Bohemians to host talk to mark 100th anniversary of death of club legend Harold Sloan

Bohemians will host a talk next Saturday at Dalymount Park to mark the 100th anniversary of the death of club legend Harold Sloan on the battlefields of World War One, at Combles, near the Somme.

 

Fleet-footed forward Sloan, who was born in nearby Ashtown, was the scorer of the first-ever goal at Dalymount Park in a 4-2 win over Shelbourne on September 7th, 1901.

 

He won eight caps in total for what was then simply Ireland, making his debut as the only Dublin clubman in a 4-0 loss to England in Wolverhampton in the Home Championships.

 

The highlight of his international career saw Sloan score a hat-trick in a 4-4 draw with Wales in April 1906.

 

He was killed in action on January 21st, 1916 with the 49th Heavy Artillery Group, which was stationed at Combles, and was buried nearby.

 



The Phibsboro club have a storied history of military involvement, having been co-founded by students from the Hibernian Military School.

 

40 club members are known to have died in the British Army during the First World War and the event will discuss the experiences of Sloan and other Bohemians who served in the war.

 

It will feature contributions from historian Padraig Yeates, who specialises in Dublin during the First World War and the 1913 Lockout, and club archivists Ciaran Priestley and Gerard Farrell.

 



The talk takes place at 2pm on Saturday, January 28th and will be followed by a question and answer session and light refreshments. Admission is free but visitors are asked to consider making a donation to the Bohemians Foundation.