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Máirtín Ó Direáin - Fathach File / Reluctant Modernist

Camogie players, 1921

Item

Format

JPEG

Title

Camogie players, 1921

Identifier

VH0021

Depiction

Seven young women holding camogie sticks, posed in front of a theatrical or photography studio backdrop

Description

Two of the camogie players pictured here have been identified: Margaret M. Carlos, known as Rita (seated, centre) and Mary J. Carlos, known as Nina (standing, left). In 1916 UCG competed for the Ashbourne Cup in the intercollegial camogie tournament which had been established the previous year. It was won by UCG in 1917 and 1920 and a further 13 times between then and 2022.
'Some members of the UCG winning 1917 team refused to have their names engraved on the cup in the Irish language, something that brought their future selection into doubt.' (Wikipedia). There are interesting anecdotes regarding the Ashbourne in later decades (including Siobhán McKenna’s prowess) in Jackie Uí Chionna's Oral History of University College Galway.
The camogie sticks at the time were differently shaped to those used today. It was, and is, usual to inscribe one’s name on the stick or camán. Nina's name is clearly visible on her stick, and ‘A’ can be seen on that of the young woman seated on the left.

References

Personal communication: Patrick Larkin.
Published sources:
Wikipedia contributors, ‘Ashbourne Cup’, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ashbourne_Cup&oldid=1157565160.
Jackie Uí Chionna, An Oral History of University College Galway, 1930-1980 (Dublin, 2019).

Contributor

Patrick Larkin

Bibliographic Citation

P. Larkin, J. Conroy, S.G. Jennings, S. Mac Mathúna , 'Camogie players, 1921', Visual History Retired Staff Collection, University of Galway Digital Collections, Asset Id 13660, Archival Record Id VHRS

Spatial Coverage

Unidentified location

Temporal Coverage

1921

Period

1920s

Category

black and white; group; location unknown; indoors

Subject

University of Galway
Sports
Sportswomen
Camogie

Language

English

Publisher

University of Galway Library

Rights

This image may be used for non-commercial purposes under CC BY-NC-SA see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/