The Caprani family moved to Dublin from the Lake Como area of Northern Italy in the late 1890's.

They got involved in several businesses including printing. Joe was born in 1920 in Clontarf. He was the last survivor of five brothers and one sister.

He lived immediately adjacent to the cricket ground. From early on the cricket ground became his playground. There were no underage teams in Clontarf when Joe was a youth. He confined himself to watching the adults practicing, retrieving the balls and carrying gear but he showed such potential that he was quickly playing on the First X1.

He trained as a printer at Alex Thoms. He relocated to the south side joining Leinster Cricket Club where he opened the batting. He was a prolific run getter.

One August holiday weekend he scored three centuries and had a nice photo in his home of when he was named Sports Star of the Week by the Irish Independent.

He was the first Leinster player to reach 10,000 runs. He was presented with the Hall of Fame Award by the Leinster Cricket Union in 2001. He played for Ireland on seven occasions. He was former President of the Irish Cricket Union and Malahide Cricket Club.

He set up his own printing business and moved to Malahide. He finished his playing days at Malahide in his mid-70's. All during his playing career he worked on his technique and not surprisingly he embraced coaching.

He got great satisfaction from passing on his considerable knowledge and skills to other players. Luke Clinton said "his coaching was very technical". He coached widely especially with schools. He had a very gentle disposition and got on well with adults and children alike.

The Hills were an ambitious new club and approached Joe with a view to him helping us improve the skills of our players. He started working at our club in 1978. He was a very energetic teacher working first with the First X1.

Initially he ran several weekly session at Balrothery National School.. The following season his efforts reaped rewards with dramatic improvements with the Byrnes, Archers, Clintons, Hoares and several others. Paddy Byrne prior to Joe's arrival batted in the lower order for the First X1 but moved up the order and made a century as an opener.

He worked with underage players for years. He worked wonders for Barry Archer, Mark Clinton, Patrick and Robert Byrne to name but a few. The Hills were one of the first clubs to run a cricket camp where Joe's input was put to considerable use.

Scores of young boys and girls availed of his skills. In all he coached for our club for 21 years.

He passed away on 16th of July 2015. He was laid to rest in his Irish cricket gear and was buried at the Fingal Cemetery in Kinsealy.

He will be sadly missed but his legacy will continue for many years here at The Vineyard.

Joe Clinton