{"id":349731,"date":"2026-03-16T22:51:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T22:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/349731\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T22:51:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T22:51:08","slug":"family-of-olympic-gold-medallist-ronnie-delany-recall-a-national-hero-who-was-a-great-family-man-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/349731\/","title":{"rendered":"Family of Olympic gold medallist Ronnie Delany recall a national hero who was a great family man \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joan Delany, for 64 years the wife of the late Ronnie Delany<\/a>, was represented at his funeral in the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour in Foxrock<\/a>, south Dublin<\/a>, by a single red rose. <\/p>\n

Parish priest Fr Philip Bradley told the congregation that Joan was hospitalised but would be joining thousands of people around the world who were watching the funeral service online. <\/p>\n

\"RonnieRonnie Delany ‘competed against the best of the world at the highest level, he triumphed and was a man of great faith’, his son Ronnie Delany jnr said in his eulogy. Photograph: Stephen Collins\/Collins <\/p>\n

She would, he said, be represented by a red rose and that a photograph of the couple was displayed on the former athlete\u2019s coffin during the funeral Mass.<\/p>\n

The relationship between Delany and his wife, along with their happy family life, were constant themes throughout the ceremony remembering the former athlete and his life. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Ronnie Delany\u2019s Melbourne gold remains one of the greatest achievements in Irish sportOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

[\u00a0How Ronnie Delany\u2019s date with Olympic destiny inspired a generation of Irish athletesOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Ronnie Delany won gold for Ireland in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics in Australia at the age of 21 years. He secured a bronze medal in the 1958 European Championships and competed in the Rome Olympics in 1960. He won gold again in World University games in Bulgaria in 1961.<\/p>\n

He also won a scholarship to Villanova University in the United States studying finance. On his return to Ireland he took up positions with Aer Lingus and ferry company B&I Line. He later set up a successful sports marketing and consultancy business. He was awarded the freedom of the city of Dublin in 2006. <\/p>\n

Delany died after a short illness aged 91 last Wednesday surrounded by his family.<\/p>\n

\"FormerFormer boxer Michael Carruth and former athlete Eamonn Coghlan at the funeral of Ronnie Delany, at the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Foxrock, on Monday. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill \/ The Irish Times<\/p>\n

Among the mourners at the funeral were former world champion runner Eamonn Coghlan, Olympic gold medallist boxer Michael Carruth, former Irish rugby international Neil Francis, racehorse trainer Jim Bolger, sports commentator Marty Morrissey and broadcaster John Bowman. The Lord Mayor of Dublin Ray McAdam also attended.<\/p>\n

In a eulogy, Ronnie Delany jnr said his father \u201ccompeted against the best of the world at the highest level, he triumphed and was a man of great faith\u201d.<\/p>\n

But he said when he talked to his father in recent days, his father had only one request: that his wife would know how much she meant to him. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe asked me to speak today, and his one and only request was to tell mum how much he loved her, how she made his life the happiest life possible, that he adored her and loved her every day of his life, to thank her for loving him and spending her life with him, to thank her for his beautiful children, grandchildren and great granddaughter,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Delany jnr said he and his sisters \u201cwere lucky to have parents who adored each other\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cDad\u2019s life was complete the day he met Joan Riordan,\u201d he said, adding that the couple had \u201ctravelled the world together; they dined with royalty, presidents and prime ministers\u201d.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Sonia O\u2019Sullivan: I\u2019ll never forget the first time I spoke to Ronnie DelanyOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018Kind, elegant and a beast on the track\u2019: Giants of Irish athletics remember Ronnie DelanyOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

He said he and his sisters had a very happy childhood and accompanied their dad to sports events across the country. The former athlete gave freely of his time, he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe really was the best dad. As kids, we were always secure and happy and knew we were loved in life,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cMost of us have a happy place. Dad\u2019s happy place was this fabulous home in Marbella. Mum and dad, they spent so much time there over the last 25 years. They love sunshine. They love their lovely food. They had great fun. Everyone in their little community in Spain knew them and loved them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Addressing his mother via the webcam, he said: \u201cHe\u2019s waiting for you, mom. He has a couple of gin and tonics and a big sunbed ready for you.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cDad, we would never say goodbye. We always said God bless. God bless, dad. Love you. Thank you,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joan Delany, for 64 years the wife of the late Ronnie Delany, was represented at his funeral in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":349732,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[615,41806,61,60,156241,112],"class_list":["post-349731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-dublin","tag-foxrock","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-ronnie-delany","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=349731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349731\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/349732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=349731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=349731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=349731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}