100 Years of Ireland at the Olympics

The eyes of the world were on Paris for the 2024 Olympic opening ceremony on Friday with 300,000 spectators expected to be in attendance and another 1.5 billion watching from around the world as Team Ireland sends its largest delegation of athletes.

Paris 1924

In 1924, history unfolded at the Paris Olympics! For the very first time, an Irish delegation marched proudly under the Irish Tricolour, a symbol of hard-won independence. The athletes competed as Ireland rather than the “Irish Free State” since gaining independence from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

53 athletes strong the Irish delegation using the Irish Tricolour as the flag and the anthem of “Let Erin Remember,” debuted in the Olympics by competing in water polo*, track and field, boxing, football, and tennis.

While the athletes in these sports did not bring home any medals, Ireland did not leave empty-handed. Between 1912 and 1948, the Olympic Games also held competitions and awarded medals for arts and culture. Artists from around the world competed for medals in five categories music, painting, literature, architecture, and sculpture with a theme based on sport. Two well-known artists brought home Olympic glory by winning silver and bronze medals in Ireland in 1924.

Renowned painter, Jack B. Yeats secured Ireland’s first-ever Olympic medal, a Silver for his painting “The Liffey Swim.” Painted in 1923, it depicts the excitement around the annual Dublin City Liffey Swim which has been a tradition in Dublin’s main river since 1920. Yeats’ Olympic medal and his winning masterpiece are both on display in the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin.

Oliver St. John Gogarty secured the bronze for his “Ode to the Tailteann Games,” a poem he reportedly wrote at the request of the Irish government to commemorate the ‘Gaelic Olympic Games’ which were also first held in 1924 to celebrate Irish Independence. The sports ranged from GAA, athletics (track & field), and horseracing, to car and airplane races. Despite the poem winning a bronze medal, Gogarty is said to have described his poem as trash.

Though some might say Ireland left empty-handed in traditional athletics, these artistic triumphs marked a momentous debut. The 1924 Olympics wasn’t just about physical prowess – it was a celebration of Irish identity.

Paris 2024

One hundred years after its first Olympic outing, Ireland is sending its largest team ever back to the City of Lights – a whopping 133 athletes across 15 events!

Boxing champion Kelli Harrington and championship rowers Fintan McCarthy and Paul O’Donovan will be defending their 2020 Gold medals in Tokyo while on the track Rhasidat Adeleke, Ciara Mageean, and the mixed relay team which secured a gold medal at the European games in Rome, have a great chance to medal, as do gymnast Rhys McClenaghan and Daniel Whiffen who is a distance swimmer competing in the 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle.

When it comes to experience, marathoner Fionnuala McCormack has them all beat, as she is set to become the first Irish female athlete to compete in five back-to-back Olympic Games at the age of 39 when she lines up for the women’s marathon on August 11^th at the historic Hôtel de Ville.

Just imagine – 100 years after Jack Yeats and Oliver St. John Gogarty brought home Ireland’s first Olympic glory, this powerhouse team is primed to rewrite history and shower Ireland with Olympic hardware! Get ready for a summer of Irish pride and Olympic excitement!

Meet the 2024 Athletes

Approximately10,500 athletes from 206 countries will compete in 32 different sports vying for 329 Gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics. For the first time in history, an equal number of men and women will compete at the Olympics. In comparison, in 1924 3,089 athletes, representing 44 countries competed for 126 Gold medals. The gender gap was markedly different with 2,954 men vs. 135 women.

Ireland is sending a fairly balanced team to Paris with 69 men and 64 women competing. Visit Olympics.ie to learn about all of the Irish athletes competing.

The sports that Ireland’s athletes will be competing in include:

Ádh mór ar chách! Good luck to all