Ireland's Paul O'Connell has been confirmed as British and Irish Lions captain for the three-Test summer tour to South Africa.The second row was one of 14 Ireland players included in head coach Ian McGeechan's 37-man squad on Tuesday.
The party also includes 13 Welshmen, eight from England and two Scots.
Ireland centre Keith Earls was a surprise call-up, as was countryman and back-row Alan Quinlan, Welsh wing Leigh Halfpenny and England lock Simon Shaw.
England wing Ugo Monye is also on the plane, but national captains Steve Borthwick of England, Ryan Jones of Wales and Mike Blair of Scotland were among those left out.
With Wales' Lee Byrne and Ireland's Rob Kearney the only full-backs in the squad, another surprise omission was England number 15 Delon Armitage.
Leicester loose forward Tom Croft, one of England's most consistent performers in the Six Nations, also misses out, along with international team-mate and Wasps fly-half Danny Cipriani and Wales and Ospreys number 10 James Hook.
The 21-year-old Earls, who can also play full-back, has two Ireland caps but did not feature in the Grand Slam-winning side during the Six Nations campaign.
Shaw, 35, is the only player in the squad who featured on the previous tour of South Africa, when Martin Johnson led the Lions to a 2-1 series victory in 1997.
McGeechan, who as head coach appointed Johnson as skipper 12 years ago, believes O'Connell has similar qualities to the England legend and is the ideal man to lead the Lions, on and off the field.
"He leads from the front on the field and as a quality international has the respect of his fellow players all over the world," said the Scot.
"As a member of the 2005 tour to New Zealand he played in five matches including three Tests so knows all about the ethos and challenges of Lions tours.
"I look forward to working with him and the entire squad over the coming months as we strive to develop a side that can add a successful chapter in the long history of the Lions."
O'Connell, who featured in all three of the Lions Tests in the 3-0 defeat by New Zealand in 2005, said he was honoured to have the chance to captain the side against the world champions.
"This was never something I aspired to do but to be selected is a great honour," said the 29-year-old, who has made 62 Test appearances for Ireland and who got the nod ahead of his international skipper Brian O'Driscoll.
"I looked at the squad last night and it will be a privilege to lead them. It's a great honour considering the captains that have gone before me, some of them legends of the game.
"Brian O'Driscoll gave me a ring the other day after we had spoken to Ian and was great about it. The main thing will be leaning on the experience of the coaches and leaders within the squad.
"It needs to be a big squad effort. That will be the secret to any success. The more people who have input the better."
Former Lions scrum-half Matt Dawson told BBC Radio 5 Live that O'Connell has "the Martin Johnson type quality about him".
"He leads by example. He has blossomed as an experienced player over the past year or so. He's been through the mill and it is a perfect opportunity and time for him to captain the Lions."
And former Lions hooker Keith Wood agreed that his former team-mate was the ideal man for the job.
Wood told BBC Radio 5 Live: "There is a new level of maturity and he is a leader by example.
"He talks very well and he understands how to be a captain. There is the upmost respect for him across Ireland."
McGeechan said he opted for physical ball carriers among the forwards to combat the threat posed by South Africa's Bakkies Botha and Schalk Burger.
"It's important you do have forwards that are comfortable on the ball as well as being big men," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"Simon Shaw is one of the most skilful forwards I've ever coached. Nathan Hines is the same. Paul O'Connell gets his hands on the ball quite a lot."
Lions scrum coach Graham Rowntree added: "It's important that we took some physical animals. Because that's what South Africa are
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