Paddy Bermingham (athlete)
Irish police officer and discus thrower
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
circa 1924 at White City, possibly the AAA Championships | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | British (Northern Irish) |
| Born | 15 March 1886 Moyasta, County Clare, Ireland |
| Died | 19 January 1959 (aged 72) Dublin, Ireland |
| Height | 187 cm (6 ft 2 in) |
| Weight | 125 kg (276 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
Event | Discus throw |
| Club | Dublin Metropolitan Police |
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+1⁄2 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]