Five local Olympic connections you might not have heard about

Moate boxer Joe Ward may be flying the local flag in the Olympics in Rio, but here Tadhg Carey revisits five other past local connections to the Summer Olympics Games that you may not have known about

1. 1924: Football

In June 1922 the Irish Olympic Council was accepted into membership of the International Olympic Committee. And two years later, an Irish football team became the first Olympians to compete for an independent Ireland when they opened their Olympic campaign in Paris with a 1-0 win against Bulgaria. A 2-1 extra-time defeat to Holland in the quarter final saw Ireland bow out.
Five Athlone Town players were on the side against Holland, including three Athlonians, captain Denis Hannon, goalscorer Frank Ghent and Tommy Muldoon, who went to play for Aston Villa.
Sligo native John Joe Dykes and goalkeeper Paddy O’Reilly, from Dublin were the other two Athlone Town players to feature.

 

Denis Hannon's cap from the 1924 Olympics.

2. 1948: Basketball

The Irish men’s hockey team has qualified for the 2016 Olympics. The last Irish team before that?
It was the basketball team which took part in the 1948 London Olympics. Among that Irish team was six who were based in Athlone’s Custume Barracks
In fact, of the 14-man squad chosen for the 1948 Olympics in London, twelve were army personnel
The panel was comprised of six Athlone-based Defence Force members, two players from Dublin-based civilian clubs and the remainder from the Army’s Eastern Command.
The Athlone players included brothers Paddy and Dermot Sheriff, Tommy Keenan, Bill Jackson, Frank O’Connor and Danny Reddin. A seventh team member Jimmy McGee was then based in Dublin but later relocated to Athlone.
Mexico handed down a 71 points to nine defeat in the opening game.
Ireland performed better against Iran, but still lost by 49-22. And they completed their group stage with defeats to Cuba (88-25) and eventual silver medallists France (73-14).
The bottom seven teams across the four groups then played off to decide 17th to 23rd places. Ireland went down to Great Britain by 46-21 before succumbing to Switzerland by 55-12.

Some of the Irish basketballers partake of refreshments during the 1948 Olympics.

3. 1948/1952: Sailing

Dr Alfred Frederick Joseph Delany, a Longford native, was a member of Athlone’s Lough Ree Yacht Club for over 50 years.
Dr Delany was one of three yachtsmen to make history in the 1948 Olympics in London as Ireland made its debut in sailing events.
Competing in the Swallow Class, Dr Delany was helmsman of the The Cloud, along with crewman, Hugh Allen. Ireland had another representative, Jimmy Mooney, in the Firefly Class. Ireland finished thirteenth of the fourteen competitors.
Dr Delany also represented Ireland in the yachting events in the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki.
This time, he completed in the single handed (Finn) class, finishing 21st of 28 nations.
Dr Delany spent most of his working life based in Clontart, but even in 2004, at the age of 93, he spent a week in Athlone, competing in the Lough Ree Regatta.

Alf Delany pictured in 1930. Photo: Inland Waterways Association of Ireland

 

4. 2000/2004/2008/2012: Trap (shooting)

Keenagh native Derek Burnett learned much of his trade at Athlone Clay Pigeon Club, starting his shooting career there at the age of 12.
He has competed in four Olympics. He first made the cut as a wild card for the Sydney Games in 2000, where he finished 18 then went on to better that four years later, ending tied for seventh place.
In 2008, he placed 29 while in London four years ago, he ranked 27th.
In more recent times, he has trained at the Lakelands Shooting Centre just outside Mullingar.

Derek Burnett. Photo: Irish Clay Pigeon Shooting Association

5. 2012: Eventing

Ballymore native Joseph Murphy was part of the Eventing team which finished fifth in the London Olympics four years ago.
Murphy, who was based in Down at the time, is son of Joe and Netta.
Joseph’s displays in the saddle on his mount Electric Cruise earned him a 14th place finish out of 74 riders and helped the Irish team to a best-ever fifth place performance.
Best of the Irish in the cross-country (29th ), Murphy was 53rd after the dressage but moved up on the cross-country and also made the show-jumping final, finishing 24th to contribute to the team fifth.

Joseph Murphy competing in London. Photo: Sportsfile