There are only eight of them, but those who have competed for both Ireland and GB showcase a pretty wide variety of routes to doing so.
We have a man who competed for GB until Irish independence. We have disagreements over sports administration, over lack of funding or teammates and others chasing medals. We have people born in the Republic of Ireland, in Northern Ireland, in England and even South Africa.
Interestingly, four have represented Ireland first with four representing GB first - although one of them had no option. Let's start with him.
READ HERE: Previewing All 133 Irish Competitors At The Paris Olympics
READ HERE: Paris 2024 - The Irish In Action On Day One Of The Olympics
The eight athletes to represent both Team Ireland and Team GB at the Olympics
Noel Purcell – Water Polo – GB 1920, Ireland 1924
An incredibly talented sportsman, Purcell’s international sporting career was heavily impacted by World War I. It was at the age of 28 that he finally made his international debut when selected for the GB water polo team to compete in the Antwerp Olympics.
Purcell had “Ireland” and a shamrock on his uniform as they won gold by winning all three games. In 1921 he made his international debut in rugby, playing all four games in the Five Nations championship.
After independence, he was captain of the Irish water polo team in 1924, becoming the first person to represent GB and the new Olympic nation of Ireland.
Jim Hogan – Athletics – Ireland 1964, GB 1968
Born James Cregan in Limerick, Hogan changed his name after moving to England to find work in the 1960s.
He had been a runner in school but didn’t pursue it until moving to England and he made his international debut at the 1964 Olympics aged 31. After a DNF in the 10,000m, Hogan was challenging for a medal in the marathon before dehydration caused him to pull up with only 3 miles left.
Hogan believed that Irish selectors were biased against English-based runners, and in 1965 he switched allegiances. He became European marathon champion in 1966 representing GB before running the 10,000m in the 1968 Games. Once more he suffered in the heat of Mexico City and finished well down the field.
Peter Charles – Showjumping – Ireland 1992 & 1996, GB 2012
Born near Liverpool, Charles originally represented GB, but he switched to Ireland in the early 1990s and was selected for the Olympic Games in Barcelona. He remained a mainstay of the Irish team for the next decade, winning the European Championships in 1995 and helping Team Ireland win the European Gold in 2001.
He was 11TH individually at the 1996 Games in Atlanta. Charles’ role in the Irish team lessened as he struggled to find the horses to match his obvious talents and in 2007 he started the process to return to GB. The decision bore fruit in 2012 as Charles was part of the gold medal-winning showjumping team.
Brendan Reilly – Athletics – GB 1992, Ireland 2000
The son of two Irish parents, Reilly was a teenage phenom who chose GB over Ireland as he believed he needed to be in the GB system to receive grants. He went to the 1992 Olympics as a 19-year-old, missing the final by a couple of centimetres.
He continued to represent GB until 1998 before suddenly switching to Ireland. He stated he wanted to make his (by-then) ill mother proud. He jumped 2.29 to finish 8th at the world championships for Ireland in 1999 and in 2000 competed in his second Olympic Games, and his first for Ireland.
As an aside, Reilly got married in 2000, allowing his English-born wife to apply for Irish citizenship. Sarah Reilly ran the 100m and 200m at the Sydney Games.
Jonno Devlin – Rowing – GB 2004, Ireland 2008
13 August 2008; The Ireland Men's Four, from left, Sean O'Neill, stroke, Jonno Devlin, 3rd seat, Sean Casey, 2nd seat, and Cormac Folan, bow, in action during their semi-final of the Men's Four where they finished in 6th place in a time of 5.58.14, qualifying them for the B Final tomorrow. Beijing 2008 - Games of the XXIX Olympiad, Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park, Shunyi District, Beijing, China. Picture credit: Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE
Born in South Africa to parents from Northern Ireland, Devlin says he has always had British and Irish passports.
He started rowing competitively at Oxford University and made his way into the GB men’s eight for the Athens Olympics. They finished 9th of 9 nations.
After being cut from the squad in 2007, Devlin sought a switch to Ireland to join our fledgling heavyweight four with the boat qualified for the Beijing Olympics. They finished 10th of the 13 nations.
Ben Fletcher – Judo – GB 2016, Ireland 2020
Fletcher competed at the 2016 Games for GB, where he lost in the last 32. The GB Judo authorities had stated the year previously that all future GB team members would have to be based at their HQ in the Midlands.
Fletcher and his sister Megan were based in Bath and didn’t want to change. They qualified for Ireland through their mother and switched immediately after the Rio Games.
Ben had plenty of success in the run-up to Tokyo before suffering a severe leg break months from the Games. He battled back to make the start, but couldn’t perform at his usual levels and again lost in the last 32. Megan also represented Ireland in Tokyo.
Saskia Tidey – Sailing – Ireland 2016, GB 2020, 2024
The Dubliner paired with Andrea Brewster for the Rio Games in the 49er FX class to finish a respectable 12th. After Brewster’s retirement, Tidey was without a partner in Ireland and sought a switch of allegiance to GB based on her English father.
She joined with Charlotte Dobson to finish 6th in Tokyo. In Paris, she teams up with Freya Black and after their 5th-place finish at the World Championships last year, they must have believed they could reach the podium. A disappointing regatta saw the pair finish in 16th of 20 boats.
Jack McMillan - Swimming - Ireland 2020, GB 2024
27 July 2021; Jack McMillan of Ireland in action during the heats of the men's 4 x 200 metre freestyle relay at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre during the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Photo by Ian MacNicol/Sportsfile
Ulsterman McMillan was part of the Irish 4x200 freestyle relay in Tokyo. The 21-year-old from Bangor led the team off and set a new Irish record (a record that still remains). Shortly after the Olympics, he announced he was switching to GB.
Based in Stirling University in Scotland, he made his first GB squad for the World Championships swimming in the heat and final of the 4x200m freestyle once again. He has since gone faster than his Irish record, and started the heats for GB in the 4x200m relay in Paris. GB went with different swimmers in the final but won convincingly allowing McMillan to pick up a gold medal on the same night as his former teammate Daniel Wiffen.
SEE ALSO: Here's Every Gold Medal Won By Ireland At The Olympics
