By Gerry O’Sullivan
When Ireland takes its place at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris this month, it will mark the centenary of this country’s participation in the summer games. In a nice bit of historical symmetry, the 1924 event also took place in the French capital. Few of those present, however, will know the name of John James Keane, a Limerick man who almost single-handedly secured a place at the 1924 games for a state barely two years in existence.
Two years previously, on 8 June 1922, John James (better known as J.J.) had managed, on the proposal of Baron Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic movement, to claim a seat on the International Olympic Committee, an élite organisation of royalty, former Olympians and business leaders—not the type of company normally enjoyed by the man from the little village of Anglesborough at the foot of the Galtee Mountains in County Limerick. This was a huge step onto the global stage for the newly formed Irish Free State and a remarkable personal coup for the lobbying efforts and argumentative skills of Keane.
OUTSTANDING SPORTSMAN
J.J. Keane was an obvious choice for a leadership role in building a national and international sporting presence for the new state. He was an outstanding sportsman, being the holder of three All-Ireland football medals with Dublin (represented by Geraldines in 1898 and 1899, and Bray Emmets in 1902). He also won a GAA national athletics championship title in the 120-yards hurdles in 1900. More importantly, however, the man described by Marcus de Búrca as the ‘hot-headed Limerick man’ was also chair of the GAA’s Athletic Council from 1910, having been its first secretary from 1905, when he had been instrumental in setting it up. Consequently, he was well known to those in the track and field areas.
Shortly after the formation of the new state in 1922, the GAA relinquished control of athletics to focus its energies on football and hurling. That paved the way in June of that year for the merger of the Irish Amateur Athletic Association with the Keane-led Athletic Council, creating the new 32-county National Athletic and Cycling Association of Ireland (NACAI), with Keane as its first president, a position he would hold until 1929.
TAILTEANN GAMES
Whether it was a lust for power or single-minded determination, Keane seems to have had an insatiable appetite for work. In 1923 he became the founder and first president of the newly formed Irish Olympic Council, known today as the Olympic Federation of Ireland. He held that position until 1931. For much of this period he was also a member of the International Amateur Athletic Federation (known as World Athletics since 2019). In addition, he was appointed by the government to the executive committee for the revived Tailteann Games in 1924, held just two weeks after the Paris Olympic Games. The flagship event for the new state drew bigger crowds than the Olympics, with over 5,000 competitors watched by 250,000 spectators attending over fifteen days. Keane had special responsibility for the track and field events and he was given complete charge of the Tailteann Games in 1932, the last year in which the event was staged. Keane was a superb administrator and networker and made skilled use of his international contacts to attract five Olympic champions to Dublin for the 1924 Tailteann Games, including Johnny Weissmuller, the American gold-medal swimmer who would later achieve much greater fame and fortune as Tarzan in a number of Hollywood films of the 1930s.
WIDER POLITICAL INVOLVEMENT?
While evidence of a wider involvement in the politics of the time is difficult to gauge, J.J. certainly moved within the Gaelic nationalist milieu of the times. In October 1920 he was one of the GAA’s nominated representatives at the funeral of Terence MacSwiney. Later a newspaper obituary would claim that ‘he suffered imprisonment during the troubled times for smuggling arms to the Republicans’ but there is no evidence that he ever served a sentence. He did have at least one close shave with the authorities. On 23 June 1918, a police and army raid on the Dodd premises in Smithfield where he worked found 40,000 rounds of .303 cartridges concealed in 122 sacks of oats. The ‘grain’ came from Belfast via the Great Northern Railway and arrived without any supporting documentation. Keane complied fully with the search and told the police that it wasn’t unusual for the paperwork to follow a few days later and that he was as mystified as they were. Nevertheless, in October that year, together with William Cullen from Fairview, he was tried by court martial but acquitted. Around the same time, a man from Tyrone was jailed for two years for being in possession of 3,624 rounds of ammunition. Had the authorities been able to pin the charge on J.J. Keane, Irish Olympic history might have had a bumpier start.
BACKGROUND
Keane was born on 14 April 1871 in Anglesborough; according to his birth certificate, his father John was a farmer and his mother was Ellen Cook. He attended the local national school and later Mitchelstown CBS. While still in his teens he landed a clerical job in Dublin with Christopher Dodd and Sons, Corn, Hay and Potato Merchants, at 39–41 Smithfield, Dublin. He rose through the ranks and eventually became the sole owner of the business, which is listed as far back as 1851 in Thom’s Directory. He never married and lived a rather frugal life on the firm’s premises in Smithfield. Apparently, his weekly treat was to have lunch at Portmarnock Golf Club. He was a regular attender at Croke Park, where he occupied the same seat in the old Hogan Stand. Former director-general of the GAA Seán Ó Síocháin recalled ‘an extremely private man and to a great extent an unapproachable man. He rarely spoke to anyone and few ever spoke to him.’ Nevertheless, despite his apparent introverted disposition, J.J. Keane was in serious demand as an administrator and was clearly a man with a reputation for getting things done. His business prominence also saw him become president of the Dublin Rotary Club—‘a worldwide service organisation for people of all ages who wish to use their personal and professional skills in the service of others’. He clearly could mix in any company.
LATER OLYMPIC GAMES
Keane attended the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris as the chef de mission, responsible for selecting, training, transporting and leading the entire Irish team. He was also present at the games in Amsterdam 1928, Los Angeles 1932, Berlin 1936 and London 1948. He was distressed to see in the 1930s a return of a split in Irish athletics when a ruling by the International Amateur Athletic Federation meant that the selection of the Irish Olympic track and field team had to be confined to athletes from the Irish Free State. The all-Ireland NACAI refused to accept this decision and as a result Ireland did not take part in the 1936 Berlin games. Nevertheless, Keane travelled to the German capital in his capacity as a member of the International Olympic Committee and was mightily impressed by the German organisation of the event.
In 1951, at the age of 80, he retired from the International Olympic Committee. He died from a heart condition on 1 April 1956 in Portobello Nursing Home, South Richmond Street (now an English-language school), just thirteen days shy of his 85th year. His funeral Mass took place in St Paul’s Church, Arran Quay. Among those in the large congregation were a nephew, a niece and some cousins. His coffin was draped in the tricolour for the journey to his final resting-place in Glasnevin Cemetery. He left an estate valued at £47,371, more than €1.5m in today’s terms.
Gerry O’Sullivan is a retired public servant, in the higher education sector, with a keen interest in local, national and international history.
Further reading
M. de Búrca, The GAA: a history (Dublin, 1980).
M. Duncan, ‘Sport and self-determination—making Ireland’s case for Olympic recognition’, RTÉ Century Ireland Series 1913–2023 (www.rte.ie/centuryireland/index.php/articles/sport-and-self-determination-making-irelands-case-for-olympic-recognition).
P. Rouse, ‘Tailteann Games were aimed at ensuring new nation made a splash’, Irish Times, 27 October 2023 (www.irishtimes.com/sponsored/2023/10/27/tailteann-games-were-aimed-at-ensuring-new-nation-made-a-splash/).