Ireland at the Paralympics

Ireland at the
Paralympics
Ireland at the; Paralympics
IPC code	IRL
NPC	Paralympics Ireland
Website	www.paralympics.ie
Medals; Ranked 29th	Gold 71 Silver 71 Bronze 98 Total 240
Summer appearances
	1960; 1964; 1968; 1972; 1976; 1980; 1984; 1988; 1992; 1996; 2000; 2004; 2008; 2012; 2016; 2020; 2024;

A team representing Ireland has competed at every Summer Paralympic Games. The country has never taken part in the Winter Paralympics. Irish athletes have won 238 Summer Paralympic medals. ^[1] Paralympics Ireland (formerly the Paralympic Council of Ireland) is the National Paralympic Committee.

Northern Ireland-born athletes are entitled to represent either Ireland or Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as they are automatically entitled to the citizenship of both countries. As a result, athletes will tend to represent the National Olympic Committee of the nation to which their sport federation is aligned. The smaller competition pool will also see athletes choose to represent Ireland to ensure greater Olympic qualification chances, although athletes may also move in the opposite direction to increase medal chances, especially in team events. A number of athletes have represented both nations. This is on the same basis as at the Olympics.

At the first Paralympic Games in 1960 in Rome Ireland were one of 23 nations to enter athletes. The team finished 12th in the medals table which to this day remains the highest Ireland has ranked on the medal table. Both of Ireland's gold medals were won by Joan Horan. Horan won her medals in two different sports, one in the women's St. Nicholas Round open archery and one in the women's 25 m Crawl complete class 2 swimming event.^[2]^[3]^[4] At the next games, hosted by Tokyo in 1964, two Irish athletes competed. This remains Ireland's only Summer Paralympics where no medals were earned.

The most medals won by Ireland at a Paralympic Games is 66. This was achieved at the 1984 Games hosted in New York and Stoke Mandeville. 20 of these medals were gold, 15 silver and 31 bronze. These are the most medals ever won at the games, making this the most successful Paralympic Games for Ireland. This was achieved with only 53 athletes on the Paralympic team that year.

The 1996 Summer Paralympics saw the biggest Paralympic team ever head to Atlanta. With 63 athletes competing in these games, Ireland was hoping for their biggest games yet. Dissapointingly for the Irish, 10 medals were won at these games.

At the 2008 Summer Paralympics, held in Beijing, Ireland won five medals in total, three of them gold. There was controversy over the participation of Derek Malone in the 7-a-side cerebral palsy football tournament. Malone, who had competed in the 800 m event at the Athens Paralympics was ruled as ineligible to compete by Games classification authorities on the grounds that his disability was not severe enough.^[5]^[6]

Athletics is Ireland's highest achieving sport with more than 5x more medals won in Athletics than any other sport. Ireland have also been very successful in swimming with 31 medals won in the sport.

Medal tables

Medals by Summer Games

Games	Athletes	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total	Rank
1960 Rome	5	2	0	0	2	12
1964 Tokyo	2	0	0	0	0	18
1968 Tel-Aviv	7	0	4	5	9	19
1972 Heidelberg	17	2	4	2	8	21
1976 Toronto	19	4	10	6	20	21
1980 Arnhem	24	4	2	11	17	25
1984 Stoke Mandeville/New York	53	20	15	31	66	14
1988 Seoul	53	13	11	18	42	19
1992 Barcelona/Madrid	58	0	3	4	7	47
1996 Atlanta	63	1	3	6	10	45
2000 Sydney	39	5	3	1	9	31
2004 Athens	42	0	3	1	4	61
2008 Beijing	45	3	1	1	5	36
2012 London	49	8	3	5	16	19
2016 Rio de Janeiro	44	4	4	3	11	28
2020 Tokyo	31	4	2	1	7	32
2024 Paris	35	1	3	2	6	48
2028 Los Angeles	future events
2032 Brisbane	future events
Total		71	71	97	239	29

Medals by summer sport


Sport	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Athletics	38	39	63	140
Swimming	11	11	9	31
Lawn bowls	7	2	3	12
Cycling	6	4	4	14
Table tennis	3	6	10	19
Boccia	3	1	3	7
Snooker	1	3	0	4
Equestrian	1	2	3	6
Archery	1	1	0	2
Football 7-a-side	0	1	2	3
Totals (10 entries)	71	70	97	238

List of medallists

The following table contains all medals won by athletes representing Ireland in the Paralympics. All medals have been won at the Summer Games. Ireland have never had a Paralympic team compete in the Winter Games.

The table is organised in chronological order, then by medal type (Gold, silver and bronze) and then by sport.

Medallists (1960 - 1980)

Medal	Name	Games	Sport	Event
Gold	Joan Horan	1960 Rome	Archery	Women's St. Nicholas round open
Gold	Joan Horan	1960 Rome	Swimming	Women's 25m crawl complete class 2
Silver	Rosaleen Gallagher	1968 Tel-Aviv	Archery	Women's St. Nicholas round cervical
Silver	Jimmy Gibson		Snooker	Men's open
Silver	Frances O'Sullivan White		Swimming	Women's 25m backstroke class 1
Silver	Frances O'Sullivan White		Table Tennis	Women's A1 singles
Bronze	Rosaleen Gallagher		Athletics	Women's Slalom cervical class
Bronze			Swimming	Women's 25m backstroke class 1
Bronze			Table Tennis	Women's A2 singles
Bronze	Rosaleen Gallagher Frances O'Sullivan White		Table Tennis	Women's A2 doubles
Bronze	Jimmy Gibson		Table Tennis	Men's C singles
Gold	Rosaleen Gallagher	1972 Heidelberg	Athletics	Women's 60m wheelchair 1B
Gold	Jimmy Gibson Eddie Lucas		Lawn Bowls	Men's pairs
Silver	Kathleen Fagan		Athletics	Women's 60m m2
Silver	Rosaleen Gallagher		Athletics	Women's javelin 1B
Silver	Jimmy Gibson		Snooker	Men's tournament paraplegic
Silver	Ireland Team		Table Tennis	Women's Teams 2
Bronze	Kathleen Fagan		Athletics	Women's discus throw 2
Bronze	Frances O'Sullivan White		Swimming	Women's 25m backstroke 1B
Gold	Michael Cunningham	1976 Toronto	Athletics	Men's javelin 4
Gold	Rosaleen Gallagher		Athletics	Women's pentathlon 1B
Gold	Julia Cosgrove Frances O'Sullivan White		Table Tennis	Women's doubles 1B
Gold	Julia Cosgrove		Table Tennis	Women's singles 1A
Silver	Patrick McCool		Athletics	Men's club throw
Silver	Patrick McCool		Athletics	Men's discus throw
Silver	Clause Stephens		Athletics	Men's discus throw 2
Silver	Rosaleen Gallagher		Athletics	Women's 60m 1B
Silver	Kathleen Fagan		Athletics	Women's 60m 2
Silver	Kathleen Fagan		Athletics	Women's discus throw 2
Silver	Rosaleen Gallagher		Athletics	Women's shot put 1B
Silver	Christine Doprill		Athletics	Women's shot put 2
Silver	Rosaleen Gallagher		Athletics	Women's Slalom 1B
Silver	Frances O'Sullivan White		Table Tennis	Women's singles 1B
Bronze	Clause Stephens		Athletics	Men's shot put 2
Bronze	Rosaleen Gallagher		Athletics	Women's club throw 1B
Bronze	Rosaleen Gallagher		Athletics	Women's discus throw 1B
Bronze	Christine Doprill		Athletics	Women's discus throw 2
Bronze	Christine Doprill		Athletics	Women's javelin 2
Bronze	Kathleen Fagan		Athletics	Women's slalom 2

Medallists (1984 - 2000)

Medal	Name	Games	Sport	Event
Gold	Ronan Tynan	1984 Stoke Mandeville / New York	Athletics	Long jump A3
Gold	David McNally		Athletics	Long jump C8
Gold	Brendan Crean		Athletics	Club throw C3
Gold	Ronan Tynan		Athletics	Discus throw A3
Gold	William Johnston		Athletics	Distance throw C1
Gold	Ronan Tynan		Athletics	Shot put A3
Gold	Tom Leahy		Athletics	Shot put C2
Gold	Dermot Walsh		Athletics	Slalom C2
Gold	Carol Carr		Athletics	400m B2
Gold	Morna Cloonan		Athletics	1000m Cross country C6
Gold	Cathy Dunne		Athletics	Discus throw 3
Gold	Rosaleen Galagher		Athletics	Shot put B1
Gold	Morna Cloonan		Athletics	Shot put C6
Gold	Gerard Dunne		Swimming	100m backstroke 6
Gold	Gerard Dunne		Swimming	100m butterfly 6
Gold	Morna Cloonan		Swimming	25m backstroke C6
Gold	Jimmy Gibson		Snooker	Men's paraplegic
Gold	Bill Ensor Paul Smyth		Lawn Bowls	Men's pairs A2/4
Gold	Paul Smyth		Lawn Bowls	Men's singles A2/4
Gold	Alice Bailey Angela Hendra		Lawn Bowls	Women's pairs paraplegic
Silver	Gerry O'Rourke		Athletics	400m A1–A3
Silver	Ronan Tynan		Athletics	High jump A3
Silver	William Johnston		Athletics	Precision throw C1
Silver	John Creedon		Athletics	Club throw L1
Silver	Tom Leahy		Athletics	Club throw C2
Silver	Theresa Ward		Athletics	200m C7
Silver	Carol Carr		Athletics	1500m B2
Silver	Kay McShane		Athletics	Marathon 4
Silver	Rosaleen Galagher		Athletics	Javelin B1
Silver	Theresa Ward		Athletics	Javelin C7
Silver	Morna Cloonan		Athletics	Club throw C6
Silver	Gerard Dunne		Swimming	400m freestyle 6
Silver	Monica O'Kelly		Swimming	25m freestyle with aids C2
Silver	Ireland men		Football	7-a-side CP
Silver	Ireland women		Table tennis	Teams 2
Bronze	Gerry O'Rourke		Athletics	100m A1–A3
Bronze	Gerry O'Rourke		Athletics	800m A1–A3
Bronze	Patrick Kelly		Athletics	800m B1
Bronze	Fintan O'Donnell		Athletics	800m B3
Bronze	Patrick Kelly		Athletics	1500m B1
Bronze	Ronan Rooney		Athletics	Marathon 1B
Bronze	Ireland men		Athletics	4x100m relay C7–C8
Bronze	Joe Mulhall		Athletics	Club throw C3
Bronze	Joe Mulhall		Athletics	Javelin C3
Bronze	Martin Costello		Athletics	Javelin C4
Bronze	John Twomey		Athletics	Discus throw 2
Bronze	Joe Mulhall		Athletics	Shot put C3
Bronze	Francis Genockey		Athletics	Shot put L2
Bronze	David Boland		Athletics	Medicine ball thrust C2
Bronze	Theresa Ward		Athletics	100m C7
Bronze	Rosaleen Galagher		Athletics	Slalom B1
Bronze	Alison Barnes		Athletics	Slalom C1
Bronze	Monica O'Kelly		Athletics	Slalom (leg) C2
Bronze	Jennifer Kiely		Athletics	Slalom C3
Bronze	Rosaleen Galagher		Athletics	Discus B1
Bronze	Monica O'Kelly		Athletics	Club throw C2
Bronze	Christina Dodrill		Athletics	Shot put 2
Bronze	Monica O'Kelly		Athletics	Shot put C2
Bronze	Jennifer Kiely		Athletics	Shot put C3
Bronze	Gerard Dunne		Swimming	100m freestyle 6
Bronze	Brendan Crean		Swimming	25m backstroke C3
Bronze	O. Rourke		Table tennis	Singles L2
Bronze	Morna Cloonan		Table tennis	Singles C4–C5
Bronze	Angela Hendra		Lawn Bowls	Women's singles paraplegic
Bronze	Alice Bailey Angela Hendra	Lawn Bowls	Mixed pairs paraplegic
Gold	David Boland Martin Costello Lorraine Gallagher Darrin Jordan	1988 Seoul^[7]	Athletics	Mixed 4 x 100m C2-3
Gold	Paul Cassin		Athletics	Men’s Discus Throw C3
Gold	Martin Costello		Athletics	Men’s Shot Put C3
Gold	Darrin Jordan		Athletics	Men’s Slalom C2
Gold	Michael McCormack		Athletics	Men’s Kick Ball C2
Gold	Alma Rock		Athletics	Women’s 100m C8
Gold	John Twomey		Athletics	Men’s Discus Throw 2
Gold	Ronan Tynan		Athletics	Men’s Discus Throw A3A9
Gold	Theresa Ward		Athletics	Women’s 100m C7
Gold	Thomas Leahy		Boccia	Mixed Individual C2
Gold	Teresa Mullen		Lawn Bowls	Women’s Singles 2-6
Gold	Gerard Dunne		Swimming	Men’s 100m Backstroke 6
Gold	Gerard Dunne		Swimming	Men’s 100m Butterfly 6
Silver	Christina Dodrill		Athletics	Women’s Shot Put 2
Silver	Cathy Dunne Fitzpatrick		Athletics	Women’s Discus Throw 3
Silver	Lorraine Gallagher		Athletics	Women’s Club Throw C3
Silver	Lorraine Gallagher		Athletics	Women’s Discus Throw C3
Silver	Darrin Jordan		Athletics	Men’s 200m C2
Silver	Thomas Leahy		Athletics	Men’s Shot Put C2
Silver	John McGuinness		Athletics	Men’s 1500m C8
Silver	Ronan Tynan		Athletics	Men’s Shot Put A3A9
Silver	Theresa Ward		Athletics	Women’s Javelin C7
Silver	William Behan Francis Bell		Lawn Bowls	Men’s Pairs 2-6
Silver	Michael White		Snooker	Men’s Tournament Open
Bronze	David Boland		Athletics	Men’s Kick Ball C2
Bronze	Christina Dodrill		Athletics	Women’s Discus Throw 2
Bronze	Cathy Dunne Fitzpatrick		Athletics	Women’s Pentathlon
Bronze	Darrin Jordan		Athletics	Men’s 100m C2
Bronze	Darrin Jordan		Athletics	Men’s 400m C2
Bronze	Thomas Leahy		Athletics	Men’s Club Throw C2
Bronze	John McGuinness		Athletics	Men’s Cross Country 5000m C8
Bronze	Camilla McMahon		Athletics	Women’s 100m C8
Bronze	Kay McShane		Athletics	Women’s 800m 4
Bronze	Kay McShane		Athletics	Women’s Marathon 4
Bronze	Gerard Naughton		Athletics	Men’s Shot Put C4
Bronze	Ronan Tynan		Athletics	Men’s Javelin A3A9
Bronze	Team Ireland		Football	Men’s Tournament
Bronze	Gerard Dunne		Swimming	Men’s 100m Freestyle 6
Bronze	Gerard Dunne		Swimming	Men’s 400m Freestyle 6
Bronze	Gerard Dunne		Swimming	Men’s 200m Individual Medley 6
Bronze	Sean McGrath		Swimming	Men’s 100m Breaststroke A4
Bronze	Team Ireland		TableTennis	Men’s Teams C5-C8
Silver	Bridie Lynch	1992 Barcelona	Athletics	Women’s Discus Throw B3
Silver	Bridie Lynch		Athletics	Women’s Pentathlon B3
Silver	Mairead Berry		Swimming	Women’s 50m Backstroke S2
Bronze	Alma Rock		Athletics	Women’s 400m C7-8
Bronze	William Johnston Jason Kearney Thomas Leahy Martin McDonagh		Boccia	Mixed C1-C3
Bronze	Team Ireland		Football	Men’s Tournament
Bronze	Siobhan Callanan Esther Stynes		TableTennis	Women’s Teams 3
Gold	Bridie Lynch	1996 Atlanta	Athletics	Women's discus F12
Silver	Thomas Leahy		Boccia	Men's individual C2
Silver	David Malone		Swimming	Men's 100m backstroke S9
Silver	Mairead Berry		Swimming	Women's 50m backstroke S2
Bronze	Sean O'Grady		Athletics	Men's discus F54
Bronze	Mary Rice		Athletics	Women's 200m T32-33
Bronze	Bridie Lynch		Athletics	Women's shot put F12
Bronze	Sharon Rice		Athletics	Women's shot put F32-33
Bronze	Grainne Barrett-Condron		Athletics	Women's shot put F41
Bronze	Joan Salmon		Equestrian	Women's kur canter grade III
Gold	Tom Leahy	2000 Sydney	Athletics	Men's discus F51
Gold	Gabriel Shelly		Boccia	Mixed individual BC1
Gold	Margaret Grant John Cronin		Boccia	Mixed pairs BC3
Gold	David Malone		Swimming	Men's 100m backstroke S8
Gold	Mairead Berry		Swimming	Women's 100m freestyle S2
Silver	Mary Rice		Athletics	Women's 400m T34
Silver	Mairead Berry		Swimming	Women's 50m backstroke S2
Silver	Mairead Berry		Swimming	Women's 50m freestyle S2
Bronze	Catherine Walsh		Athletics	Women's pentathlon P13

Medallists (2004 - 2024)

Medal	Name	Games	Sport	Event
Silver	Conal McNamara	2004 Athens	Athletics	Men's 400m T13
Silver	John McCarthy		Athletics	Men's discus throw F32/51
Silver	David Malone		Swimming	Men's 100m backstroke S8
Bronze	Derek Malone		Athletics	Men's 800m T38
Gold	Michael McKillop	2008 Beijing	Athletics	Men's 800 m T37
Gold	Jason Smyth		Athletics	Men's 100 m T13
Gold	Jason Smyth		Athletics	Men's 200 m T13
Silver	Darragh McDonald		Swimming	Men's 400 m Freestyle S6
Bronze	Gabriel Shelly		Boccia	Mixed Individual BC1
Gold	Bethany Firth	2012 London	Swimming	Women's 100 metre backstroke S14
Gold	Darragh McDonald		Swimming	Men's 400 metre freestyle S6
Gold	Jason Smyth		Athletics	Men's 100 metres T13
Gold	Michael McKillop		Athletics	Men's 800 metres T37
Gold	Michael McKillop		Athletics	Men's 1500 metres T37
Gold	Mark Rohan		Cycling	Men's road time trial H1
Gold	Mark Rohan		Cycling	Men's road race H1
Gold	Jason Smyth		Athletics	Men's 200 metres T13
Silver	Catherine Walsh Pilot: Francine Meehan		Cycling	Women's Ind B Pursuit
Silver	Helen Kearney on Mister Cool		Equestrian	Ind. Championship Test - Grade Ia
Silver	Catherine O'Neil		Athletics	Women's discus F51/52
Bronze	Team Ireland		Equestrian	Mixed Team Championship
Bronze	Helen Kearney on Mister Cool		Equestrian	Individual freestyle test grade Ia
Bronze	Orla Barry		Athletics	Women's Discus Throw F57/58
Bronze	James Brown Pilot: Damien Shaw		Cycling	Men's road time trial B
Bronze	Catherine Walsh Pilot: Francine Meehan		Cycling	Women's road time trial B
Gold	Jason Smyth	2016 Rio de Janeiro	Athletics	Men's 100m T13
Gold	Michael McKillop		Athletics	Men's 1500m T37
Gold	Eoghan Clifford		Cycling	Men's road time trial C3
Gold	Katie-George Dunlevy Pilot: Eve McCrystal		Cycling	Women's road time trial B
Silver	Colin Lynch		Cycling	Men's road time trial C2
Silver	Orla Barry		Athletics	Women's discus F57
Silver	Niamh McCarthy		Athletics	Women's discus F41
Silver	Katie-George Dunlevy Pilot: Eve McCrystal		Cycling	Women's road race B
Bronze	Eoghan Clifford		Cycling	Men's individual pursuit C3
Bronze	Ellen Keane		Swimming	Women's 100 metre breaststroke SB8
Bronze	Noelle Lenihan		Athletics	Women's discus F38
Gold	Ellen Keane	2020 Tokyo	Swimming	Women's 100 metre breaststroke SB8
Gold	Jason Smyth		Athletics	Men's 100 metres T13
Gold	Katie-George Dunlevy Pilot: Eve McCrystal		Cycling	Women's road time trial B
Gold	Katie-George Dunlevy Pilot: Eve McCrystal		Cycling	Women's road race B
Silver	Katie-George Dunlevy Pilot: Eve McCrystal		Cycling	Women's individual pursuit B
Silver	Nicole Turner		Swimming	Women's 50 metre butterfly S6
Bronze	Gary O'Reilly		Cycling	Men's road time trial H5
Gold	Katie-George Dunlevy Pilot: Linda Kelly	2024 Paris	Cycling	Women's Road Race B Time Trial
Silver	Katie-George Dunlevy Pilot: Eve McCrystal			Women’s B 3000m Individual Pursuit
Silver	Katie-George Dunlevy Pilot: Linda Kelly			Women’s B Road Race
Silver	Róisín Ní Ríain		Swimming	Women's 100m backstroke S13
Bronze	Róisín Ní Ríain		Swimming	Women's 200m Individual Medley SM13
Bronze	Orla Comerford		Athletics	Women's 100m T13

References

^ "IPC Historical Results Database". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
^ "Ireland's first Paralympic athlete, Oliver Murphy, is honoured at the Renault Ireland Team 2012 Camp". Paralympic Council of Ireland. 14 April 2010. Archived from the original on 26 April 2010. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
^ "Ireland honours pioneering Paralympian". inside world parasport. 15 April 2010. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
^ "name=Joan Horan". Paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee.
^ Gareth A Davies (13 September 2008). "IPC defend banning of Irish footballer Derek Malone from Paralympic Games". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 14 September 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
^ "Games exit for Ireland's Malone". BBC Sport. 11 September 2008. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
^ https://paralympics.ie/seoul-1988-2/

[1] "IPC Historical Results Database". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 19 April 2010.

[2] "Ireland's first Paralympic athlete, Oliver Murphy, is honoured at the Renault Ireland Team 2012 Camp". Paralympic Council of Ireland. 14 April 2010. Archived from the original on 26 April 2010. Retrieved 19 April 2010.

[3] "Ireland honours pioneering Paralympian". inside world parasport. 15 April 2010. Retrieved 19 April 2010.

[4] "name=Joan Horan". Paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee.

[5] Gareth A Davies (13 September 2008). "IPC defend banning of Irish footballer Derek Malone from Paralympic Games". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 14 September 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2010.

[6] "Games exit for Ireland's Malone". BBC Sport. 11 September 2008. Retrieved 19 April 2010.

[7] ttps://paralympics.ie/seoul-1988-2/

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