John O’Grady, a Limerick native, enjoys a particularly unusual distinction. He is the only county council rate book inspector to have been honoured with a commemorative monument in his home city, although his memory is celebrated for historic sporting achievements rather than his bureaucratic excellence.
O’Grady, born in Ballybricken in 1892 grew to be a gentle giant of 6ft 4in and 20st, the perfect physique for a seven-time Irish champion shot-putter and holder of three world records.
His enduring place in the Irish sporting annals was sealed at the Paris Olympics of 1924 when he became the first flag bearer at the games for his newly independent country. Since O’Grady first broke the ice, 23 compatriots have walked in his deep footprints and carried the Tricolour at the summer games.
Six different sports are represented on the roll of honour. A boxer has carried the flag on seven occasions, followed by five athletes, four equestrians, and team officials who have selflessly burdened themselves with the honour on three occasions. Swimming, rowing and sailing each make one appearance.
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Three competitors won gold medals at their flag-bearing games, hammer thrower Pat O’Callaghan (1932) and boxers Katie Taylor (2012) and Kelly Harrington (2021) while Sonia O’Sullivan hit the bar when she collected a silver at Sydney in 2000. Ronnie Delany carried the flag in Rome, in 1960, four years after his Melbourne heroics and Michelle Smith was chosen at Barcelona, the games before her controversial gold medal hat-trick in Atlanta in 1996.
At those Atlanta games, Ireland’s flag had its most memorable bearer, when the boxer Francie Barrett carried both his country’s colours and the pride of the Irish Travelling community when he beamed his way through the opening ceremony.
Heather Boyle of the Irish Olympic Federation says that she is still unsure exactly when this year’s flag bearer will be nominated but confirms that it will likely be close to the opening ceremony.
The world has changed since the days of O’Grady and unlike Paris a century ago the honour is unlikely to fall to a county council rates inspector. But another monument is certainly not out of the question.