Ireland at the 1924 Summer Olympics

Ireland at the
1924 Summer Olympics
Ireland at the; 1924 Summer Olympics
IOC code	IRL
NOC	Olympic Federation of Ireland
Website	olympics.ie
in Paris
Flag bearer	John O'Grady
Medals	Gold 0 Silver 1 Bronze 1 Total 2
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
	1924; 1928; 1932; 1936; 1948; 1952; 1956; 1960; 1964; 1968; 1972; 1976; 1980; 1984; 1988; 1992; 1996; 2000; 2004; 2008; 2012; 2016; 2020; 2024;
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
Athlete	Event	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
Sean Lavan	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
William Lowe	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
John Ryan	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
Boxer	Weight class	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

Opponent nation	Wins	Losses	Percent
Argentina	0	2	.000
Canada	0	2	.000
Great Britain	1	0	1.000
Netherlands	1	0	1.000
Norway	0	1	.000
Poland	1	0	1.000
Spain	0	1	.000
Switzerland	1	0	1.000
United States	0	2	.000

Total	4	8	.333

Round	Wins	Losses	Percent
Round of 32	1	2	.333
Round of 16	2	3	.400
Quarterfinals	1	1	.500
Semifinals	0	1	.000
Final	0	0	–
Bronze match	0	1	.000

Total	4	8	.333

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

May 28, 1924

Ireland (FAIFS)	1–0	Bulgaria
Duncan 75'	Report

Stade Olympique, Colombes

Attendance: 1,500

Referee: A. Henriot (FRA)

Quarterfinals

June 2, 1924

Netherlands	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Ireland (FAIFS)
Formenoy 7' 104'	Report	Ghent 33'

Stade de Paris

Attendance: 2,000

Referee: Heinrich Retschury (AUT)

Final rank: 5th place

Goalkeeper

Paddy Reilly (Athlone Town)

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
Athlete	Event	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
Athlete	Event	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
Athlete	Event	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

^ Ireland teams had competed in polo in 1908 and cycling in 1912, accredited as part of the British Olympic Association.
^ 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 VIII^e 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

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

[2] Ireland teams had competed in polo in 1908 and cycling in 1912, accredited as part of the British Olympic Association.

[3] The Irish Football Association governed the sport in Northern Ireland

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

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