Mabel Harrison

Mabel Harrison (1886 – 22 April 1972) was an Irish golfer, winner of the Irish Ladies' Close Championship 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, 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. Career Mabel Harrison is counted alongside May Hezlet and Rhona Adair as a pioneer of Irish women's golf. She began playing golf in competition when she was still a teenager. She joined the Malahide 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 clubs. In April 1906, she finished in the final eight of the Irish Ladies' Close Championship 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. 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.