Ireland competed as a national delegation for the first time at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. 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" () rather than "Irish Free State" (). The team used the Irish tricolour as its flag and "Let Erin Remember" anthem. Medalists
MedalNameSportEvent Jack Butler Yeats Art Competition Painting Oliver St. John Gogarty Art Competition Literature
Aquatics
Water polo
Ireland made its debut Olympic water polo appearance.
Roster Charles Barrett James Beckett James Brady John Convery Cecil Fagan Charles Fagan Norman Judd John O'Connor Michael O'Connor Noel Purcell
First round Bye Quarterfinals
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.
AthleteEventHeatsQuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalResultRankResultRankResultRankResultRank 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.
BoxerWeight classRound of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal / Bronze matchOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRank Mossy Doyle Featherweight L Did not advance 17 Patrick Dwyer Welterweight W W W L L 4 Robert Hilliard Bantamweight Bye L Did not advance 9 James Kelleher Lightweight L Did not advance 17 John Kidley Light heavyweight Bye L Did not advance 9 Myles McDonagh Flyweight Bye L Did not advance 9 William Murphy Middleweight Bye W L Did not advance 5
Opponent nation Wins Losses Percent 0 2 .000 0 2 .000 1 0 1.000 1 0 1.000 0 1 .000 1 0 1.000 0 1 .000 1 0 1.000 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. 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
Quarterfinals
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) Thomas Aungier (St James's Gate) J. Healy
*Note: Murphy, Thomas, Robinson and Dowdall only played in friendly against Estonia.
Tennis
Men
AthleteEventRound of 128Round of 64Round of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRank William Ireland Singles L 1–6, 4–6, 4–6 Did not advance Edwin McCrea Singles L 4–6, 4–6, 0–6 Did not advance William Ireland Edwin McCrea Doubles L 6–4, 2–6, 2–6, 6–1, 4–6 Did not advance
Women
AthleteEventRound of 64Round of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRank Rebecca Blair-White Singles L 6–4, 5–7, 2–6 Did not advance Mary Wallis Singles L 6–3, 0–6, 2–6 Did not advance Rebecca Blair-White Mary Wallis Doubles L 2–6, 7–5, 2–6 Did not advance
Mixed
AthleteEventRound of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRank Rebecca Blair-White William Ireland Doubles L 2–6, 4–6 Did not advance Edwin McCrea Mary Wallis Doubles W 9–7, 4–6, 9–7 L 1–6, 5–7 Did not advance
Notes
References
Sources
Citations