Welcome to BADMINTON MUSEUM OF IRELAND.

The purpose of the Badminton Museum of Ireland is to preserve the great heritage of Irish Badminton and to make the general badminton public aware of it.

People with an interest in the history of a sport will always find the development of the rules of the game a particularly interesting topic. The item in the Historical section set out a proposal by the Danish Association to include as a fault the hitting of the shuttle by the frame of the racket. What I found noteworthy was the fact that the feeling amongst the players was that it was not "quite right" to win a point with an unclean stroke. This rule amendment was being brought in to legislate for the feeling of the players in relation to the matter. I can say that Badminton Union of Ireland fully supported the proposal and it was subsequently brought in to the Laws of the game. Interestingly the "wood rule" was later deleted because the noise of spectators at matches in the far-east prevented the umpire from being able to hear the strike and adjudicate if the contact of the shuttle was with the frame or the strings.

The Gallery item shows a group of young players who had undertaken summer coaching under Frank Peard. Frank always had an interest in developing young players and these summer sessions were run for a number of years. There is no doubt that it is less difficult to correct technical faults when not being involved in competitive play. The listing of players who have represented Ireland is not readily available but I feel that at least four of the players in the group went on to play for Ireland and many more represented Leinster at various levels.

Please contact me through the website with comments and suggestions.

Dick O’Rafferty
Curator