Oonah Shannahan
New Zealand netball player (1921–2022)
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Oonah Fay Shannahan (née Murray; 3 September 1921 – 28 September 2022) was a New Zealand netball player. She captained the New Zealand team in their second Test match, in 1948 against Australia.
| Personal information | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Oonah Fay Shannahan (Née: Murray) | ||||||||||
| Born | 3 September 1921 Dunedin, New Zealand | ||||||||||
| Died | 28 September 2022 (aged 101) Christchurch, New Zealand | ||||||||||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||
| Netball career | |||||||||||
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Early life
Shannahan was born Oonah Fay Murray in Dunedin on 3 September 1921, one of five children of Frederick Joseph Murray and Margaret Murray.[1][2][3][4] Her father worked on the railways, and the family moved to Taihape for five years before settling in Christchurch.[3] She was educated at Sacred Heart Girls' College in Christchurch,[5] where she excelled at sports, winning the senior athletics championship in 1937 and 1938.[6][7]
Netball career
Murray was captain of the Canterbury provincial netball team,[8] and in 1948 she was selected as captain of the New Zealand national team for the first Test against the touring Australian team at Forbury Park in Dunedin.[2][9] The match was played under international rules, with seven players per side, which were unfamiliar to the New Zealanders who were used to playing nine-a-side. The Australian team was victorious, winning 27–16.[10] The match was the only occasion on which Murray represented New Zealand, because the New Zealand side for the three-Test series was selected on a regional basis, and she was unavailable for the final game as it conflicted with the wedding of Murray's sister.[1]
Later life and death
Oonah Murray married Francis John Shannahan, a New Zealand secondary schools association football representative that toured Australia in 1938.[11] The couple had two children, and he died in 2009.[12][13]
After her playing career, Shannahan continued her involvement in netball as an administrator, and she received a Netball New Zealand service award.[2] She lived with her daughter at McCormacks Bay, and celebrated her 100th birthday on 3 September 2021.[2][3] She died in Christchurch on 28 September 2022, at the age of 101.[14] At the time of her death, she was the oldest living New Zealand netball international.[2][3]