Paddy Bermingham (athlete)

Patrick Joseph Bermingham (15 March 1886 – January 1959)[1] was an Irish police officer and sportsman, specialising in the discus.[2] He was from Moyasta[3] in County Clare and joined the Dublin Metropolitan Police.[2][4][5]

Bermingham won ten Irish national discus titles: IAAA titles in 1919 and 1920, and NACAI titles in 1923–4–5–6–7, 1930, 1932, and 1933.[4] He held the Irish record at 151 ft 6+1⁄2 in (46.19 m) until 1939.[2] He won five English AAA discus titles: 1924–5–6, 1932, and 1934.[6] He also won four Irish titles in each of the 56 lbs weight throw events: for height (1923, 1925–6, 1929) and for distance (1923, 1925–6–7).[2][4] He represented Ireland at the 1924 Summer Olympics, but was eliminated in the qualifying round of the discus competition; his longest throw would have qualified for the final six but was discounted as a foul.[2] His best mark of 40.42 metres (132 ft 7 in) ranked him eleventh overall.[7] He is recorded as having competed in the 1934 British Empire Games, though sources vary as to whether he represented the Irish Free State or Northern Ireland.[8][9] He finished outside the top seven.[8][9]

He is buried in Mount Jerome cemetery.[1]

Several online football databases[10] mistakenly suggest that Bermingham also played for the Irish Free State national football team vs Hungary in 1934, but that was a different Patrick Joseph Bermingham.[11]

  1. ^ a b Irish Independent. 24 January 1959. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ^ a b c d e Coiste Siamsa (1972). Jubilee; A souvenir of 50 historic years of sport in the Garda Síochána (PDF). Garda Síochána. p. 19.
  3. ^ 1901 census
  4. ^ a b c O'Callaghan, Pierce; Cyril Smyth (2013). "Roll of Honour; Irish Athletics Champions 1873–2013" (PDF). Athletics Ireland. pp. 100, 119, 122. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  5. ^ "Paddy Bermingham". Olympedia. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  6. ^ "British Athletics Championships 1919-1939". Athletics Weekly. 2007. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  7. ^ French Olympic Committee (c. 1925). "TITRE III / ATHLÉTISME / ÉPREUVE No 18: LANCEMENT DU DISQUE". In M.A. Avé (ed.). Les Jeux de la VIIIe Olympiade Paris 1924: rapport officiel (PDF) (in French). Paris: Librairie de France. p. 140. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 May 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  8. ^ a b "Pat Bermingham". Athlete Performance. Commonwealth Games Federation. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  9. ^ a b Phillips, Bob (2000). Honour of Empire, Glory of Sport: The History of Athletics at the Commonwealth Games. Parrs Wood Press. p. 25. ISBN 9781903158098. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  10. ^ Paddy Bermingham at National-Football-Teams.com
  11. ^ Irish Times. 9 November 1970. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)