Old club in Northern Ireland initially bearing defeat (7)
I believe the answer is:
niblick
'old club' is the definition.
(historical type of golf club)
'northern ireland initially bearing defeat' is the wordplay.
'northern ireland' becomes 'NI' (abbreviation).
'initially' indicates taking the first letters.
'defeat' becomes 'lick' (lick can mean to beat or defeat).
The first letter of 'bearing' is 'b'.
'ni'+'b'+'lick'='NIBLICK'
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for niblick that I've seen before include "old-fashioned club" , "No 9 iron" , "Old golf club" , "Golf iron" , "Old iron" .)