How did the first Irish Olympics team fare in Paris 100 years ago?

Analysis: Ireland sent 48 athletes to Paris in 1924 to compete in seven different events, from soccer to water polo

Ireland competed at the Olympic Games for the first time in 1924. That year, athletes from some 44 nations descended on Paris to compete in the Games of the VIII Olympiad which took place from May 4th to July 27th. Germany was banned from taking part, as it had been in 1920. In total, 3,089 athletes competed in 126 events in 17 different sports. Ireland's 48 athletes competed in seven different events including the high jump, boxing and the shot put, javelin, water polo, football and tennis.

Ireland’s participation at the 1924 Olympics was a powerful statement of its newfound independence. Much of the work to make Ireland eligible to compete at the 1924 Games as an independent nation was down to J.J. (John James) Keane. He founded the Irish Olympic Council in the early 1920s and became its first president. He lobbied the governing body of the Olympics, the International Olympic Committee, and its president, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, to have Ireland admitted. His hard work paid off and Ireland was allowed to compete with the other nations of the world in what is perhaps the largest and most famous sporting contest in the world.

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From Pathé, coverage of the opening ceremony of the 1924 Olympic Games

Ireland marched in 25th position in the opening ceremony which took place at the Stade Olympique de Colombes on July 5th 1924. They marched behind the tricolour and