Kilcullen champion in Chicago
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| Image from 'The Magnificent Scufflers' (1959) republished in 2011 and available from Amazon. |
Collar and elbow wrestling was a 17th-century form of 'grappling' or 'scuffling' that developed in Ireland and spread to the Americas and Australia as a professional wrestling.
A forerunner of the modern 'catch-wrestling' it also had practitioners in Brittany in France, and Cornwall in England, which lends some credence to it having origins in Celtic competition such as the Tailtinn Games held as part of the festival of Lugh, or Lughnasa, at Tara. Similar contests are recorded in pre-Christian eras.
This account was transcribed in the 'Kildare Online Electronic History Journal' from a 'Leinster Leader' supplement published March 1907, and I'm grateful to Niall McDonnell for bringing it to the Diary's attention. We have noted it before, but it is worth a revisit.
A contest which aroused considerable local interest was held at the old Sunnyside race track, Chicago, in February, 1869. The principals were Patrick Brennan, a native of Kilcullen, Co Kildare and James Cahill, a native of County Westmeath. Neither of the men were professionals. Brennan was a teamster and Cahill worked in the North Side Rolling Mills; both however, were powerfully built men and clever wrestlers. The stakes were 250 dollars a side, and the conditions best two out of three falls, Jack McCann, a blacksmith and athlete of local renown, was chosen referee.
Brennan weighed about 200 pounds, but he was fully 30 pounds lighter than his adversary, who was a physical giant. By agreement the men wore strong sack coats and light, soft shoes. Surplus under garments were dispensed with. From the moment the men took hold it was evident that Brennan was the superior tactician, and after about six minutes of neat foot sparring Brennan feinted with the right foot, Cahill tried to catch him with the left but Brennan doubled with right and caught Cahill on heel, putting him down for the first fall. After a short rest the men came together again and it was evident Cahill was in ugly humour, he tried to use rough tactics, but the referee cautioned him; he then crouched, spread his feet and acted entirely on the defensive. In trying to pull his man towards him Brennan ripped Cahill’s coat up the back, rendering it useless for a hold. Brennan refused to go on unless Cahill got another coat, and this Cahill refused to do. A wrangle ensued among the backers of the men and McCann being unable to give a decision, it was finally agreed to refer the matter to Frank McQueen, who was at that time editor of the "New York Clipper" and the acknowledged sporting authority of America. The principals also agreed to meet at the same place two weeks from that date and be governed by Frank McQueen’s decision.
Promptly on the date set the men were on hand ready to continue the contest. McCann read McQueen’s decision which was that Brennan’s fall was to stand good, the same coat should be used and ripped part securely stitched.
On resuming the contest Cahill began his old defensive tactics, refusing to give Brennan an opening. In an effort to pull Cahill into a position where he could throw an "inside hook," Brennan again ripped the coat and the contest was declared off. If Cahill’s coat was sufficiently strong, or if the men wrestled in the regulation collar and elbow harness, Brennan would have undoubtedly been the victor.
