Legacy
editAccording to Nick Durlacher, Ruth's grandson, she was a ‘fine sportswoman’ this is the legacy she left behind for her family. [1] This was seen across Durlacher's life as she was a successful lawn tennis player and then also went on to play golf in later life. She also played for the Irish Ladies Golf Team which took part in several international matches. [2]
Two of Durclacher's children also shared her passion for sports. Her son Patrick Durlacher was an English cricketer. Nora Durlacher her daughter played tennis in the 1919 Irish Championships. [3]
‘Sport in general, and competitive, team-based and mixed gender sport in particular, was considered to be an unsuitable pursuit for women. Active participation threatened masculinity and femininity, as well as female domestic and procreative responsibilities. This ideology was sufficient to restrict women to a subordinate, minor and often derided sporting role.’ [4] However, Durlacher played in the Irish Championships in 1895 for the first time when she was just eighteen years old. This was unusual at the time. Durlacher also played golf for the Irish ladies Golf Team and played in the Irish Ladies Championships.[2] Durlacher was a successful sports woman considering the time period in which she began her career and the success she had in her career in lawn tennis and later in her career playing golf.
- ^ "Durlacher, Nicholas (2 of 18) National Life Stories: City Lives - Banking and finance - Accents and dialects | British Library - Sounds". sounds.bl.uk. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
- ^ a b "Irish Ladies Championship". Field Newspaper. 3 June 1911. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
- ^ 1911 British Census
- ^ Hunt, Tom (2007). "Women and sports in Victorian Westmeath". Irish Economic and Social History. 34: 29–46.