Irish American Athletic Club

Irish American Athletic Club
	1910 Mecca Cigarettes card of John Flanagan, champion weight-thrower of the Irish American Athletic Club.
Founded	January 30, 1898
Type	Irish American sports club
Location	Queens, New York, United States;
Official language	English
Formerly called	Greater New York Irish Athletic Association

The Irish American Athletic Club was an amateur athletic organization, based in

Queens, New York

, at the beginning of the 20th century.

Early years

Established on January 30, 1898, originally as the "Greater New York Irish Athletic Association", they shortened the name to the Irish American Athletic Club a few years later. They purchased a plot of land in what was then called Laurel Hill, Long Island, near

Irish Gaelic motto ‘Láim[Sic] Láidir Abú’ or ‘A strong hand will be victorious,' and were often referred to as the 'Winged Fists'. At one time they had clubs in Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Yonkers, New York.^[3]

Athletes

During the thirty odd years of its existence, all of the following athletes competed for the Irish American Athletic Club at some point;

John Baxter Taylor, Jr., Con Walsh, William Galvin and Harold Wilson

.

Non-Irish members

The Irish American Athletic Club was predominantly composed of Irish born and first generation

Athens 1906 he again won the long jump competition, beating the world record holder, Irishman, Peter O'Connor. Swedish-born Ernie Hjertberg, himself a US track and field champion, was appointed coach and recruited outstanding non-Irish athletes. Under his leadership, the IAAC turned into a national track power.^[4]^[5]^[6]

National championships and Olympic medals

The Irish American Athletic Club won the

Olympic medals for the U.S. Olympic team,^[8]

including 26 gold medals.

Olympic participation

In addition to winning numerous local and regional

1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp

.

1908 Olympics

In the

U.S. Olympic team included; Joseph Bromilow, Harvey Cohn, Daniel Kelly, Frank Riley, William Robbins, Lawson Robertson, Michael J. Ryan, James P. Sullivan and Lee Talbott.^[9]

1910 point champions

"With a grand total of 2,001 points gained by their track and field men in 1910, the Irish-American Athletic Club had put to its credit a score said to be greater than that of any similar aggregation of athletes during any single year," according to the New York Times. "Eighty-nine men contributed to this splendid showing, gaining points only in track and field games."[10]

1912 Olympics

Thirteen members of the Irish American Athletic Club competed as part of the

U.S. Olympic team were; John Eller, Emil Muller, Edwin Pritchard, John J. Reynolds, James Rosenberger and Michael J. Ryan

.

American Amateur Hockey League

In 1912–13, 1913–14, 1914–15 and 1916–17 the Irish American Athletic Club had a team, the New York Irish-Americans, represented in the American Amateur Hockey League.^[11] The team was coached by James C. "Jimmy" O'Brien and had on its roster for various seasons future NHL players Tom McCarthy and Moylan McDonnell. John McGrath and Patsy Séguin also played for the club.

Final championship title – 1916

Before the largest crowd that had ever assembled to see a track meet in the United States, on September 9, 1916, the Irish American Athletic Club defeated the

First World War

.

Notes

^ "A New Athletic Club: Greater New York Irish A. A. has already Secured Quarters." The New York Times, January 31, 1898: p. 4.
^ "Athletic Field Remodeled. Celtic Park in New Garb to be Re-opened Monday." The New York Times, May 10, 1901: p. 10.
^ New-York Daily Tribune, November 25, 1910.
^ USA Outdoor Track & Field Champions - Men's 3,000 m Steeplechase Archived 2011-06-10 at the Wayback Machine
^ USA Outdoor Track & Field Champions - Men's 5,000 m Archived 2008-10-04 at the Wayback Machine
^ Encyclopedia of ethnicity and sports in the United States by George B. Kirsch, Othello Harris, Claire Elaine Nolte.
^ USA Track & Field
^ Winged Fist Organization
^ The 1908 Olympic Games : Results for All Competitors in All Events, With Commentary by Bill Mallon, Ian Buchanan. [1]
^ The New York Times, January 9, 1911: p. 11.
^ Spalding's Hockey Guide 1914 pg. 13
^ "Irish A.C. Wins Honors on Track." The New York Times, September 10, 1916: p. S2.

References

Cook, Theodore Andrea (May 1909). The Fourth Olympiad London 1908 Official Report (PDF). London: British Olympic Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2008-12-29.
Greenberg, Stan (1987). Olympic Games: The Records. London: Guinness Books.
ISBN 0-85112-896-3
.

Katchen, Alan (2008). Abel Kiviat, National Champion: Twentieth-Century Track & Field and the Melting Pot. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press.
ISBN 978-0-8156-0939-1
.

Kieran, John (1977). The Story of the Olympic Games; 776 B.C. to 1976. Philadelphia and New York: J.B. Lippincott Company.
ISBN 0-397-01168-7
.

Lee, Joseph; Casey, Marion (2006). Making the Irish American: History and Heritage of the Irish in the United States. New York: Glucksman Ireland House / NYU Press.
ISBN 978-0-8147-5208-1
.

McCarthy, Kevin (2010). Gold, Silver and Green: The Irish Olympic Journey 1896–1924. Cork, Ireland: Cork University Press.
ISBN 978-1-85918-458-5
.

Sullivan, James E. (1912). The Olympic Games Stockholm - 1912 (PDF). New York: American Sports Publishing Company. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-04-10. Retrieved 2009-01-03.

External links

[1] "A New Athletic Club: Greater New York Irish A. A. has already Secured Quarters." The New York Times, January 31, 1898: p. 4.

[2] "Athletic Field Remodeled. Celtic Park in New Garb to be Re-opened Monday." The New York Times, May 10, 1901: p. 10.

[3] New-York Daily Tribune, November 25, 1910.

[4] USA Outdoor Track & Field Champions - Men's 3,000 m Steeplechase Archived 2011-06-10 at the Wayback Machine

[5] USA Outdoor Track & Field Champions - Men's 5,000 m Archived 2008-10-04 at the Wayback Machine

[6] Encyclopedia of ethnicity and sports in the United States by George B. Kirsch, Othello Harris, Claire Elaine Nolte.

[7] USA Track & Field

[8] Winged Fist Organization

[9] The 1908 Olympic Games : Results for All Competitors in All Events, With Commentary by Bill Mallon, Ian Buchanan. [1]

[10] The New York Times, January 9, 1911: p. 11.

[11] Spalding's Hockey Guide 1914 pg. 13

[12] "Irish A.C. Wins Honors on Track." The New York Times, September 10, 1916: p. S2.

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