Mabel Harrison (1886 – 22 April 1972) was an Irish golfer, winner of the

Irish Ladies' Close Championship The Irish Women's Amateur Close Championship is the women's national amateur match play golf championship of Ireland. It was first played in 1894 and is currently organised by Golf Ireland. The Irish Women's Amateur Close Championship is contest ...

in 1910, 1911, and 1912. (Some news reports referred to her, in error, as Mary Harrison.)

Early life

Frances Mabel Harrison was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, the daughter of Robert Francis Harrison and Agnes Blanche Bagwell. Her parents married at St George's Church, Dublin. Her father was a prominent barrister in Dublin; her grandfather Michael Harrison was a judge. MabelHarrison1918

Career

Mabel Harrison is counted alongside

May Hezlet Mary Elizabeth Linzee "May" Hezlet (29 April 1882 – 27 December 1978) was a British amateur golfer and sports writer. She has been called "probably Ireland's greatest woman golfer". Early life Hezlet was born in Gibraltar, the daughter of Lie ...

and

Rhona Adair Rhona Kathleen Adair (2 September 1881 – 27 March 1961) was an Irish amateur golfer. She won the British Ladies Amateur twice and the Irish Ladies' Close Championships four times at the start of the twentieth century. Life Adair was bor ...

as a pioneer of Irish women's golf. She began playing golf in competition when she was still a teenager. She joined the

Malahide Malahide ( ; ) is an affluent coastal settlement in Fingal, County Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, situated north of Dublin city. It has a village centre surrounded by suburban housing estates, with a population of 18,608 as per the 2022 ...

Island Club as golfer in 1905, and is remembered as one of the club's "most famous members". She was also a member of the Hermitage and

Royal Portrush Royal Portrush Golf Club is a private golf club in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The 36-hole club has two links courses, the Dunluce Links (the championship course) and the Valley Links. The former is one of the courses on the rota of the O ...

clubs. In April 1906, she finished in the final eight of the

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."The Sportswoman"
''Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News'' 66(January 5, 1907): 814. 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. She played for Ireland at international matches in Birkdale in 1909, and at Turnberry in 1912. Harrison won the

at the Malahide Island Club in 1911. She won the Irish Ladies' Close Championship for three years, 1910, 1911, and 1912. In October 1913 she travelled to North America, to play in the 1913 United States Women's Amateur Golf Championship in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

(she lost to Gladys Ravenscroft). She also played and the Canadian ladies' open in Montreal in 1913. She was still competing as a golfer in 1919, as "Mrs. Frank Casement". During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

she was also active with the Soldiers' and Sailors' Families relief in Dublin.

Personal life and legacy

Mabel Harrison married in 1916, to an Irish military doctor who served in World War I,

Francis Casement Major general Francis Casement (29 October 1881 – 14 August 1967) was an Irish international rugby union player. Born in Dublin, Casement grew up in County Antrim and attended Coleraine Academical Institution, before returning to Dublin for stu ...

. 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 Ballymoney ( , meaning 'townland of the moor') is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is within the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council area. The civil parish of Ballymoney is situated ...

in 1972. There is an annual Mabel Harrison Scratch Cup event, named in her memory, held by the Royal Portrush Golf Club.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Mabel 1972 deaths 1886 births Irish female golfers Amateur golfers Golfers from Dublin (city)