Noel Purcell (water polo player)
Encyclopedia
Noel Mary Purcell was an Irish sportsman. He represented both Great Britain and Ireland
as a water polo
player at the 1920
and 1924
Summer Olympics respectively.< He also played rugby union
for Belvedere College
, Clongowes Wood College
and Ireland
.
He is arguably the first man to have represented two countries at the Olympics, since when the Irish Free State
gained its own team, he switched from Great Britain to the Irish Olympic team.
Purcell, together with Charles Sydney Smith
, Paul Radmilovic, Charles Bugbee
, Christopher Jones
, William Peacock
and William Henry Dean
, was a member of the Great Britain water polo team that won the gold medal. Then in 1924
he captained Ireland
.
, Purcell played in all four games for Ireland
. He made his debut against England
on 12 February. He then played against Scotland
on 26 February and Wales
on 12 March. He made his final appearance for Ireland against France
on 9 April.
Ireland at the 1924 Summer Olympics
Ireland, then known as the Irish Free State, competed as an independent nation for the first time at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, France....
as a water polo
Water polo
Water polo is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Game play involves swimming, treading water , players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a...
player at the 1920
Water polo at the 1920 Summer Olympics
-Medal summary:-Gold medal round:-Silver medal round:-Bronze medal round:...
and 1924
Water polo at the 1924 Summer Olympics
Final results for the water polo tournament at the 1924 Summer Olympics:-Medal summary:Note: The players above the line played at least one game in this tournament, the players below the line were reserve players and did not compete in this tournament. Nevertheless the exclusively credits them all...
Summer Olympics respectively.< He also played rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
for Belvedere College
Belvedere College
Belvedere College SJ is a private secondary school for boys located on Great Denmark Street, Dublin, Ireland. It is also known as St. Francis Xavier's College....
, Clongowes Wood College
Clongowes Wood College
Clongowes Wood College is a voluntary secondary boarding school for boys, located near Clane in County Kildare, Ireland. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1814, it is one of Ireland's oldest Catholic schools, and featured prominently in James Joyce's semi-autobiographical novel A Portrait of the...
and Ireland
Ireland national rugby union team
The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...
.
He is arguably the first man to have represented two countries at the Olympics, since when the Irish Free State
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
gained its own team, he switched from Great Britain to the Irish Olympic team.
Water polo player
At the 1920 Summer OlympicsWater polo at the 1920 Summer Olympics
-Medal summary:-Gold medal round:-Silver medal round:-Bronze medal round:...
Purcell, together with Charles Sydney Smith
Charles Sydney Smith
Charles Sydney Smith was born in Wigan, the ninth of eleven children born to Thomas Smith and Elizabeth née Sayer. He was a British water polo player who competed as goalkeeper for the England Water Polo team which won gold medals in the London games of 1908, and the Stockholm games of 1912...
, Paul Radmilovic, Charles Bugbee
Charles Bugbee
Charles G. Bugbee was a British water polo player who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics, 1920 Summer Olympics, and in the 1924 Summer Olympics....
, Christopher Jones
Christopher Jones (water polo player)
Christopher Jones was a British water polo player who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics.He was part of the British team which won the gold medal.-External links:*...
, William Peacock
William Peacock
.William Peacock was a British water polo player who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics.He was part of the British team, which was able to win the gold medal.-External links:*...
and William Henry Dean
William Henry Dean
William Henry Dean was a British water polo player who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics.He was part of the British team, which was able to win the gold medal.-External links:*...
, was a member of the Great Britain water polo team that won the gold medal. Then in 1924
Water polo at the 1924 Summer Olympics
Final results for the water polo tournament at the 1924 Summer Olympics:-Medal summary:Note: The players above the line played at least one game in this tournament, the players below the line were reserve players and did not compete in this tournament. Nevertheless the exclusively credits them all...
he captained Ireland
Ireland men's national water polo team
Ireland is an international men's water polo team representing the island of Ireland. It is organised by the Irish Water Polo Association , which is affiliated to Swim Ireland.-History:...
.
Rugby international
In the 1921 Five Nations Championship1921 Five Nations Championship
The 1921 Five Nations Championship was the seventh series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship following the inclusion of France into the Home Nations Championship. Including the previous Home Nations Championships, this was the thirty-fourth series of the annual northern hemisphere rugby...
, Purcell played in all four games for Ireland
Ireland national rugby union team
The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...
. He made his debut against England
England national rugby union team
The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...
on 12 February. He then played against Scotland
Scotland national rugby union team
The Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...
on 26 February and Wales
Wales national rugby union team
The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...
on 12 March. He made his final appearance for Ireland against France
France national rugby union team
The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...
on 9 April.
External links
- Player profile on scrum.com