Ireland at the 1930 Commonwealth Games | |
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CGF code | IRE |
Medals Ranked 9th |
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Commonwealth Games appearances (overview) | |
Other related appearances | |
Northern Ireland (1934–) |
Representation of the island of Ireland at the British Empire Games (now the Commonwealth Games) has varied:
The organising committee for the 1930 games in Hamilton, Ontario sent an invitation to the National Athletic and Cycling Association (NACA), and offered to pay $1000 towards travel expenses. [1] It also invited the Irish Amateur Boxing Association (IABA), which declined in order to concentrate on the 1932 Olympics. [2] The NACA executive decided to accept, on condition that the team be designated "Ireland" rather than "Irish Free State". [1] The NACA was affiliated to the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) and regarded itself as the governing body for athletics in the whole of Ireland, although a separate Northern Ireland Amateur Athletic, Cycling and Cross Country Association (NIAAA) was affiliated to the Amateur Athletic Association of England (AAA). NIAAA athletes, including some born in the Free State, were included on the AAA's England team. [3]
The NACA's attendance of the games proved to be controversial among some of its members who held Irish nationalist views. Sean Ryan, the President of the Gaelic Athletic Association, publicly dissociated himself from the NACA, and the Crokes club of one of the selected athletes voted to disband in protest. [4] [5]
The NACA made a shortlist of athletes whom it would fund for the trip to Canada if they could secure the necessary time off work. The NACA was careful to include an athlete from Northern Ireland to assert its all-island jurisdiction. [6] The English AAA offered to pay the expenses of hammer thrower Bill Britton on condition that he and Pat O'Callaghan take part in a British Empire athletics team to compete in a challenge match against the United States immediately after the Empire Games. [1] The NACA rejected this offer. In the event, O'Callaghan went to the 1930 International University Games in Germany, making him unavailable for the Empire Games. [6] Neither Britton nor any other Irish athlete was in the Empire challenge selection. [7] Ultimately four Irish-based athletes travelled. They were joined by a fifth, P. "Jack" O'Reilly, who was already living in Canada; O'Reilly wrote to the NACA asking to be nominated for the marathon and offering to pay his own way. [6] [8]
The Irish team's ship was delayed by fog and the team missed the opening ceremony, except for O'Reilly, who carried the flag. [9] The flag was not the Irish tricolour, considered by unionists as specific to the Free State; instead it showed the coat of arms of Ireland, a gold harp. [10] [11] The team colour was green, and singlets included the shamrock symbol. [12] [13]
Athlete | Club [15] | Event(s) | Result | Notes |
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Bill Britton | Cavan | Hammer | 2nd | Narrowly lost to Malcolm Nokes, whom he had beaten at the 1928 AAA championships. [16] |
M. O'Malley | Westport | 880 yds [17] | — | Missed heats owing to delayed arrival of ship. [9] |
W. A. [n 1] Dickson | North Belfast Harriers | 880 yds [18] | — | Missed heats owing to delayed arrival of ship. [9] |
Patrick J.B. "Joe" Eustace [19] | Crokes (Dublin) | 100 yds / 220 yds | 3rd in heat 1 [20] / — | Missed 220 yds heats owing to delayed arrival of ship. [9] Crokes disbanded in protest at the NACA sending a team to the Empire Games. [5] |
P. "Jack" O'Reilly | Galway | Marathon | 9th [8] | Based in Canada at time of Games, [6] O'Reilly had won the Irish marathon title in 1924–5–6–7, [21] and later came second in the 1931 Canadian championship. [22] |
Liston and Maguire state, "Contradictory media and sports reports exist regarding a team representing Ireland and/or Northern Ireland in 1934". [23] The English AAA, on behalf of the organisers of the 1934 games in London, invited the NIAAA to nominate competitors to represent Northern Ireland in athletics, cycling, boxing, and swimming; [24] the NIAAA regulated only the former two sports, for which it nominated athletes. The AAA separately invited the NACA nominate competitors to represent the Free State. [25] The AAA's view conformed to a 1933 IAAF decision to require member associations to be delimited by political borders; the NACA had objected to that and would later be expelled from the IAAF as a consequence. NACA declined the invitation to the Empire Games, although it accepted a contemporaneous invitation to an international meeting in Scotland at which the NIAAA would field a separate Northern Ireland team. [25] Paddy Bermingham, a Garda from County Clare, [26] was entered but there is no evidence he took part or even travelled; the Commonwealth Games Federation lists him under "Northern Ireland" in the entries, [27] while Bob Phillips lists him under "IFS" (Irish Free State). [28] [29] He is omitted from the results in the definitive Athletics at the Commonwealth Games written by Rob Whittingham, Paul Jenes and Stan Greenberg.
The lawn bowls team was described as "Ireland" in reports of its selection, [30] on the scoreboard, [31] and in reports of its results. [32] It was selected by the Irish Bowling Association, an all-island governing body, [n 1] but the team members' clubs (Larne, Cavehill, and Shaftesbury [30] ) were all in Northern Ireland, the heartland of the sport in Ireland, and its results have retrospectively been credited to Northern Ireland. [34] [29]
The Irish Amateur Swimming Association (IASA) refused to send teams for the Free State or Northern Ireland, pointing out that the bowling team was designated "Ireland" and that Jersey competitors were on the England team. [35] For similar reasons, the IASA boycotted the 1948 Olympic swimming gala, also in London. [36]
The IABA in February declined to send a team, stating that the games were during its close season. [37] In March, William Grant asked in the House of Commons of Northern Ireland whether, in the absence of IABA participation, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) boxing club might represent Northern Ireland. [38] In May, four IABA boxers who applied for exemption to participate in the Games got leave to do so. [39] They were: Larry Scally (flyweight), [40] T. Byrne (bantamweight), Jack Kennedy (welterweight), and Jimmy Magill (middleweight). [39] Magill, who won bronze, [41] was in the RUC; [42] as was William "Billy" Duncan,[ citation needed ] who won bronze at welterweight. [43] Magill and Duncan's medals are credited to Northern Ireland. [43] [41] One (possibly incomplete) list of results of the boxing events does not list Scally, Byrne, or Kennedy. [44]
When the programme for the 1938 games in Sydney was unveiled in May 1936 by the British Empire Games Federation, the list of teams expected to be present included Northern Ireland but not Ireland (the new name for the Irish Free State under a new 1937 constitution). [45] Liston and Maguire state, "CGF and other public records use different nomenclature for the 1938 [Ireland/Northern Ireland] team." [23] In 1937, the Irish Free State Bowling League was invited, [n 1] and said it would have liked to go but the cost of travel was prohibitive. [46] The Irish state was not in fact represented at the Games, while Northern Ireland was. The Irish Bowling Association's team is variously described as "Ireland" and "Northern Ireland" in contemporary reports. [29] The 1942 and 1946 games were cancelled, and when the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 came into force in 1949, Ireland was considered by Commonwealth states as having left the Commonwealth and ineligible for the 1950 games in Auckland, New Zealand. Northern Ireland was also absent, though it has participated at all subsequent games.
The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exception of 1942 and 1946, have successively run every four years since. The event was called the British Empire Games from 1930 to 1950, the British Empire and Commonwealth Games from 1954 to 1966, and British Commonwealth Games from 1970 to 1974. Athletes with a disability are included as full members of their national teams since 2002, making the Commonwealth Games the first fully inclusive international multi-sport event. In 2018, the Games became the first global multi-sport event to feature an equal number of men's and women's medal events and four years later they became the first global multi-sport event to have more events for women than men.
The 1930 British Empire Games was the inaugural edition of what now is known as the Commonwealth Games, and was held in Hamilton, Ontario, from 16 to 23 August 1930.
The 1934 British Empire Games was the second edition of what is now known as the Commonwealth Games, held in England, from 4–11 August 1934. The host city was London, with the main venue at Wembley Park, although the track cycling events were in Manchester. Seventeen national teams took part, including the Irish Free State.
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The 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games was held in Perth, Western Australia, from 22 November to 1 December 1962. Athletic events were held at Perry Lakes Stadium in the suburb of Floreat and swimming events at Beatty Park in North Perth. It was held after the 1962 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games for wheelchair athletes.
The Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) is an international multi-sport event organized by the Commonwealth Games Federation. The games were held in the years, mid-way between when the Commonwealth Games are held, until 2008. They continued to be held every four years, but in the year after the Commonwealth Games are held, from 2011 to 2015. Since 2017, they've been held in the year before the Commonwealth Games are held. The first edition was held in Edinburgh, Scotland from 10–14 August 2000. The age limitation of the athletes is from 14 to 18.
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The National Athletic and Cycling Association (NACA or N.A. and C.A.), from 1990 the National Athletic and Cycling Association of Ireland (NACAI or NACA(I)) was a federation of sports clubs in the island of Ireland practising athletics or bicycle racing or both. It existed from 1922 to 2000, though for most of the period it was not the sole governing body in Ireland for either sport. Its refusal to recognise the partition of Ireland got it expelled from the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) and the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). Clubs formerly in the NACAI are now affiliated to Athletics Ireland or Cycling Ireland, each formed by the merger of the NACAI with rival bodies respectively affiliated to the IAAF and the UCI.
The Irish Athletic Boxing Association Ltd. (IABA) is the national governing body for amateur boxing on the island of Ireland, developing and controlling the sport. Founded in 1911, the IABA operates from the National Stadium in Dublin, the only purpose built amateur boxing stadium in the world.
Patrick Joseph Bermingham was an Irish police officer and sportsman, specialising in the discus. He was from Moyasta in County Clare and joined the Dublin Metropolitan Police.
Paddy Maguire is a, former bantamweight boxer from the Falls Road area of Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was a Commonwealth Games silver medal winner and one-time holder of the BBBC bantamweight title.
Athletics Ireland, officially the Athletic Association of Ireland or AAI, is the governing body for athletics in Ireland, with athletics defined as including track and field athletics, road running, race walking, cross country running, mountain running and ultra distance running. The organisation's jurisdiction covers the whole island of Ireland and it is affiliated to the International Association of Athletic Federations. Its remit is to promote athletics from recreational running, schools competitions and to support elite athletes in international competitions.
Jimmy Magill was an amateur boxer and Royal Ulster Constabulary officer from Carncastle, near Larne in Northern Ireland.
Margaret Johnson MBE is a former Northern Irish lawn and indoor bowler.
Percy Thomson Watson, was a Northern Ireland international lawn bowler.
Charles Clawson was an Irish Lawn bowls international who competed in the 1934 British Empire Games.
Northern Ireland competed at the 1934 British Empire Games in London, from 4 to 11 August 1934.
the B.L.I., which in the meantime had affiliated to the Irish Bowling Association