Ireland at the 1924 Summer Olympics

Ireland at the
1924 Summer Olympics
IOC codeIRL
NOCOlympic Federation of Ireland
Websiteolympics.ie
in Paris
Flag bearerJohn O'Grady[1]
Medals
Gold
0
Silver
1
Bronze
1
Total
2
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
Other related appearances
 Great Britain (1896–1920)

Ireland competed as a national delegation for the first time at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris.[n 1] The Irish Olympic Council had been admitted to the International Olympic Committee after the Irish Free State's 1922 independence from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Council regarded itself as an all-Ireland body, including Northern Ireland as well as the Free State; it competed as "Ireland" (Irlande) rather than "Irish Free State" (État libre d'Irlande). The team used the Irish tricolour as its flag and "Let Erin Remember" anthem.

Medalists

Medal Name Sport Event
 Silver Jack Butler Yeats Art Competition Painting
 Bronze Oliver St. John Gogarty Art Competition Literature

Aquatics

Water polo

Ireland made its debut Olympic water polo appearance.

Roster
First round
  • Bye
Quarterfinals
Czechoslovakia  4–2  Ireland Piscine des Tourelles

Athletics

Ten athletes represented Ireland in 1924. It was the nation's debut appearance in the sport as well as the Games.

Ranks given are within the heat.

Athlete Event Heats Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
Result Rank Result Rank Result Rank Result Rank
Paddy Bermingham Discus throw N/A 40.42 4 Did not advance
Sean Kelly 3000 m steeplechase N/A Unknown 7 Did not advance
Sean Lavan 200 m 23.2 1 Q Unknown 4 Did not advance
400 m 51.2 2 Q 49.8 4 Did not advance
Norman McEachern 800 m N/A Unknown 2 Q 1:58.3 5 Did not advance
William Lowe 100 m Unknown 4 Did not advance
200 m 23.0 2 Q Unknown 5 Did not advance
John O'Connor Triple jump N/A 13.99 5 Did not advance
John O'Grady Shot put N/A 12.75 8 Did not advance
John Ryan 10000 m N/A Did not finish
Cross country N/A Did not finish
William Shanahan Decathlon N/A 5426.680 19
Larry Stanley High jump N/A 1.80 4 Did not advance

Boxing

Seven boxers represented Ireland at the 1924 Games. It was the nation's debut in the sport as well as the Olympics as an independent nation. Dwyer was the most successful Irish boxer, taking fourth place. His three bouts won were three times as many as the rest of the team combined, with Murphy getting the only other win.

Boxer Weight class Round of 32 Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Final / Bronze match
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Rank
Mossy Doyle Featherweight  Fields (USA)
L
Did not advance 17
Patrick Dwyer Welterweight  Basham (GBR)
W
 Cornelissen (NED)
W
 Stauffer (SUI)
W
 Méndez (ARG)
L
 Lewis (CAN)
L
4
Robert Hilliard Bantamweight Bye  Pertuzzo (ARG)
L
Did not advance 9
James Kelleher Lightweight  Rothwell (USA)
L
Did not advance 17
John Kidley Light heavyweight Bye  Sørsdal (NOR)
L
Did not advance 9
Myles McDonagh Flyweight Bye  Biete (ESP)
L
Did not advance 9
William Murphy Middleweight Bye  Nowak (POL)
W
 Black (CAN)
L
Did not advance 5

Football

The Football Association of the Irish Free State or FAIFS (now the Football Association of Ireland or FAI) sent a team of amateur players to the Olympic tournament, which was a single-elimination tournament. The Irish Olympic Council shunned the FAIFS as the Council saw itself as an all-Ireland body and the FAIFS was "partitionist" by restricting itself to the Free State.[n 2] The FAIFS had to liaise directly with FIFA regarding its entry, rather than going through the Council. Contemporary records, such as the FAIFS annual report, regarded these three internationals as full internationals, despite featuring amateur teams. After the 1960s these games were reclassified as amateur internationals. However, in June 1999 FIFA declared that early Olympic internationals could be considered as full internationals. That would make them the first games of what is now the Republic of Ireland team.

Of the 22 entrants, 12 teams played in the first round. The 6 winners then joined another 10 teams, including Ireland, in the second round. On May 28 at the Stade Olympique, Ireland beat Bulgaria 1-0 with Paddy Duncan scoring the only goal. As a result of this win they qualified for the quarter-finals. On June 2 they played the Netherlands at the Stade de Paris in Saint-Ouen but lost 2-1 after extra-time. However, the following day, before returning home, the team played one more game, beating Estonia, 3-1 in a friendly at the Stade Olympique.

Round 1
Bye
Round 2
Republic of Ireland Ireland (FAIFS)1–0 Bulgaria
Duncan 75' Report
Attendance: 1,500
Referee: A. Henriot (FRA)
Quarterfinals
Netherlands 2–1 (a.e.t.)Republic of Ireland Ireland (FAIFS)
Formenoy 7' 104' Report Ghent 33'
Attendance: 2,000
Referee: Heinrich Retschury (AUT)
Final rank
5th place

Goalkeeper

Defenders

Midfielders

Forwards

Players reserves:

*Note: Murphy, Thomas, Robinson and Dowdall only played in friendly against Estonia.

Tennis

Men
Athlete Event Round of 128 Round of 64 Round of 32 Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Rank
William Ireland Singles  Halot (BEL)
L 1–6, 4–6, 4–6
Did not advance
Edwin McCrea Singles  Debran (SUI)
L 4–6, 4–6, 0–6
Did not advance
William Ireland
Edwin McCrea
Doubles  Debran /
Syz (SUI)
L 6–4, 2–6, 2–6, 6–1, 4–6
Did not advance
Women
Athlete Event Round of 64 Round of 32 Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Rank
Rebecca Blair-White Singles Bye  Gagliardi (ITA)
L 6–4, 5–7, 2–6
Did not advance
Mary Wallis Singles  Covell (GBR)
L 6–3, 0–6, 2–6
Did not advance
Rebecca Blair-White
Mary Wallis
Doubles Bye  Fick /
von Essen (SWE)
L 2–6, 7–5, 2–6
Did not advance
Mixed
Athlete Event Round of 32 Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Opposition
Score
Rank
Rebecca Blair-White
William Ireland
Doubles  Covell /
Godfree (GBR)
L 2–6, 4–6
Did not advance
Edwin McCrea
Mary Wallis
Doubles Bye  Polley /
Jacob (IND)
W 9–7, 4–6, 9–7
 McKane /
Gilbert (GBR)
L 1–6, 5–7
Did not advance

Notes

  1. ^ Ireland teams had competed in polo in 1908 and cycling in 1912, accredited as part of the British Olympic Association.
  2. ^ The Irish Football Association governed the sport in Northern Ireland

References

Sources

  • Ryan, Sean (1997). The Boys In Green; The FAI International Story.
  • (ed.) M. Avé, Comité Olympique Français. Les Jeux de la VIIIe Olympiade Paris 1924 – Rapport Officiel (PDF) (in French). Paris: Librairie de France. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 May 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2011. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)

Citations

  1. ^ "John O'Grady". olympedia.org. Retrieved 28 December 2023.