Mabel Harrison
Mabel Harrison, from a 1907 publication.
Mabel Harrison, from a 1907 publication.
Born
Frances Mabel Harrison

1886
Dublin
Died22 April 1972
Ballymoney
Other namesMary Harrison (in some news reports); Mabel Casement (after marriage in 1916)
Occupationgolfer
Known forIrish Ladies' Close Championship, 1910, 1911, 1912

Mabel Harrison (1886[1] – 22 April 1972) was an Irish golfer, winner of the Irish Ladies' Close Championship in 1910, 1911, and 1912. (Some news reports referred to her, in error, as Mary Harrison.)

Early life

Frances Mabel Harrison[2] was born in Dublin,[1] the daughter of Robert Francis Harrison and Agnes Blanche Bagwell. Her parents married at St George's Church, Dublin.[3] Her father was a prominent barrister in Dublin;[4] her grandfather Michael Harrison was a judge.[5]

Mabel Harrison in action, from a 1918 publication.
Mabel Harrison in action, from a 1918 publication.

Career

Mabel Harrison (here labelled Miss Mary Harrison), from the George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress.
Mabel Harrison (here labelled Miss Mary Harrison), from the George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress.

Mabel Harrison is counted alongside May Hezlet and Rhona Adair as a pioneer of Irish women's golf.[6] She began playing golf in competition when she was still a teenager.[7] She joined the Malahide Island Club as golfer in 1905, and is remembered as one of the club's "most famous members".[8] She was also a member of the Hermitage and Royal Portrush clubs.[2] In April 1906, she finished in the final eight of the Irish Ladies' Close Championship in Newcastle. "She is a long driver and a powerful iron player, and with a little practice will easily take her place among the scratch players" noted a commentator in 1907.[9] She had "an admirable overlapping finger grip", so much that a close-up photo of her hands on the club were included and analysed in articles about women golfers.[10][11] She played for Ireland at international matches in Birkdale in 1909, and at Turnberry in 1912.[12][13]

Harrison won the Irish Ladies' Close Championship at the Malahide Island Club in 1911.[14][15] She won the Irish Ladies' Close Championship for three years, 1910, 1911, and 1912.[16][17] In October 1913 she travelled to North America, to play in the 1913 United States Women's Amateur Golf Championship in Wilmington, Delaware (she lost to Gladys Ravenscroft).[18][19][20] She also played[21] and the Canadian ladies' open in Montreal in 1913.[22] She was still competing as a golfer in 1919, as "Mrs. Frank Casement".[23] During World War I she was also active with the Soldiers' and Sailors' Families relief in Dublin.[24]

Personal life and legacy

Mabel Harrison married in 1916, to an Irish military doctor who served in World War I, Francis Casement.[25] They had a son, Francis Charles Casement (1920-1976), and a daughter, Alison Sheila Casement (1923-2015). She was widowed when Francis Casement died in 1967; she died in Ballymoney in 1972.

There is an annual Mabel Harrison Scratch Cup event, named in her memory, held by the Royal Portrush Golf Club.[26]

References

  1. 1 2 "The Dictionary of Ulster Biography". www.newulsterbiography.co.uk. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  2. 1 2 "The Ladies of Hermitage in the Early Years : Hermitage Golf Club". www.hermitagegolf.ie. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  3. ↑ Orange blossoms, a marriage chronicle. 21 August 1884. p. 155.
  4. ↑ Cosgrave, Ephraim MacDowel (1908). Dublin and Co. Dublin. Contemporary Biographies. Pike. p. 155.
  5. ↑ Walford, Edward (1893). The County Families of the United Kingdom Or Royal Manual of the Titled and Untitled Aristocracy of Great Britain and Ireland. pp. 470–471.
  6. ↑ Redmond, John (1997). The Book of Irish Golf. Pelican Publishing. p. 56. ISBN 9781565543270.
  7. ↑ "Bushfoot Club". Belfast News-Letter. 30 August 1899. p. 3. Retrieved 19 May 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ Gilleece, Dermot (1 December 1998). "Island votes for equality". The Irish Times. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  9. ↑ "The Sportswoman" Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News 66(January 5, 1907): 814.
  10. ↑ Duncan, George (February 1918). "Teaching Women to Play Golf". Golfers Magazine. 32: 15.
  11. ↑ Cresswell, Katharine Stuart (August 1918). "Mashie Play". Golfers Magazine. 32: 12, 14.
  12. ↑ "Ladies International Matches". The Guardian. 14 May 1909. p. 10. Retrieved 19 May 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "The Ladies' Internationals". The Guardian. 10 May 1912. p. 12. Retrieved 19 May 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ Leach, Henry (12 July 1911). "On the Links". The Sketch. 75: 25.
  15. ↑ Redmond, John (1999). Great Golf Courses of Ireland. Gill & Macmillan Ltd. p. 64. ISBN 9780717128754.
  16. ↑ Leitch, Cecil (1922). Golf. J.B. Lippincott. p. 227.
  17. ↑ "History – The Island Golf Club". Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  18. ↑ "Miss Hollins Loses National Match by Driving Into Ditch at Last Hole". New York Times. 19 October 1913. Retrieved 29 December 2009. Except for a brief period in the early stages of the match which stood 1 down, Miss Gladys Ravenscroft, of England, former British title holder, always had the upper hand throughout the final round against Miss Marion Hollins, of Westbrook, L.I., in the women's national golf championship on the links of the Wilmington Country Club to-day.
  19. ↑ "British Players Do Well". The Guardian. 17 October 1913. p. 3. Retrieved 19 May 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ "British Players Qualify". The Guardian. 14 October 1913. p. 11. Retrieved 19 May 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ↑ "British Women Seek Golf Title". Hartford Courant. 12 October 1913. Retrieved 29 December 2009. The next big event in the golfing world starts tomorrow when the women's national championship will be staged at the Wilmington Country Club, Wilmington, Del., and finish Saturday, October 18. A prize will be given to the winner making the lowest score in the qualifying round, and ... Miss Mary Harrison. Ex-Champion Golf Player of Ireland. ...
  22. ↑ "British Players' Successes". The Guardian. 2 October 1913. p. 8. Retrieved 19 May 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ↑ Creswell, Katharine (August 1919). "British Golf". Golfers Magazine. 35: 44–46.
  24. ↑ "The Sportswoman's Page". The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News. 87: 664. 11 August 1917.
  25. ↑ Newman, Kate. "Francis Casement". Dictionary of Ulster Biography. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  26. ↑ "Mabel Harrison Scratch Trophy Entry (AM) Open Competition at Royal Portrush Golf Club". www.brsgolf.com. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
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