Claim: Over the course of 16 years, Packie Bonner made 80 appearances as a player for the Republic of Ireland national team, which was established in the late 19th century.
Evidence: Following the initial political upheavals surrounding Partition, a Dublin-based organisation calling itself the Football Association of the Irish Free State (FAIFS) split from the IFA in 1921 and began organising its own league and national football team. FIFA decreed that the FAI team officially be called the Republic of Ireland while the IFA team was to be named Northern Ireland. 
The team made their debut at the 1924 Summer Olympics, reaching the quarter-finals.