Paul Dolan

The first Donegal athlete to compete at the Olympic Games, Paul Dolan went on to represent Ireland at both the 1948 and 1952 Games. The son of an officer in the An Garda Síochána (the Irish National Police Service), Dolan was educated at St. Joseph’s National School in Ballyshannon, where he showed outstanding qualities as a runner at a very early age. After the family moved to Dublin, he joined the famous Clonliffe Harriers and, along with shot putter David Guiney and distance runner John Joe Barry, was one of the three Conliffe men in the Irish athletics team at the 1948 London Olympics.

The youngest member of Irish squad, Dolan was in the 4x400 metres relay team disqualified in their opening heat following a poor change over between Charlie Denroche and Reggie Myles. At Helsinki four years later, Dolan competed in the 100-, 200- and 400 metres, reaching the quarter-final of the 200 as his best result when a late burst by the Cuban Rafael Fortún edged Dolan out of a semi-final place. He was also edged out of a quarter-final place with the last stride in the 400 when the Pole Gerard Mach snatched second.

Dolan represented Ireland six times internationally between the 1948 triangular match against Scotland and England/Wales, and the 1952 Olympics. He won a total of nine Irish 100-, 220-, and 440-yards titles as recognised by the Irish Amateur Athletic Board (IAAB) and Amateur Athletic Union of Eire (AAUE) between 1946-52, and in the 1952 AAUE Championships Dolan set an Irish 220 record of 21.6 seconds that stood for 13 years. He finished third in the 1950 AAA 440 yards behind 1948 Great Britain Olympians Les Lewis and the AAAs defending champion Derek Pugh.

After ending his competitive career, Dolan became an athletics commentator with Radio Eireann (now RTE), the Republic of Ireland’s national radio station. Dolan’s sister Anne married the former Manchester United and Leeds United football Johnny Giles, winner of 59 Ireland international caps.

Personal Bests: 100y – 10.0 (1947); 200 – 21.5 (1952); 400 – 48.2 (1952).