Representation of the

island of Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

at the British Empire Games (now the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

) has varied: *At the first games in 1930, a single team represented the entire island. *Irish athletes competed at the 1934 games though the affiliations of several of these to either

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

or the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between th ...

are unclear. *Since the 1938 games, there has been a Northern Ireland team only.

1930 games

The organising committee for the 1930 games in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

sent an invitation to the

National Athletic and Cycling Association 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 bicycl ...

(NACA), and offered to pay $1000 towards travel expenses. It also invited the

Irish Amateur Boxing Association 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 (Ireland), Nation ...

(IABA), which declined in order to concentrate on the 1932 Olympics. The NACA executive decided to accept, on condition that the team be designated "Ireland" rather than "Irish Free State". The NACA was affiliated to the

International Amateur Athletics Federation World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

(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 The Amateur Athletic Association of England or AAA (pronounced 'three As') is the oldest national governing body for athletics in the world, having been established on 24 April 1880. Historically it effectively oversaw athletics throughout Britai ...

(AAA). NIAAA athletes, including some born in the Free State, were included on the AAA's England team. The NACA's attendance of the games proved to be controversial among some of its members who held

Irish nationalist Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of cu ...

views. Sean Ryan, the

President of the Gaelic Athletic Association The president of the Gaelic Athletic Association ( ga, Uachtarán Cumann Lúthchleas Gael) is the head of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). The president holds office for three years. The role of president has existed since the foundation of ...

, publicly dissociated himself from the NACA, and the Crokes club of one of the selected athletes voted to disband in protest. 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. The English AAA offered to pay the expenses of

hammer throw The hammer throw is one of the four throwing events in regular track and field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and javelin. The "hammer" used in this sport is not like any of the tools also called by that name. It consis ...

Bill Britton William Timothy Britton (born November 13, 1955) is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour for fifteen years during the 1980s and 1990s. Britton was born and raised on Staten Island, New York, and attended Monsignor Farrell ...

on condition that he and

Pat O'Callaghan Patrick "Pat" O'Callaghan (28 January 1906 – 1 December 1991) was an Irish people, Irish Athletics (sport), athlete and Olympic Games, Olympic Olympic Gold Medal, gold medallist. He was the first athlete from Ireland to win an Olympic medal un ...

take part in a British Empire athletics team to compete in a challenge match against the United States immediately after the Empire Games. The NACA rejected this offer. In the event, O'Callaghan went to the

1930 International University Games The 1930 International University Games were organised by the Confederation Internationale des Etudiants (CIE) and held in Darmstadt, Germany. Held from 1–10 August, thirty nations competed in a programme of eight sports. Women competed only in ...

in Germany, making him unavailable for the Empire Games. Neither Britton nor any other Irish athlete was in the Empire challenge selection. 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 The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

and offering to pay his own way. The Irish team's ship was delayed by fog and the team missed the opening ceremony, except for O'Reilly, who carried the flag. The flag was not the

Irish tricolour The national flag of Ireland ( ga, bratach na hÉireann), frequently referred to in Ireland as 'the tricolour' () and elsewhere as the Irish tricolour is a vertical tricolour of green (at the hoist), white and orange. The proportions of the ...

, considered by unionists as specific to the Free State; instead it showed the

coat of arms of Ireland ) , supporters = , compartment = , motto = , orders = , other_elements = , earlier_versions = , use = The harp is used on all Acts of Oireachtas; the seal of the President; the cover of Iri ...

, a gold harp. The team colour was green, and singlets included the

shamrock A shamrock is a young sprig, used as a symbol of Ireland. Saint Patrick, Ireland's patron saint, is said to have used it as a metaphor for the Christian Holy Trinity. The name ''shamrock'' comes from Irish (), which is the diminutive of ...

symbol.

Results

1934 games

Liston and Maguire state, "Contradictory media and sports reports exist regarding a team representing Ireland and/or Northern Ireland in 1934".Liston and Maguire 2016, p.329 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; 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. 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. Paddy Bermingham, a Garda from

County Clare County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,817 ...

, competed in the discus; the Commonwealth Games Federation lists him under "Northern Ireland", while Bob Phillips lists him under "IFS" (Irish Free State).Liston and Maguire 2016, p.338 fn.74 The

lawn bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-gre ...

team was described as "Ireland" in reports of its selection, on the scoreboard, and in reports of its results. It was selected by the Irish Bowling Association, an all-island governing body, but the team members' clubs (Larne, Cavehill, and Shaftesbury) were all in Northern Ireland, the heartland of the sport in Ireland, and its results have retrospectively been credited to Northern Ireland. The

Irish Amateur Swimming Association The Irish Amateur Swimming Association (IASA) was the national governing body of swimming in Ireland. The organisation was founded in 1893 and held responsibility for the various aquatic disciplines until it was dissolved in January 1999 followi ...

(IASA) refused to send teams for the Free State or Northern Ireland, pointing out that the bowling team was designated "Ireland" and that

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

competitors were on the England team. For similar reasons, the IASA boycotted the 1948 Olympic swimming gala, also in London. The IABA in February declined to send a team, stating that the games were during its close season. In March, William Grant asked in the

House of Commons of Northern Ireland The House of Commons of Northern Ireland was the lower house of the Parliament of Northern Ireland created under the ''Government of Ireland Act 1920''. The upper house in the bicameral parliament was called the Senate. It was abolished wit ...

whether, in the absence of IABA participation, the

Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC)Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the Royal ...

(RUC) boxing club might represent Northern Ireland. In May, four IABA boxers who applied for exemption to participate in the Games got leave to do so. They were: Larry Scally (flyweight), T. Byrne (bantamweight), Jack Kennedy (welterweight), and Jimmy Magill (middleweight). Magill, who won bronze, was in the RUC; as was William "Billy" Duncan, who won bronze at welterweight. Magill and Duncan's medals are credited to Northern Ireland. One (possibly incomplete) list of results of the boxing events does not list Scally, Byrne, or Kennedy.

Later games

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). Liston and Maguire state, " CGF and other public records use different nomenclature for the 1938 reland/Northern Irelandteam." In 1937, the Irish Free State Bowling League was invited, and said it would have liked to go but the cost of travel was prohibitive. 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. The 1942 and 1946 games were cancelled, and when the

Republic of Ireland Act 1948 The Republic of Ireland Act 1948 (No. 22 of 1948) is an Act of the Oireachtas which declared that the description of Ireland was to be the Republic of Ireland, and vested in the president of Ireland the power to exercise the executive authority ...

came into force in 1949, Ireland was considered by Commonwealth states as having left the Commonwealth and ineligible for the 1950 games in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand. Northern Ireland was also absent, though it has participated at all subsequent games.

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

* {{National sports teams of Ireland Nations at the 1930 British Empire Games Nations at the 1934 British Empire Games Nations at the Commonwealth Games

British Empire Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

Ireland and the Commonwealth of Nations Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games 1930 in Irish sport 1934 in Irish sport