Dave Guiney

The son of a Cork solicitor who was also a local Member of Parliament, Dave Guiney attended Trinity College Dublin but left before completing his degree to join the Civil Service. As a youngster Guiney was an all-round sportsman, playing Gaelic football, hurling, and rugby. He was also a good sprinter and long jumper, and later excelled at the javelin, discus and shot, at which he was unbeatable and never lost to a fellow Irishman in 14 years.

At the 1941 Irish National Junior Championships, Guiney won five different events: shot, javelin, discus, high jump, and long jump. Also that year, he won the first of 27 senior Irish titles when he shared the long jump with Kevin O’Flanagan. Included in Guiney’s total of 27 title were ten consecutive National Athletic and Cyclists’ Association of Ireland (NACAI) shot put titles, 1944-53.

Guiney made his international début as Ireland’s only representative at the 1946 European Championships at Oslo and finished 11th in the shot. He went on to win ten international ‘caps’ between then and 1957. Although one of his finest moments was in appearing at the London Olympics, despite not making the final, his finest achievement was in winning successive AAA shot titles in 1947 and 1948.

Guiney quit his position in the Civil Service after they refused him leave to go to the 1946 European Championships, and that led to a new career in journalism. After starting at the bottom, Guiney was appointed sports editor of the Irish Press in 1964 and later became a prolific writer of 28 books on a variety of sports including football (soccer), Gaelic football, hurling, golf, and the Olympic Games, including the “The Dunlop Book of the Olympics” (1972, Dunlop/Eastland Press), a history of The Games from 1896-1968 in 350 short stories. He also wrote “The Friendly Olympics” (1982, PR Books) about the 1956 Melbourne Games. As Ireland’s leading authority on the Olympic Games, and one the most respected journalists, Guiney was appointed press attaché to the Ireland team at the 1992 and 1996 Olympics.

Personal Best: SP – 15.19 (1953).