Chasing Ladybirds: How Irish Players Scaled Golf’s Summit

Chasing Ladybirds: How Irish Players Scaled Golf’s Summit by Dermot Gilleece

Back in 1913, Ireland made its first impact on the Open Championship at Hoylake, when Royal Dublin’s Michael Moran shared third place with Harry Vardon, to earn prize money of £12 10s. Over more than a century since then, Moran’s achievement provided the spark for some splendid efforts from Irish players at golf’s premier event.

The great Jimmy Bruen was the leading amateur at St Andrews in 1939. Then, later challenges brought outstanding amateur performances from Joe Carr, Eoghan O’Connell and Paul Dunne. Meanwhile, the great breakthrough was achieved by Fred Daly as Open champion at Hoylake in 1947.

Though it would be a further 60 years before the second Irish victory was recorded by Pádraig Harrington, Irish players have gone on to achieve remarkable dominance, through Harrington again, and through Darren Clarke, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry.

Chasing Ladybirds graphically captures their achievements while detailing other notable Irish challenges at the Open through the years. It examines Harry Bradshaw’s infamous bottle incident in 1949 and explores the remarkable consistency of Christy O’Connor Snr in Open performances covering more than two decades.

There are also fascinating stories about the Open’s great venues, including Royal Portrush, and the champions – including Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Peter Thomson and Tom Watson – who graced the game’s links terrain with such distinction.

In 2025 Dermot Gilleece was honoured by the Royal & Ancient at Royal Portrush for his coverage of 40 Opens since 1980. His vast experience is brought to bear in a fascinating chronicle of Irish sporting achievement in this book.

Dermot Gilleece is a legend within the golfing world, working first as a copy boy and later as a golf correspondent for the Evening Press, Daily Mail, Irish Independent, Irish Times and Sunday Independent, over a 66-year career in journalism. He has written several books on golf, including A Farewell to the Fairways in 2024.