Paddy Bermingham (athlete)

Paddy Bermingham
circa 1924 at White City, possibly the AAA Championships
Personal information
NationalityBritish (Northern Irish)
Born(1886-03-15)15 March 1886
Died19 January 1959(1959-01-19) (aged 72)
Dublin, Ireland
Height187 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight125 kg (276 lb)
Sport
SportAthletics
Event
Discus throw
ClubDublin Metropolitan Police

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]

Biography

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+12 in (46.19 m) until 1939.[2] At the AAA Championships he won five 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]

In 1930, throwing for the Dublin Metropolitan Guards, which was part of the Garda Síochána, Bermingham won the 1930 championship of the Irish Free State,[8] the 1930 discus championship of Munster[9] and the 1930 championship of Ireland.[10]

He is recorded as having competed in the 1934 British Empire Games, as an Irish Free State athlete representing Northern Ireland.[11][12] He finished outside the top seven.[11][12]

He is buried in Mount Jerome cemetery.[1]

Several online football databases[13] 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.[14]

References

  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. ^ "Free State Sports". Belfast Telegraph. 30 June 1930. p. 6. Retrieved 12 November 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ "Ulster Title Events". Evening Herald (Dublin). 14 June 1930. p. 2. Retrieved 12 November 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ^ "Irish Athletic Champsionships". Sport (Dublin). 5 July 1930. p. 11. Retrieved 12 November 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ^ a b "Pat Bermingham". Athlete Performance. Commonwealth Games Federation. Archived from the original on 21 March 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ Paddy Bermingham at National-Football-Teams.com
  14. ^ Irish Times. 9 November 1970. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)