomp in Irish rugby, summed him up best.

Give it a lash, was the Doyle mantra, and one which helped endear him to the hearts and minds of so many.