SPORTSFILE
THE THIN
GREEN
LINE
The 1948 Irish Olympic rowing crew
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the famous 1948 Irish Olympic rowing
team, who refused to compete should a member from Queen’s not be
allowed to row. One of six UCD team members, Morgan McElligott, wrote
this account
ELEGRAM FOR you, Professor.” The year season, finishing victoriously in the final of the Irish Senior
‘T
was 1948 in Mooney’s of the Strand. It read Eights Championship over Belfast Commercial Boat Club, at
“Flight delayed, cannot make Mooney’s, present Belfast Rowing Club, on the river Lagan.
see you at Henley-on-Thames, signed The IARU had ruled previously that the winning eight would
Holly.” Apparently, the barman was be nominated as an all-Ireland entry to the Olympic Games. The
transferred from the Dublin premises near relevant sub-committee met immediately after the race in July
Independent House to London and recognised his erstwhile 1948 and UCD were invited to form the Olympic crew, which was
customer, Jim Meenan, Secretary and later President of the Irish finally selected mid-July as follows: T.G. Dowdall, UCD (bow);
Amateur Rowing Union (IARU). ‘Holly’ was a sobriquet for J.J.E. E.M.A. McElligott, UCD; J. Hanly, UCD; D.D.B. Taylor, Queen’s
Holloway, representative of the Leinster branch of the IARU and University, Belfast, B. McDonnell, UCD; P.D.R. Harold, Neptune RC
to the Federation Internationale des Societes d’Aviron (FISA). Dublin; R.W.R. Tamplin, Trinity College Dublin (TCD); Stroke P.O.
Both were officers of Old Collegians Boat Club (OCBC) and Dooley, UCD; D.L. Sugrue, UCD (cox); R.G. Hickey, UCD and M.
members of the emergency committee to deal with the Irish Horan, TCD (coaches); D.S.F. O’Leary, UCD (manager); H.R.
Olympic eight-oar crew entry, and were hugely involved with Chantler, TCD and W. Stevens, Neptune RC (substitutes).
the development of UCD rowing. The OCBC was founded in
1918, assumed significance in the 1930s and peaked in 1939 by The Éire/Ireland question
winning the inter-varsity Wylie Cup and the Irish Senior and So far it seemed simple, but now came the Éire/Ireland question.
Junior Rowing Championships, coached by Holly and captained Briefly, ‘Éire’ meant pick your athletes from 26 counties,
by Dermot Pierce, brother of Denis Sugrue. whereas ‘Ireland’ meant choose from among the 32 counties.
After some lean years, the college aimed at revivification Dan Taylor, Captain of the Queen’s University Boat Club, was
under the author’s captaincy. By intensive training twice daily in included and the IARU was not yet a member of FISA.
1947, it made a significant inaugural appearance at the Royal An important matter under discussion in Henley-on-Thames
Henley Regatta by beating Reading University and King’s Town Hall was ‘Can we row Danny from Queen’s, Belfast?’.
College London in the initial rounds in the Thames Cup, before Previously in 1896, John Pius Boland, of Boland’s Bread and a
elimination in the semi-final by the eventual winners, Kent law graduate of Balliol College Oxford, caused some upset when
School USA. he demanded an Irish flag after winning two gold medals for
It was easy to predict the outcome of the 1948 season which, tennis in the first Olympic Games of the modern era.
captained by Paddy Dooley, repeated the 1947 Irish competitive Subsequent to the establishment of the 26-county Irish Free
PAGE FIFTY TWO UCD CONNECTIONS
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