Ireland at the 1924 Summer Olympics

Ireland at the Olympic Games
Flag of Ireland IOC code  IRL NOC Olympic Council of Ireland Website www.olympicsport.ie
At the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris
Competitors
Medals	Gold 0	Silver 0	Bronze 0	Total 0
Olympic history (summary)
Summer Games
1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016
Winter Games
1992 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014
Other related appearances
Great Britain (1896–1920)

Ireland, then known as the Irish Free State, competed as an independent nation for the first time at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.

The Irish Free State national football team made their international debut at these Olympics. The football tournament was decided on a knockout basis with 12 teams entering the first round. The 6 winners then joined another 10 teams, including the Irish Free State, in the second round. On May 28 at the Stade Olympique, the Irish Free State 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.

Contemporary records, such as the Football Association of Ireland 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.

Aquatics

Water polo

Main article: Water polo at the 1924 Summer Olympics

See also: Ireland men's national water polo team

Ireland made its debut Olympic water polo appearance.

Roster

• Charles Barrett
• James Beckett
• James Brady
• John Convery
• Cecil Fagan
• William Fagan
• Norman Judd
• John O'Connor
• Michael O'Connor
• Noel Purcell

First round

• Bye

Quarterfinals

Czechoslovakia

4–2

Ireland

Piscine des Tourelles

Athletics

Main article: Athletics at the 1924 Summer Olympics

Eleven 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
John Clarke	10000 m	N/A						Did not finish
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 MacEachern	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

Main article: Boxing at the 1924 Summer Olympics

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	22x20px 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	22x20px Biete (ESP) L	Did not advance			9
William Murphy	Middleweight	Bye	Nowak (POL) W	22x20px Black (CAN) L	Did not advance		5

Opponent nation	Wins	Losses	Percent
Argentina	0	2	.000
23x15px Canada	0	2	.000
Great Britain	1	0	1.000
Netherlands	1	0	1.000
Norway	0	1	.000
Poland	1	0	1.000
23x15px 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

Main article: Football at the 1924 Summer Olympics

Ireland competed in the Olympic football tournament for the first time in 1924.

Round 1

Bye

Round 2

Irish Free State v Bulgaria

May 28, 1924

Irish Free State	1–0	Bulgaria
Duncan  75'	Report

Stade Olympique, Colombes Attendance: 1,500 Referee: A. Henriot (FRA)

Quarterfinals

Netherlands v Irish Free State

June 2, 1924

Netherlands	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Irish Free State
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 Bertie Kerr (Bohemians) Jack McCarthy (Bohemians) Thomas Murphy (St James's Gate) Midfielders John Thomas (Bohemians) John Joe Dykes (captain) (Athlone Town) Tommy Muldoon (Athlone Town) Christy Robinson (Bohemians) Ernest McKay (St James's Gate) Forwards Charlie Dowdall (St James's Gate) Paddy Duncan (St James's Gate) Frank Ghent (Athlone Town) Johnny Murray (Bohemians) Michael Farrell (St James's Gate) Joe Kendrick (Brooklyn F.C.) Dinny Hannon (Athlone Town)

Players reserves:

• John Lea (Shelbourne)
• Frank Heaney (St James's Gate)
• Robert Cowzer (Shelbourne)
• Ernie Crawford (Bohemians)
• Th. Aungier
• J. Healy

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

Tennis

Main article: Tennis at the 1924 Summer Olympics

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	N/A	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	N/A	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 (IRL) L 1–6, 5–7	Did not advance

Sources

• The Boys In Green - The FAI International Story (1997): Sean Ryan [1]

External links

• Football at the 1924 Olympics
• Irish Free State Olympic football team
• Full football international status
• History of Athlone Town