In early editions of the Games, 'Ireland' as a team was entered in certain events as one of several Great Britain and Ireland entries that mirrored the Home Nations.

The most notable of the Irish athletes for other nations, however, is Tom Kiely, who won gold in the all-around athletics event in 1904, having refused offers of a free trip and reimbursement of travel expenses from British and American officials, paid his own way, and was insistent that he represented Ireland, even so far as attempting to replace the Union flag with its Irish equivalent at the medal ceremony.

At early Olympics, Irish-born athletes also won numerous medals for the United States and Canada, notably the "Irish Whales" in throwing events.

[20] Tom Kiely, who won the "all-around" athletics competition at the 1904 Olympics in St Louis is also listed as competing for Great Britain.

[2] American statistician Frank Zarnowski does not regard the 1904 event as part of the Olympic competition, and also doubts the story that Kiely had refused offers by both the English Amateur Athletic Association (AAA) and the New York Athletic Club to pay his fare and cover his travel expenses so he could compete for them.

Whereas Pierre de Coubertin had recognised teams from Bohemia and Finland separately from their respective imperial powers, Austria and Russia, he was unwilling to make any similar distinction for Ireland, either because it lacked a National Olympic Committee, or for fear of offending Britain.

[1][25] At the 1908 Games in London, there were multiple BOA entries in several team events, including two representing Ireland.

At the 1912 Olympics, and despite objections from other countries, the BOA entered three teams in the cycling events, one from each of the separate English, Scottish and Irish governing bodies for the sport.

After the war, John J. Keane attempted to unite various sports associations under an Irish Olympic Committee.

[30] Many sports had rival bodies, one Unionist and affiliated to a United Kingdom parent, the other Republican and opposed to any link with Great Britain.

[citation needed] Keane proposed that a separate Irish delegation, marching under the Union Flag, should participate at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp.

[2] Many sports were codified and organised for the first time in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, and many of them were first done so within the then United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

[2] When Northern Ireland athletes were selected for the 1928 games, the possibility was raised of using an "all-Ireland banner" as the team flag, rather than the Irish tricolour which unionists disavowed.

[33] J. J. Keane stated that it was too late to change the flag registered with the IOC, but was hopeful that the coat of arms of Ireland would be adopted afterwards.

[32] No such change was ever made, although Keane reported in 1930 that a council subcommittee had consulted the member federations and noted "a general desire towards agreement on a flag which would be acceptable to all parts of Ireland being substituted for that at present recognised ... by the International Olympic Committee [i.e. the tricolour]".

In 1939, IOC President Henri de Baillet-Latour said that, on the precedent of "Bohemia and Finland in the old days", an all-island "Ireland" team would be permitted, but only if the BOA and British government agreed.

[37] Neither had the complete set of authorisations technically required for entry; just before the opening ceremony, the IOC and London organising committee jointly decided to disallow the NACA/OCI athletes and permit those from the AAUE/IAAF,[37] who were shunned by the rest of the 1948 Ireland delegation.

[45] Seven were arrested in 1972; three had delayed the start[46] and the other four joined mid-race to ambush ICF competitor Noel Taggart, causing a minor pileup.

[47] This happened days after the murders of Israeli athletes and at the height of the Troubles in Northern Ireland; the negative publicity helped precipitate an end to the NCA–ICF feud.

[48] The Irish Hockey Union joined the OCI in 1949,[49] and the Ireland team in non-Olympic competitions is selected on an all-island basis.

[50] Northern Irish players can play for Ireland or Britain, and can switch affiliation subject to International Hockey Federation clearance.

Through to the 1960s, Ireland was represented in showjumping only by members of the Irish Army Equitation School, as the all-island civilian equestrian governing body was unwilling to compete under the Republic's flag and anthem.

[52] In November 2003, the OCI discovered that the British Olympic Association (BOA) had been using Northern Ireland in the text of its "Team Members Agreement" document since the 2002 Games.

"[55] The 2012 Games host was to be selected in July 2004 and so, to prevent the dispute harming the London bid, its director Barbara Cassani and the Blair government secured agreement by which Northern Ireland was removed from BOA documents and marketing materials.

We can thank my predecessor, Lord Killanin, for that.In 2012, Stephen Martin, who has been an executive at both the OCI and the BOA, said "Team GB is a brand name.

[2] At the 1932 Games, Eoin O'Duffy an IRA member, persuaded the Organisers to switch from "Irish Free State" to "Ireland" shortly before the Opening Ceremony.

[2] After the 1937 Constitution took effect, the IOC switched to "Eire"; this conformed to British practice, although within the state's name in English was "Ireland".

[44] However, in the buildup to the Games, Lord Burghley (now Marquess of Exeter) protested at the IOC decision and insisted that the athletics events would use the IAAF name of "Eire".