SHOOTING
Shooting as a sport has been practised for hundreds of years in European countries, with some German shooting clubs dating back more than 500 years.
The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) was founded in 1907 as the International Shooting Union, changing its name in 1998. With the exceptions of the St Louis 1904 and Amsterdam 1928 Games, shooting has featured on every Olympic programme since the first modern Games in 1896. Women’s events were added to the schedule at Los Angeles 1984.
In shooting, there are three disciplines; rifle and pistol where athletes shoot at stationary targets in a range and shotgun which involves hitting moving targets. There are 15 events in the Olympic programme for men and women, divided into the three different disciplines. There are also mixed team events which include rifle, pistol, and trap.
In rifle and pistol, participants aim at a target with concentric circles, with those closer to the centre earning more points. There are four gun types and three distances: 50m rifle, 10m air rifle, 25m rapid fire pistol and 10m air pistol. There are also three shooting positions: kneeling, where the athlete goes down on one knee and rests the gun on the other knee; prone, where the athlete shoots while lying down; and standing. In the shotgun event, competitors shoot at clay targets propelled at a series of different directions and angles.
Ireland has 2 Shooting bodies, the Ireland Clay Target Shooting Association and the National Target Shooting Association of Ireland.
The Ireland Clay Target Shooting Association (ICTSA) is the National Governing Body (NGB) for Olympic and non-Olympic Disciplines, at Olympic Level, ISSF Level, European Shooting Confederation Level, World Competition Level, FITASC, as well as International and National Clay Target Shooting in Ireland. The aims of ICTSA are to promote and develop the various clay target shooting disciplines, and to select and field teams to represent Ireland in International Competitions, including World Events and the Olympics Games.
The National Target Shooting Association of Ireland is the National Governing Body for ISSF rifle and pistol target shooting events. These include Olympic disciplines as well as events run at World Championship level. They are recognised by the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF), the European Shooting Confederation and the Olympic Federation of Ireland, and are recognised through the National Rifle and Pistol Association of Ireland by the Irish Sports Council.
For the Olympic Games, and in all shooting disciplines, country quota places are allocated based on international results, with the only exception being Athletes with ISSF world rankings, which are awarded directly to the individual shooters and may not be changed.
Irish clay target shooter Derek Burnett has competed in 4 Olympic Games, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 20212. While Burnett finished in 9th position and just outside the top 6 in Athens, Irish shooters are yet to win a medal in Olympic competition.
National Federation: Ireland Clay Target Shooting Association; National Target Shooting Association of Ireland
International Federation: International Shooting Sport Federation
SHOOTING NEWS
Events Coming Up in July
Athletics Eugene Diamond League - July 4th Cork City Sports - July 8th Morton Games - July 10th Monaco Diamond League - July 10th Hungarian Athletics Grand Prix - July 14th London Diamond League - July 18th National Senior Track and Field Championships - July 25th & 26th Badminton Japan Open World Tour 750 [...]
LA28 Qualification Dates in 2026
ROAD TO LA ALREADY UNDERWAY! 2026 marks the beginning of the qualification journey for many sports as they look ahead to the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028. Qualifying for the Games, which take place from 14–30 July 2028, is challenging across all disciplines. Most sports require either direct qualification through specific events, qualification via [...]
Events coming up in May 2026
Athletics 2-3 May: World Athletics Relays, Gaborone, Botswana Boxing 3-10 May: Feliks Stamm Tournament, Warsaw, Poland Canoeing 29-31 May: Canoe Slalom World Cup 1, Ljubljana, Slovenia Cycling 1-3 May: Downhill & Cross-country Olympic World Series round 1, South Korea 22-24 May: Rás Tailteann, Ireland 22-24 May: Cross Country World Series, Czech Republic [...]
Istanbul 2027 European Games
A Key Step on the Road to LA28 The 4th European Games will take place in Istanbul, Turkey from 16 to 27 June 2027, one year out from the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. For Team Ireland, Istanbul represents a significant moment in the LA28 cycle: a major competitive platform, a qualification opportunity across multiple [...]
SELECTED ATHLETES
William ‘Bill’ Campbell
BIOGRAPHY Bill Campbell competed in the shooting at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games alongside three more experienced teammates - Dermot Kelly, Arthur MacMahon and Gerry Brady - who were veterans of the 1968 Games. All four held the title of Master Shooter of Europe, a distinction reflecting genuine excellence in their discipline. The Irish shooters [...]
Thomas Hewitt
BIOGRAPHY Thomas Hewitt competed in the men's trap shooting at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games, finishing equal 11th of 34 competitors with 189 kills from 200 shots - a 94.5 per cent success rate that Dr Tom Hunt describes as a spectacular improvement on previous Irish efforts in Olympic trap shooting. From Portadown, Co. Armagh, [...]
Nick Cooney
BIOGRAPHY Nicholas 'Nick' Cooney competed in the men's skeet shooting at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games alongside Albert Thompson as one of Ireland's two skeet shooters. OTHER SHOOTING OLYMPIANS{{ vc_btn: title=SEE+ALL+ATHLETES&style=outline-custom&outline_custom_color=%2300ed00&outline_custom_hover_background=%23ffffff&outline_custom_hover_text=%23001136&shape=square&css=.vc_custom_1677079573058%7Bmargin-top%3A+10px+%21important%3Bmargin-left%3A+0px+%21important%3B%7D&link=url%3A%252Fathletes-list%252F&el_class=see-all-athletes }} Alan LewisAlbert ThompsonArthur MacMahonDavid MaloneDerek BurnettDermot KellyGary DuffGerard ‘Gerry’ BradyKen StanfordRhona BarryRichard FlynnRoy McGowanThomas Allen
Ken Stanford
BIOGRAPHY Kenneth 'Ken' Stanford became the first Irish competitor ever to compete in Olympic pistol shooting when he appeared in the men's free pistol and rapid-fire pistol events at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games - in a discipline that was no longer possible in the Republic of Ireland due to the Temporary Custody Order of 1972 [...]
Albert Thompson
BIOGRAPHY Albert Thompson competed in the men's skeet shooting at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games, finishing 31st of 46 competitors with a personal best score of 187 - a result described as not consistent enough for a higher placing. Thompson was one of Ireland's most experienced international shooters. He went on to compete at the [...]
Thomas Allen
BIOGRAPHY Thomas Allen competed in the double trap shooting event at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games at the Wolf Creek Shooting Complex, finishing 25th with a score of 116. Allen's selection introduced Irish trap shooters to Olympic competition for the first time since 1980. From Newtownstewart in Co. Tyrone, Allen travelled to Atlanta with a [...]
Rhona Barry
BIOGRAPHY Rhona Barry competed in the women's 10 metres air rifle event at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games at the Wolf Creek Shooting Complex. Barry was the first Irish woman to compete in Olympic shooting - a landmark achievement in the history of Irish sport. From Carlanstown in Kells, Co. Meath, she came to competitive [...]
Gerard ‘Gerry’ Brady
BIOGRAPHY Gerry Brady competed in the men's skeet shooting at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games, finishing 38th - the highest-placed of the three Irish shooters - and making history by firing the first shots in the history of Olympic skeet, as the first competitor to step to the line in what was the event's [...]
Dermot Kelly
BIOGRAPHY Dermot Kelly competed in the men's trap shooting at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games, making history as one of Ireland's first ever Olympic shooters when the sport made its Irish Olympic debut at those Games. A Kilcock-based garage proprietor, Kelly was among a small group of Irish shooters who travelled the world at [...]
Arthur MacMahon
BIOGRAPHY Arthur MacMahon competed in the men's skeet shooting at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games, making history alongside Gerry Brady and Dermot Kelly as one of Ireland's first ever Olympic shooters when the sport made its Irish Olympic debut at those Games. A Naas-based solicitor, MacMahon built Ireland's first skeet shooting layout in a [...]
Gary Duff
BIOGRAPHY Gary Duff competed in the men's 50 metres rifle prone event at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games at the Wolf Creek Shooting Complex. Duff had made the transition from recreational gun club shooting to competitive rifle shooting and earned his Atlanta wild card place with a superlative performance at a World Cup competition in [...]
Richard Flynn
BIOGRAPHY Richard Flynn competed in the men's trap shooting at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, finishing 15th of 44 competitors with 179 kills from 200 targets. Heavy winds made conditions particularly disturbing throughout the competition, while the dull yellow colour of the targets blended into the background of sun-scorched grass creating a camouflage effect. As [...]
Roy McGowan
BIOGRAPHY Roy McGowan competed in the men's trap shooting at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, finishing 53rd of 70 competitors with 169 kills from 200 birds. In trap shooting, competitors fire at clay targets launched from a single machine at varying angles and speeds. McGowan's result placed him in the lower half of the [...]
David Malone
BIOGRAPHY David Malone competed in the men's trap shooting event at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games at the Sydney International Shooting Centre, finishing 22nd in the qualification round alongside teammate Derek Burnett who finished joint 18th. OTHER SHOOTING OLYMPIANS{{ vc_btn: title=SEE+ALL+ATHLETES&style=outline-custom&outline_custom_color=%2300ed00&outline_custom_hover_background=%23ffffff&outline_custom_hover_text=%23001136&shape=square&css=.vc_custom_1677079573058%7Bmargin-top%3A+10px+%21important%3Bmargin-left%3A+0px+%21important%3B%7D&link=url%3A%252Fathletes-list%252F&el_class=see-all-athletes }} Alan LewisDerek Burnett
Alan Lewis
BIOGRAPHY Alan Lewis competed in the men's 50 metre small-bore rifle prone event at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, finishing joint 41st in the qualification round at the Sydney International Shooting Centre. The prone rifle event requires competitors to fire 60 shots from a lying position at a target 50 metres away. Lewis was one [...]
Derek Burnett
BIOGRAPHY Derek Burnett represented Ireland in the men's trap shooting event at five Olympic Games: Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Tokyo 2020 - becoming only the third Irish athlete to compete at five Summer Olympics, alongside race walker Robert Heffernan and sailor David Wilkins. His best Olympic result came at Athens [...]