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.

The Historical Item in this issue is an interesting article on popular Munster player Gabby McCarthy. A number of aspects are pertinent. Firstly he decries the fact that competition for players outside Dublin and Belfast is more difficult in terms of cost and travel time. The position probably is similar now although all the Branches are holing open tournaments. Also at that time should a player win an Irish Junior title he/she was immediately graded Senior and precluded from playing in Junior events. This system did not take account of an event that might have been weakened through injury or unavailability of strong players. Gabby and the other added real interest to the Irish events of that time.

The gallery item displays an image of the Irish Uber Cup team of 1968.This was a very experienced Irish team with the exception of Dorothy Haslam who was in her first season of International Badminton. The team was defeated by Denmark 2-5. In that period individual Thomas and Uber Cup were played rather than the Central venue that is now the case. It gave the Irish Badminton follower an opportunity to see World class players close to home.

I am always glad to get comments through the website and would be delighted to hear from those who would have memorabilia that they would make available on loan or by donation.

Dick O’Rafferty
Curator