‘A first-class split’:political conflict in Irish athletics, 1924–40

For a brief period, in 1924–5, the National Athletics and Cycling Association of Ireland (NACA) enjoyed undisputed jurisdiction over the island in athletics, cross-country and cycling, receiving formal recognition from […]

The Liffey Swim —Ireland’s great Olympic artefact

At the 1924 games, the only Olympic honours accredited to ‘Irlande’ in Paris were in what was known as the ‘Concourse d’Art’. Poet Oliver St John Gogarty won a joint […]

Ireland’s footballers at the Paris Olympics, 1924

The Paris Olympics of 1924 represented the official debut of Ireland on the Olympic stage. Although Irish representatives competed in some of the artistic events that preceded the games proper […]

Ireland’s first (official) Olympic medals, London 1908

John Pius Boland was Ireland’s first Olympic champion but he was not our first ‘gold’ medallist—his prizes in Athens in 1896 were silver medals and olive wreaths. Up until London, […]

John Pius Boland’s Olympic tennis diploma

When John Pius Boland, born in Capel Street, Dublin, went to Athens for the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 he did so as a scholar-tourist, seeking respite from a […]