#OTD in 1924 – The biggest sporting event organised across the world was staged in Ireland. This event – the Tailteann Games – was bigger even than that year’s Paris Olympic Games.

The Telltown or Tailtiu Games were said to have been instituted by the Gaelic god Lú Lamhfada Samildanách – Lugh­ the Long-Armed Master of the Arts, and are considered to be the Irish Olympics Games. They predate the Greek Olympics by about 1200 years and it could be reasonably speculated that the Irish Telltown Games […]

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#OTD in 1919 – The first assassination authorised by Michael Collins – Detective Sergeant the Dog Smyth was shot by The Squad.

“Our only way to carry on the fight was by organised and bold guerilla warfare. But this in itself was not enough. England could always reinforce her army. To paralyse the British machine it was necessary to strike at individuals outside the ranks of the military. Without her Secret Service working at the top of […]

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#OTD in 1902 – Death of Thomas William Croke D.D., the second Catholic Bishop of Auckland, New Zealand (1870-1874) and later Archbishop of Cashel and Emly, Co Tipperary.

Thomas Croke was born in Castlecor (parish of Kilbrin), Co Cork, in 1824. He became the second Catholic Bishop of Auckland New Zealand before returning to Ireland as Archbishop of Cashel and Emly. He was a strong and public supporter of Irish nationalism aligning himself with the Irish National Land League during the Land War, […]

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#OTD in 1972 – Muhammad Ali fights Al “Blue” Lewis in Dublin and defeats him via a TKO (technical knockout) in round 11.

“Don’t count the days, make the days count.” –Muhammad Ali Twenty-four hours after arriving in Dublin, Muhammad Ali rang his publicist Harold Conrad. “Hey, Hal?” said Ali, “where are all the black people in this country?” “Ali,” replied Conrad, “there aren’t any.” On 19 July 1972, it took Muhammad Ali 11 rounds to defeat Al […]

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#OTD in 1972 – The Irish Tourist Board pulls off a major coup getting Boxing Legend Muhammad Ali to promote Ireland.

“Impossible is not a fact.” –Muhammad Ali Killorglin-born circus strongman and publican, Michael “Butty” Sugrue, put up £300,000 and persuaded Muhammad Ali to make his first visit to Ireland to fight against Alvin Lewis in Croke Park on 19 July 1972. Ali went to Ireland with an entourage on 11 July 1972 to spend time […]

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#OTD in 1896 – The City and Suburban Ground, now known as Croke Park, hosts a football match for the first time. The teams are a combination of Irish and Scots women versus England. The combines team beats England 3–2.

One of the very first blows for women’s sport in Ireland was struck in 1896, when international women’s football came to the City and Suburban Grounds at Jones’s Road, Dublin: Croke Park occupies the site these days. The main impetus for the game came from Britain. Women’s football was particularly strong in Scotland and in […]

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The All-Ireland Football match behind barbed wire, Frongoch Internment Camp, June 1916

It is over a century after a unique All-Ireland football final between Kerry and Louth was played among the men interned in the wake of the 1916 Rising in Frongoch in north Wales. Over 1,800 Irishmen were rounded up and detained without trial under the Defence of the Realm Act at the prisoner of war […]

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#OTD in 1856 – Birth of athlete, Patrick Nally, in Balla, Co Mayo.

The stadium stands at Croke Park commemorated a proud and famous trio of Irishmen, Michael Cusack of Co Clare, Michael Hogan of Co Tipperary and Pat Nally of Co Mayo. Patrick (Pat) William Nally was a member of the Supreme Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and well-known Connacht athlete from Balla, Co Mayo. It […]

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Ancient Irish Olympics | The Lughnasa Games at Telltown

The Telltown or Tailtiu Games were said to have been instituted by the Gaelic god Lú Lamhfada Samildanách – Lugh­ the Long-Armed Master of the Arts, and are considered to be the Irish Olympics Games. They predate the Greek Olympics by about 1200 years and it could be reasonably speculated that the Irish Telltown Games […]

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