Talk on Dan Donnelly, pugilist

Donnelly's arm on display in New York in 2006, and (insets) a contemporaneous picture of the man and the cover of the 1950s pageant programme.

An illustrated talk on the 19th century champion Irish boxer Dan Donnelly will be given in Naas on Tuesday 1 October, writes Brian Byrne. The long arm of Dan Donnelly will be presented by Larry Breen and hosted by the Naas local History Group, in the Town House Hotel, beginning at 8pm.

The Dublin-born pugilist gave his name to the former Belcher's Hollow on the edge of The Curragh after he fought Englishman Tom Hall there in 1814. His fame was cemented the following year when he vanquished another English fighter, George Cooper, at the same location. That fight is commemorated by an obelisk on the site, recently refurbished. Donnelly died in 1820 at the young age of 32.

The fight was commemorated in the early 1950s in a pageant organised by this writer's father Jim Byrne and the Kilcullen Boxing Club. Consequent to that, the fighter's mummified right arm was presented to The Hideout, where it was a well-known centrepiece until the pub was sold out of the family in 1996.

The Diary's stories about Dan Donnelly can all be seen here. 

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Donnelly family descendant views fighter's arm

An American woman who is a descendant of pugilist Dan Donnelly's family was recently the latest to come and view the mummified right arm of the fighter, writes Brian Byrne.

Amy Stammerjohn and her husband Dan visited Kilcullen, and were able to view the arm by appointment with Josephine Byrne, formerly of The Hideout where the limb was on exhibition for decades.

The arm is currently kept in storage, 'resting' after a series of exhibitions in the US, Northern Ireland and in Dublin and Limerick over recent years.

Amy and Dan live in California, and she told Josephine that her late grandmother — Mary Eileen Donnelly — had always told the story of being descended from a brother of the fighter who went to America in the 1840s, some time after Dan's death in 1820.

"The story was always in the family," Amy says. "My own mother used to speak of it too." Her grandmother had a number of details of the family in her papers, which Amy now has access to.

She doesn't have any direct documentation about the fighter's brother, but was intrigued when Josephine showed her a story from a California newspaper of some years ago, about a priest from Santa Barbara who had come to see the arm while in Ireland. "That's my uncle Tom," she said in surprise.

Josephine is regularly contacted by people who believe they have family connections — "Dan is reputed to come from a family of 17, so there are a lot of Donnellys about" — and also by historians, and relatives of people who may have had peripheral connections to the fighter.

One of these who corresponded with her was a Catherine Stover, who is a direct descendant of Captain William Kelly, who sponsored and trained the fighter at a property on the edge of the Curragh.

Dan Donnelly on Creedon TV show last night

The latest item in a very long line of media coverage of 19th century pugilist Dan Donnelly and his fight against George Cooper was aired last night in an episode of ‘Creedon’s Epic East’, writes Brian Byrne.

In the segment, radio presenter Keith Walsh told John Creedon the story of the fight, on location at the hollow, and a re-enactment of the event was staged by boxers from Kilcullen BC and Ryston BC in Newbridge. Dan Hoolahan from Kilcullen played the part of Donnelly and Bobby Molloy from Ryston was Cooper.

Afterwards, John Creedon spoke with Josephine Byrne about the mummified right arm of the Irish fighter, which was displayed in Kilcullen’s Hideout pub for decades from the early 1950s. He said he felt very privileged to hold the arm, as it was from a human being who was also a champion boxer.

Pictured below during the filming of the re-enactment are Ryston BC coaches Tom McDermot and Luke Connors, boxer Bobby Molloy, Referee Dave Molloy, Kilcullen BC boxer Dan Hoolahan and Kilcullen coaches Joe Orford and Dave O'Brien.

In case you missed the show, it's available to view on the RTE Player.

Boxing clubs for Creedon TV show

It was dress-up day last weekend for some members of Kilcullen and Ryston boxing clubs, when some filming was done for a local segment in an upcoming series of John Creedon's 'Ireland's Ancient East', writes Brian Byrne.

The RTE TV series will mirror a similar one done last year on the 'Wild Atlantic Way', and one of the items is a piece on the pugilist Dan Donnelly.

The two clubs took part in a re-enactment of (part of) the famous fight between Donnelly and English champion George Cooper, which was the reason for dressing up.

Pictured are Ryston BC coaches Tom McDermot and Luke Connors, boxer Bobby Molloy, Referee Dave Molloy, Kilcullen BC boxer Dan Hoolahan and Kilcullen coaches Joe Orford and Dave O'Brien.

The programme makers also interviews Josephine Byrne about Dan Donnelly's mummified right arm, which was a feature attraction in The Hideout from the early 1950s.

Dan Donnelly documentary re-screened

There was a Kilcullen interest last night on the TG4 TV channel when a documentary about Dan Donnelly, the legendary 19th century fighter, was screened in a repeat broadcast, writes Brian Byrne.

'Lámh Fada Dan Donnelly', part of which was filmed in Bardons pub during 2009, was produced by Andrew Gallimore, and was originally broadcast on 1 January 2010.

The sequences shot in Bardons included interviews with Josephine Byrne, owner of the famous Donnelly’s Arm relic, as well as Jim Berney and Bernard Berney.

Jim played the part of Dan Donnelly in the famous An Tostal pageants held at Donnelly’s Hollow on The Curragh in the early 50s.

Photographs from the pageant were also shown, as were pictures of Donnelly's Arm with the late Jim Byrne and his son, the late Des Byrne, both of whom gave it a unique 'home' in The Hideout from the 1950s through to the mid-90s.

The arm was a centrepiece in a series of 'Fighting Irishmen' exhibitions during the latter part of the 2000s, in New York, Boston, Omagh, Croke Park and Limerick, curated by New York realtor Jim Houlihan (below).

The biographer of the fighter, Pat Myler, featured continuously in the Irish language documentary (his 1970s book on Dan Donnelly was recently updated and republished and is available on Amazon.) The programme used reconstructions to depict the key fights undertaken by Donnelly, and to show his rise and fall and rise again career. The fighter died of alcoholism complications at the age of 32.

The repeat screening was to mark the 200th anniversary of the fight with George Cooper, which was a month ago and was commemorated in a low key way by local heritage enthusiasts.

UPDATE: An English language version of the documentary is due to be shown on Setanta over Christmas (possibly Christmas Day). It has also been released as part of a DVD set called 'The Irish History Collection'. It's on sale at Eason and Tesco at €10. 

Donnelly fight anniversary marked

More than 30 people turned up this afternoon at Donnelly's Hollow to have an informal commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the fight between Irish pugilist Dan Donnelly and the English fighter George Cooper, writes Brian Byrne.

It was a pleasant occasion, during which a wreath was laid at the obelisk that marks the scene of the fight.

Two pupils from the nearby Scoil Bhride in Athgarvan read out a report from the 'Freeman's Journal & Commercial Advertiser', noting that the original date for the (illegal) fight had been cancelled after the intervention of the police ... it's believed to be the first locally-recorded mention of the contest.

Then Patrick Myler, whose 70s 'Regency Rogue' biography of Donnelly is the acknowledged seminal work on the fighter's life, talked about how he had come to write the book and gave a background to the pugilist's life and times (the book has recently been republished with additional material, under the title 'Dan Donnelly, 1788-1820, Pugilist, Publican, Playboy').

Those present then exchanged stories about the heritage aspects of the event, among them the re-enactment of the fight in 1953 and 1954 by the Kilcullen Boxing Club.

All were then invited back to Newbridge Library for refreshments, by Executive Librarian of the Kildare Collection Mario Corrigan, who has given numerous talks on Donnelly as 'Ireland's First National Sporting Hero'.

More pictures from the day can be viewed here.

Remembering Dan Donnelly today

On this day 200 years ago, Irish pugilist Dan Donnelly stepped up to the mark against English opponent George Cooper in a hollow on The Curragh, and began a fight that has become an Irish epic tale, writes Brian Byrne.

The event, in which each man was fighting for the honour — though mostly the money — of their respective backers, was long, brutal, and bloody. But eventually the Dubliner, Donnelly, won, and trudged back up to his side of the crowd, leaving footprints at the hollow which are still there to this day.

Much has been written since about the fight, the man, and the social background of the time, notably by boxing journalist Pat Myler in his 'Regency Rogue' book of the 70s, recently re-published as 'Dan Donnelly, 1788-1820, Pugilist, Publican, Playboy'.

Kildare County Library's Mario Corrigan has also studied the story and during National Heritage Week this year gave a commemorative talk on 'Ireland's First National Sporting Hero'.

My own short version of his life also puts it into some perspective, and brings the story up to the involvement of the Byrne family.

The fight was also commemorated in the early 1950s in a pageant organised by this writer's father Jim Byrne and the Kilcullen Boxing Club.

And, of course, very many will remember the right arm of Dan Donnelly which was in a glass case in The Hideout pub from the 50s through until the late Des Byrne retired from the business in 1996.

The Diary has its own comprehensive archive of local activities relating to Dan Donnelly, which can be browsed here.

The fight is reported to have begun at 8.30 in the morning, so as you're having your breakfast, have an extra cuppa in Dan Donnelly's memory.

Or at any other time during today ... maybe, if the weather permits, I might wander over to Donnelly's Hollow after lunch and see if the ghostly roar of the crowds still echoes on this special anniversary.

Talks on Dan Donnelly for Heritage Week

Kilcullen people will have a special interest in a talk that's being given by Mario Corrigan on the famed pugilist Dan Donnelly, writes Brian Byrne.

This is the 200th anniversary year of Donnelly's famous fight with Englishman George Cooper at Donnelly's Hollow, and Mario will be talking about Donnelly as 'Ireland's First National Sporting Hero' in Newbridge Library tomorrow, Saturday, at 3.30pm; in Naas Library on Wednesday next, at 11am; and in Maynooth Library on Friday 28 August, also at 11am.

It's all part of National Heritage Week, and Mario's contributions will be precursors to a number of commemorative events for the Dublin-born fighter's life and times — among them an enevt by the Curragh Local History Group, and by Kildare Town.

Mario's talk will be looking at the story of Dan Donnelly from his humble beginnings as a carpenter in Dublin to his dramatic rise and fall as a pugilist or bare-knuckle boxer. "His talents were noted by Capt William Kelly of Maddenstown House, and his boxing career took off," says Mario, who is Executive Librarian with responsibility for the County Kildare Local History Collection.

"This of course reached a high point after his initial fight with Tom Hall in September 1814 at Belcher's Hollow on the Curragh (after this fight the name changed to Donnelly's Hollow) to his win there over the English Champion, George Cooper on 13 November 1815."

Dan became a national hero, but sadly his fame and brief financial success allowed him to indulge is vices of womanising, gambling and drinking. "Facing debt and ruin after a number of failing pub businesses in Dublin, he took to the ring again in England in a series of exhibition matches. He fought a semi-professional fight with Jack Carter which was deemed to be a draw and then finally was coaxed into a prize-fight with Tom Oliver in July of 1819. Donnelly beat Oliver in a gruelling 34 round contest and returned to Ireland as a national hero once more."

Mario notes that, after a brief period whereby Dan and his wife enjoyed the fruits of his success his life once again spiralled out of control and he died in 1820 at the very young age of about 32 years. "Yet his fame lives on, through his extraordinary feats within the ring and the Hollow named after him on the Curragh of Kildare, but also because of the survival and preservation of his arm, firstly by the doctor who removed it courtesy of the grave robbers who had sold him the body. and then through a series of doctors and collectors until it came into the possession of Jim Byrne and went on display in the Hideout Pub in Kilcullen."

In more recent years it has formed part of the 'Fighting Irish' Exhibition in the US and Ireland and forms as famous a part of the story of the Hollow and the boxer as Donnelly himself, Mario says.

In April 1953 the people of Kilcullen and the Curragh celebrated his famous fight as part of the An Tóstal festival. "This year, 2015 will mark the 200th anniversary of the Donnelly victory over Cooper on the Curragh of Kildare, not on the 13 December which is the date recorded in error in books and on the monument but on 13 November. The County Kildare Federation of Local History Groups hopes to mark the occasion at the Hollow on Saturday 14th November."

Our illustration is the cover of Pat Myler's book on Dan Donnelly, published last November. It is a re-publication of his 'Regency Rogue' published in the 1970s and includes new chapters and material.

Documentary on Dan Donnelly for fight anniversary

A documentary in Irish on pugilist Dan Donnelly which was screened on TG4 in 2009 is being redone in English for RTE TV and is planned for showing on the 200th anniversary of the fighter's famous fight at Donnelly's Hollow, writes Brian Byrne.

A number of new interviews are being done in coming weeks for the documentary, which will screen on November 13.

That's a date which will raise a few eyebrows, as it has generally been understood that it was December 13 that the fight took place. But Patrick Myler, the pugilist's biographer, told the Diary this week that this has now been found to be incorrect.

"I was wrong in my book (Regency Rogue, O'Brien Press 1976), and everybody seems to have been wrong," he says. "It was only when Kildare Library Services local collection was researching it, that they found the newspaper accounts of the fight were a month earlier than thought."

A number of groups around Kildare are already considering events to mark the anniversary of a Dubliner who literally left an indelible set of impressions in Kildare, notably his footprints still seen at Donnelly's Hollow.

The event was recreated in An Tostal pageant form twice during the early 1950s, by Kilcullen Boxing Club.

Family believes relationship to Dan Donnelly

Two sisters who believe they are descendants of the famous pugilist Dan Donnelly paid a visit last week to The Hideout, which was associated with the 19th century fighter’s mummified arm for almost half a century, writes Brian Byrne.

Valerie Malik and Lorraine Ringling had in fact visited the pub back in 1988, where they saw the arm in its then repositary, a glass case over the fireplace. Retained by the Byrne family when the late Des Byrne sold the pub, the arm is currently on loan to a major exhibition, Fighting Irishmen. The exhibition is at the moment in the University of Limerick, having been already in New York, Boston, Omagh and Croke Park.

“My mother’s maiden name was Donnelly,” says Valerie Malick, “and it has always been in the family lore that we were descended from Dan Donnelly. But we have never been able to prove it, because the Dublin records were destroyed in the Custom House Fire of 1921.”

According to the family story, the Donnelly family related to the pugilist moved north to Belfast at some stage, by coincidence even setting up home in Townsend St in Belfast. Dan Donnelly himself lived in Townsend St in Dublin.

“And there’s another coincidence,” says Valerie. “I actually live in Coulsden in Surrey, very near where Dan Donnelly fought the fight at which he was knighted by the Prince Regent.”

Valerie and Lorraine are pictured here with Clare Boyce of The Hideout. Behind them is a framed poem and drawing presented earlier this year by Brownstown-based Dan Donnelly fan Barney O’Keefe.

This story was originally published in The Kildare Nationalist.

Radio documentary on Dan Donnelly

Nessa Dunlea, chair of the Kilcullen Heritage Group, talking to community radio producer Paul Wright last week about the connections of pugilist Dan Donnelly to the Kilcullen area.

Paul, originally from Athy, is making a three-part radio documentary about the fighter.

NEW! PILATES COURSES STARTING

Donnelly's Arm travels on

The 'Fighting Irishmen' exhibition which features as its centrepiece the mummified right arm of Irish pugilist Dan Donnelly, owned by the Byrne family in Kilcullen, is opening at the University of Limerick in April. Josephine Byrne is pictured above with the arm when the exhibition was in Croke Park.

The exhibition was developed and premiered at the Irish Arts Center in New York City in 2006. It will open in UL on April 11, and run through September 30. It will be one of the highlights of the Limerick European City of Sport celebrations in 2011.

The exhibit will be located at the University Arena, the main sports facility at UL. It also features an array of robes, gloves, boxing bags, prints, photographs, paintings, and film footage of Celtic prize-fighters from 1820 to the present day. They include pieces from sporting greats such as John L Sullivan, Jack Dempsey, Gene Tunney, Barry McGuigan, Freddie Gilroy, Bobby Cassidy, Gerry Cooney, Billy Graham, Billy Conn, John Duddy, Maureen Shea and many more. Ballymena-born actor Liam Neeson, Honorary Chair and long-time supporter of the Irish Arts Center, has also loaned personal items from his amateur boxing career to the exhibit including the gloves given to him by Olympic boxer Freddie Gilroy.

The exhibit first opened in 2006 at the Irish Arts Center in New York. It then went to the South Street Seaport Museum in lower Manhattan (2007), the Burns Library at Boston College (2008), the Ulster American Folk Park in Omagh, Ireland (2009) and at Croke Park at the GAA Museum in Dublin (2010). Following its exhibition in Limerick, the Fighting Irishmen plans to continue its tour in Europe, and the United States.

Illustrated Donnelly poem in Hideout

An illustrated poem about the saga of 19th century pugilist Dan Donnelly, was presented to The Hideout pub in Kilcullen recently, rather closes a circle in the story, writes Brian Byrne.

Because the poem was written by Barney O'Keefe from Brownstown, the area where the Dublin-born Irish champion fighter trained. And The Hideout has been synonymous with the pugilist ever since his mummified right arm was brought there in the early 50s by then owner of the hostelry Jim Byrne.

These days the arm travels the world on loan from the Byrne family, as part of a major exhibition of Irish fighting heroes. But there is still a strong draw to the pub as the modern folklore home of the fighter's spirit.

Read more »

Barney presents Dan Donnelly poem

Dan Donnelly fan Barney O'Keefe has presented his illustrated poem about the pugilist to Clare Boyce of The Hideout. The full story is in next Tuesday's Kildare Nationalist.

Remembering the Donnelly's Hollow pageant

With the recent resurgent interest in 19th century pugilist Dan Donnelly, it is perhaps timely to look at how the Leinster Leader of 25th April 1953 reports on how the Kilcullen Tostal Committee rolled back the years, to present at Donnelly's Hollow a pageant of the famous fight which sent Irish cheers thundering across the Curragh plains on a December day in 1815.



This is available on the The Kildare Online Electronic History Journal.


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Donnelly's Arm in Croker

An exhibition of Fighting Irishmen at which Dan Donnelly's arm is a key attraction was officially opened last week in the GAA Museum in Croke Park.

The exhibition, which is curated by Jim Houlihan of the Irish Arts Center in New York, has previously been shown in the Arts Center, the South Street Museum in Manhattan, Boston College and the Irish-American Folk Museum in Omagh. It will run through the summer in Croke Park before moving on to a number of other venues on and beyond the island of Ireland.

Donnelly's arm has been in the ownership of the Byrne family for nearly six decades. Pictured at the opening of the GAA Museum exhibition is Josephine Byrne, wife of the late Des Byrne. (INPHO/Morgan Treacy)

Donnelly monument to be restored

The OPW is to restore the damaged monument at Donnelly's Hollow, according to Barney O'Keefe, who raised the issue on the RTE 'Liveline' on Thursday.

The Brownstown man who took the attack on the arm personally, as he has had a longtime interest in the 19th century pugilist Dan Donnelly, will also be presenting to a museum a small silver box he found under the damaged monument. The box was designed to hold a shaving stick, and had the date 1840 on it. Barney believes it was also used to hold tobacco.

During his stint on 'Liveline', many people called in to express their opinions on the vandalism, and to support the call for the monument's restoration. They included calls from locally-born musicians Luka Bloom and Christy Moore, as well as Pat Myler, Donnelly's biographer. "My phone at home was almost on fire after the show," Barney says. On Friday he spoke about the matter on Clem Ryan's morning show on KFM, and read from a poem he wrote in 1996, 'Sir Dan'.

Josephine Byrne was also contacted by the programme and told how Donnelly's arm had come into the possession of the Byrne family. It is currently on display in the Museum at Croke Park as part of an exhibition on famous Irish fighting men which has previously been shown in New York, Boston, and at the Irish-American Folk Museum in Omagh.

Barney says he has been informed of the OPW's intention to restore the monument, and adds that the broken railings are now in storage pending this.

Brian Byrne.

Destruction at Donnelly's Hollow

The iconic monument to pugilist Dan Donnelly at Donnelly's Hollow has been seriously damaged by vandals.



Railings around the monument, erected in 1888 by public subscription, were torn down and attempts made to knock town the three part granite structure. The damage is understood to have been done last Sunday night as The Garda in Newbridge was notified on Monday.



The site of the monument is the natural ampitheatre on the edge of the Curragh where Donnelly had his most famous wins, over English pugilists Tom Hall and Tom Oliver.

It was also where pageants commemorating his fights were held in the early 50s, organised by Kilcullen Boxing Club. Jim Berney played the part of Dan Donnelly in these.

The damage required the use of a vehicle and a rope, and would have taken considerable effort.

Local people have described it as a disgrace. The hollow is a very popular place with families at weekends and summer evenings.

"The ironic thing is that the authorities regularly chase away courting couples at night, who really aren't doing anything," one man said today. "But they didn't see this happening. It's terrible. People from all over bring their children here, and I bring my grand-children regularly."

Dan Donnelly and his career was the subject of a TG4 documentary last December.


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