Items on display include the 2012 London Olympic and 2020 Tokyo Paralympic torches, as well as medals, racing bibs and profiles of over sixty athletes, doctors and supporters who have participated in the Games since the first modern Olympics in Paris in 1924. Irish silver medalists Annalise Murphy (sailing, 2016), Aifric Keogh (rowing, 2020) and David Wilkins (sailing, 1980) are among those featured.
Maeve Kyle, Ireland’s first female Olympian, is included, as is Oliver St. John Gogarty who won bronze in mixed literature in 1924 for his poem, Ode to the Tailteann Games.
Some lesser-known names have also brought to light in the exhibition, including James Parke who has been called Ireland’s ever greatest sportsman. An international Irish rugby player during his time as a student at Trinity, Parke won a silver medal in the Men’s Doubles in the 1908 Olympic Games and went on to play in two singles semi-finals and four doubles finals at Wimbledon between 1910 and 1920.
The exhibition is free of charge and open to the public.