207 / 244
207
The History Sale 2015
www.adams.ie727
HIS GOLD DAVIS CUP MEDAL, 1903.
The obverse with central motif of a crown
surmounting a shield quartered with four
emblems including the winged Hibernia Harp, this
surrounded by the inscription “INTERNATIONAL
LAWN TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS” inside a lipped
edge. The reverse with plain ground bearing the
inscription “1903. BRITISH ISLES. V. AMERICA.
(RESERVE) H. S. MAHONY.”
In 1903 Mahony represented the British Isles during
the first years of the Davis Cup and earned this
winner’s gold medal for being a member of the first
winning team, by a score of 4 matches to 1. It was
the first time the British Isles had beaten the United
States and Mahony was a non-playing reserve.
Harald Segerson Mahony was born into a
respected Irish family in Edinburgh in February
1867. His father Richard John Mahony was a
wealthy barrister and built a tennis court at their
home in Dromore Castle, Co. Kerry. It was here
that Mahony learned the game that he was later to
master and spent his youth growing up alongside
his sister Nora in the Castle’s romantic Gothic
grounds. He later attended Trinity College, Dublin,
where he excelled at his chosen subjects and
won a gold medal for Philosophy in 1889. He was
a regular on the London tennis circuit by the mid
1890’s and a frequent visitor to Wimbledon and the
Queen’s club. Mahony was described as the most
generous heated, casual, irresponsible 75 inches
of Irish bone and muscle that ever walked on court.
He died when only 38, falling from his bicycle at the
foot of a hill near his home in County Kerry.
€5,000 - 7,000
728
HIS SILVER QUEEN’S CLUB MEDALS,
1900 & 1904
The 1900 medal with obverse inscribed “Queen’s
Club 1887” the reverse inscribed “Tennis, Spring
Handicap 1st Prize, , H.S. Mahony, 1901”, 3.7cm
diameter.
The 1904 medal with obverse inscribed “Queen’s
Club 1887” the reverse inscribed “Tennis Handicap
won by H.S. Mahony, 1904”, 3.7cm diameter
Mahony was a very well known and popular player
at Queens, quoted as being “an adept volleyer,
which no doubt helped him on the fast courts and
contributed to his success” and “he was the life
and soul of many a game and many a frolic. How
often we heard him give his views on the game
in his own delightful way, in all parts of the Club”
(McKelvie, R., The Queen’s Club, (1886-1986), an
article by E.B. Noel, Tennis at the Queen’s Club,
first published in ‘The Illustrated Sporting and
Dramatic News’, 16/11/1918, London: Stanley Paul
& Co., 1986, p.27 & 36).
€2,000 - 3,000
729
HIS TCD MEDALS, 1887 & 1888
Two Dublin University (Trinity College, Dublin) Lawn
Tennis Club Championship Doubles medals, each
bearing the original crest of the University of Dublin
(Trinity College) and inscribed on obverse, white
metal, 3cm diameter.
1887 medal for 2nd Prize, won by H.S. Mahony and
W.H. Boyd (Walter Herbert Boyd)
1888 medal won by H.S. Mahony and M.F.
Goodbody (Manliffe Francis)
Also his 1891 Fitzwilliam Interclub Challenge
Badge, 1st Class, on gold and brown ribbon with
clasp bar, 2.5cm diameter;
The Dublin University only initiated its own lawn
tennis tournament during the 1880’s and it was here
that Mahony first began to play lawn tennis in a
serious capacity
According to an interview he gave to “Lawn Tennis
and Croquet” in June 1898, when asked when he
first began to play tennis, Mahony replied, “In 1887,
though I had played a few garden-party games prior
to that.” It is thought that the university tournament
was likely one of the first tournaments in which
Mahony played. He was to encounter both Boyd
and Goodbody numerous times again over the
following decade, as opponents, both at provincial
and national level.
€700 - 1000
Lot 727
Lot 728
Lot 729
HARALD SEGERSON MAHONY (1867-1905)
FAMOUS KERRY TENNIS PLAYER & THE LAST IRISHMAN TO WIN WIMBLEDON (1896)