Shirley Armstrong was the second female fencer to represent Ireland at the Olympic Games, after Dorothy Dermody in 1948. Unfortunately at the 1960 Roma Olympics, Armstrong won just one of her five bouts, against the Spaniard Pilar Tosat. A nine-times Irish champion, Armstrong was married to fellow Olympian Paddy Duffy, who competed in 1952 and 1956, and was coach to the Irish team 1960-72. He ran the Salle d’Armes Duffy, in Sandymount, Dublin, and was assisted in the coaching of youngsters by Shirley, who maintained the Salle after Paddy’s death.
Ireland