On the Town: With reverence and devotion, golfers gathered this week at the National Museum in Dublin's Collins Barracks to remember some legendary players and their greatest moments. Photographs, personal memorabilia and trophies are included in the exhibition, A Tribute to the Ryder Cup.
"It's a special exhibition and very moving, especially for me," said Tony Jacklin, four times captain of the European Ryder Cup team, who opened the show. "There's been a lot of tears spilled out there on a lot of links, lot of emotion out there. I can feel it all again. Mostly, for me, it's about the people, the players."
Recalling the first time Europe won the Ryder Cup against the US, Jacklin said that we went into the 1980s not knowing if we could win or not. By the end of the 1980s, there's wasn't an individual who didn't believe that we could do it".
A Tribute to the Ryder Cup is the result of a collaboration between Waterford Crystal and the Florida-based World Golf Hall of Fame. It includes items such as blazers, putters, gloves, trophies, bags and photographs, from many of the great players and their families.
is the result of a collaboration between Waterford Crystal and the Florida-based World Golf Hall of Fame. It includes items such as blazers, putters, gloves, trophies, bags and photographs, from many of the great players and their families.
Among those at the opening was Tony Gleeson, captain of the 97-year-old Waterford Golf Club, which boasts one of the biggest trophies in the world at 3ft tall, and Martin Ryan, captain of the Curragh Golf Club, which was established in 1883. Also there were Teresa Harrison, captain of the ladies' team at the Curragh, and Jim McNamara, a committee member at the club.
"It's a fantastic exhibition," said Michael Nugent (84), amember of the Donabate Golf Club, who was there with his son, Gerard Nugent. "It brings back a lot of memories of those that we looked up to."
"The Waterford trophies are out of this world," said Elizabeth Berney, a keen golfer since her teenage years, who was at the exhibition with her sister, designer Neillí Mulcahy.
Others in attendance were Kitty and Maurice Mullins, from Skerries, with their son, Gerry Mullins, press officer with the Green Party.
• A Tribute to the Ryder Cup, at the National Museum of Ireland, Decorative Art and History , Collins Barracks, Dublin 7, continues until Sat, Sept 30