Harry Cahill

Harry Cahill was regarded as hockey´s finest goalkeeper in the 1960s and appeared in all three Olympic Games held during the decade. His best finish with the Great Britain squad was fourth at Roma in 1960.

At club level, Cahill played for Belfast YMCA (winning the Irish Senior Cup in 1961), Coventry & North Warwickshire, and Tamworth before finishing his career at Worthing, where he was still playing beyond the age of 50 and won the Sussex Cup in 1981. At county level Cahill played for Warwickshire, Staffordshire, and Buckinghamshire, and was their reserve goalkeeper when they won the 1980 County Championship. He continued playing in veterans´ matches well into his late-50s. Between 1953-73 Cahill won a total of 107 international caps, 72 for Ireland and 35 for Great Britain, and toured India with the Britain squad in the winter of 1963/64. With Ireland he took part in the inaugural Nations Cup in 1970 and was a member of their team that won the Santander Trophy in 1972. He also toured South Africa with Ireland in 1973. As a youngster Cahill also played football and rugby. He was a high-class triple jumper and was the 1951-52 Irish champion and subsequently selected for the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. A lack of funds, however, meant he could not make the trip to Finland. Sport ran in the Cahill family with his sister Irene also being an Irish hockey international with 24 caps, while their brother Cecil was an Ireland amateur international football goalkeeper. Uniquely in 1973, Harry and Irene played on winning teams against Belgium on the same day and at the same Dublin venue. It was Harry´s last Ireland international appearance.

After retiring from competitive hockey, Cahill became an umpire and also played golf, took part in squash, and ran marathons, including the London Marathon. Cahill died while on holiday in north-west France in 2009. He was in his 80th year at the time. Three years before his death he was inducted into the Irish Hockey Association Hall of Fame. By profession, Cahill worked in the insurance business.