Oonah Shannahan
Personal information
Full name Oonah Fay Shannahan (née Murray)
Born (1921-09-03)3 September 1921
Dunedin, New Zealand
Died 28 September 2022(2022-09-28) (aged 101)
Christchurch, New Zealand
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Netball career
Playing position(s): C, WA
Years National team(s) Caps
1948 New Zealand 1

Oonah Fay Shannahan (née Murray; 3 September 1921 – 28 September 2022) was a New Zealand netball player. She captained the New Zealand team in their second Test match, in 1948 against Australia.

Early life

Shannahan was born Oonah Fay Murray in Dunedin on 3 September 1921, one of five children of Frederick Joseph Murray and Margaret Murray.[1][2][3][4] Her father worked on the railways, and the family moved to Taihape for five years before settling in Christchurch.[3] She was educated at Sacred Heart Girls' College in Christchurch,[5] where she excelled at sports, winning the senior athletics championship in 1937 and 1938.[6][7]

Netball career

Murray was captain of the Canterbury provincial netball team,[8] and in 1948 she was selected as captain of the New Zealand national team for the first Test against the touring Australian team at Forbury Park in Dunedin.[2][9] The match was played under international rules, with seven players per side, which were unfamiliar to the New Zealanders who were used to playing nine-a-side. The Australian team was victorious, winning 27–16.[10] The match was the only occasion on which Murray represented New Zealand, because the New Zealand side for the three-Test series was selected on a regional basis, and she was unavailable for the final game as it conflicted with the wedding of Murray's sister.[1]

Later life and death

Oonah Murray married Francis John Shannahan, a New Zealand secondary schools association football representative that toured Australia in 1938.[11] The couple had two children, and he died in 2009.[12][13]

After her playing career, Shannahan continued her involvement in netball as an administrator, and she received a Netball New Zealand service award.[2] She lived with her daughter at McCormacks Bay, and celebrated her 100th birthday on 3 September 2021.[2][3] She died in Christchurch on 28 September 2022, at the age of 101.[14] At the time of her death, she was the oldest living New Zealand netball international.[2][3]

References

  1. 1 2 "Oonah Shannahan". Netball New Zealand. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Netball centenary 2021". Christchurch Netball Centre. 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 McFadden, Suzanne (3 September 2021). "Silver Ferns captain sets new milestone: 100 years old". Newsroom. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  4. ↑ "Birth search: registration number 1921/30102". Births, deaths & marriages online. Department of Internal Affairs. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  5. ↑ "Sacred Heart Girls' College". Christchurch Star. Vol. 55, no. 20489. 15 December 1934. p. 29 (supplement). Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  6. ↑ "Convent Girls' High School". The Press. Vol. 73, no. 22234. 27 October 1937. p. 5. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  7. ↑ "Annual sports". The Press. Vol. 74, no. 22532. 14 October 1938. p. 11. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  8. ↑ "Basketball teams". Otago Daily Times. No. 26849. 13 August 1948. p. 2 ]. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  9. ↑ "Test match". Otago Daily Times. No. 26848. 12 August 1948. p. 7. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  10. ↑ "ANZAC Day Memories with Oonah Shanahan". Netball New Zealand. 23 April 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  11. ↑ "New Zealand secondary schools' association football representatives". Evening Post. No. 23042. 22 August 1938. p. 7. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  12. ↑ "Stephen John Shannahan". Heaven Address. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  13. ↑ "Result detail". Christchurch City Council. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  14. ↑ "Oonah Shannahan obituary". The Press. 5 October 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
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