I recently read a book on Irish radio history,
published to celebrate the centenary of the launch of 2RN in 1926. One
paragraph stood out.
‘2RN
may have been a little later than their European counterparts in getting up and
running, but they were innovative and well ahead of their peers in the sports
arena from the very start. The Irish state broadcaster is credited with being
the first radio station, in Europe at least, to broadcast live matches and
races on air. The BBC were not allowed to do this, to ensure they were not in
competition with the newspapers of the day. The first live commentary broadcast
on a match was a Five Nations rugby international at the newly built Ravenhill
stadium in Belfast, played on 9 January 1926 between Ireland and France.
Ireland won, 11-0.’[1]
The sentence that stood for out for me was,
‘The
first live commentary broadcast on a match was a Five Nations rugby
international at the newly built Ravenhill stadium in Belfast, played on 9
January 1926 between Ireland and France.’
Several significant errors should be addressed so that the pioneers of early
Irish radio receive proper recognition for their contributions. Ireland did defeat
France 11–0, but the match was played on January 23rd, 1926—not January
9th —and no live commentary was broadcast from Ravenhill. The first live
commentary of a Five Nations international took place during the 1927 championship.
On January 15th 1927, 2LO (part of the British Broadcasting Company)
in London broadcast the England versus Wales match live from Twickenham, making
it the first live rugby commentary. The commentary was provided by former
Harlequins player Captain Ted Wakelam. ‘A running commentary by an eyewitness’
was how the commentator was described. A special wooden commentary box was
built and even a colour commentator was employed, Charles Mapworth. A pitch
grid was published in the newspapers and in the Radio Times to assist listeners
in identifying where the ball and the action was on the pitch. On February 12th
Ireland played England in London losing 8-6 but the match was broadcast live by
2LO and relayed by powerful Daventry transmitter.
The match was also relayed by 2RN in Dublin with the Marconi company setting up their loudspeakers in the bandstand in St. Stephens Green for those without wireless sets to listen in to the action.
The possibility of 2RN relaying the match was
raised in the Dail when Major Bryan Cooper TD,
“asked
the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs whether his attention has been called to
the fact that the British Broadcasting Corporation propose to broadcast a
description of the Rugby Football Match between Ireland and England on
Saturday, February 12th, and whether it is possible for him to have this
broadcast relayed from the Dublin Broadcasting Station for the information of
listeners in the Saorstát.”[2]
The Minister for Posts and Telegraphs replied,
“I have
received many requests to relay this broadcast, and arrangements will be made
accordingly.”
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On February 26th 1927, 2RN
delivered the Irish broadcaster’s first live rugby international commentary,
covering Ireland’s match against Scotland at Lansdowne Road. The
commentator employed for this historic broadcast was a former Irish rugby
international, Louis Magee. Magee had captained Ireland to the 1899 Triple
Crown win. The ground was full, with the opening of the uncovered new East
Stand adding to the capacity crowd. The weather however was terrible, lashing
rain, low temperatures and wind, the pitch turning to mud field. Magee was set
up along the touchline with the microphone inside a wooden box mounted on a
stand. A cable ran into the stand, and a telephone line connected the
broadcaster with the station headquarters in Little Denmark Street. At one
stage the ball hit the microphone knocking it and the stand into the mud.
"We had the microphone out on
the sideline at our first rugby broadcast," remembered Mr. William Beatty
deputy chief engineer at 2RN. "At the most exciting moment in the match
(when every listener must have been hanging on to the commentator's every word)
the ball hit the microphone and my staff and I had to get down in the mud and
repair the damage as best we could so that the wiring would be connected up
with the least possible interruption.”[3]
When
Magee came back on air, he told listeners that the ball had knocked the stand,
referring to his microphone stand, but listeners erroneously believed that a
ball had knocked down the new stand.
One week later Ireland took on Wales at Lansdowne Road in
better conditions than the Scottish match. Once again Louis Magee was the commentator.
One newspaper reviewer said,
‘Mr. Magee was in excellent form and the intimate naturalness of his remarks made the match as enjoyable for the listeners-in as for the thosands who were present at Lansdowne Road. I liked his adoption of the intriguing word ;melee; and also the substitution of ‘blood and hair’ for ‘vigourous’.
He did however bemoan the fac that he wasn’t a bookie as
Magee offered the odds of 1000-1 on Wales scoring in the first half. Ireland
led Wales at halftime 11 points to nil.
In Birr, Offaly according to the Midland Advertiser a large
crwod gathered in the Chronicle Hall to listen to the wireless where,
‘the enthuasiasm
of the listeners, like that of the spectators, found vent in the cheers as the
Irish team added score to score’.
Meanwhile the BBC relayed the commentary from Lansdowne Road
creating an even bigger audience for Magee.
Apart from being a winning rugby captain and a pioneer
broadcaster, Magee was a Vetinerary Sugeon with interests in horse racing, one
son, Sean, became well known in racing circles. Magee died in 1945 in Dunboyne
where he lived with his wife. When he died his exploits on the rugby pitch
playing for Ireland or as the first captain for the London-Irish club, his
ventinary work, his appointment as the vet assigned to the new sport of
greyhound racing in Ireland or his family’s association with horse racing were
all brought to the fore but not a mention that he was a broadcasting pioneer in
Ireland.
When I attended Marian College for my secondary education, his grandson, also known as Louis, was a teacher at the school and amrugby coach just metres from Landsowne Road where his grandfather was the first to broadcast live from that venue. His grandson would also serve as President of the Irish Rugby Football Union through his assocation with Bective Rangers.
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