Danny Taylor

The Republic of Ireland made their début in international rowing at Henley during the 1948 London Olympics. Danny Taylor was a member of the eight that finished third in their heat behind Canada and Portugal before losing by 20 seconds to Norway in their repêchage heat. As Taylor was the only member of the crew born in the Northern Ireland, it was felt in some quarters that he should not be a member of a team representing “the South” but, unlike other sports, the Irish Amateur Rowing Union entered an “all-Ireland” team.

Taylor hailed from a family of Irish whiskey distillers and was just five-years-of-age when his father, a former prisoner-of-war, died. Rather than enter the family business, the young Taylor chose a career in academia. After his education at Coleraine Academical Institution he went to Queen’s University, Belfast (QUB) before obtaining a Masters from Cambridge University.

Taylor later worked at Liverpool and Nottingham universities before becoming a lecturer at Cambridge between 1956-68, when he was also coach to the Peterhouse Rowing Club, where the eights trained in a boat named the “Danny Taylor” in his honour. A fours boat was also later named after him following his death in 2003.

After being invited to lecture at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, Taylor later emigrated to the country and in 1968 was appointed vice-chancellor of Victoria University, Wellington. After ending his academic career, Taylor took up breeding chickens, and enjoyed playing bridge and, occasionally, golf. He was appointed a New Zealand Justice of the Peace (JP) in 1984.