The real-life boxer behind the Oscar-nominated movie Eight years ago, Irish America magazine honored boxer Micky Ward as one of “The Irish 100.” Ward received his tribute at the annual Irish America awards banquet at the Plaza Hotel in New York. “I don’t know why I’m being honored,” Micky said that night. Then he turned toward fellow honoree, Robert Morris, leader of the New … [Read more...] about Irish Micky Ward: The Fighter Speaks Out
Sports
Kelly Green at Notre Dame: Coach Brian Kelly
It is a mid-October Sunday morning at Notre Dame, right after the home victory against Pittsburgh. It was a close-run thing and the sense of relief around the Notre Dame campus is palpable. Nowhere is it more obvious than in Coach Brian Kelly’s headquarters at the Guglielmino complex. It is easy to see what pressure a Notre Dame rookie coach is under just when you wander into … [Read more...] about Kelly Green at Notre Dame: Coach Brian Kelly
The First Word: Putting the Fight Back in the Irish
Niall O’Dowd returned from interviewing Coach Brian Kelly with a story of a cab driver he met – an immigrant from Africa who had seen little of America outside of South Bend, Indiana. When the cabbie learned that Niall was Irish, he exclaimed with admiration, “You Irish, you own everything over here!” Watching the televised game between Notre Dame and Utah and witnessing the … [Read more...] about The First Word: Putting the Fight Back in the Irish
Boxing Buddies: George Bernard Shaw and Gene Tunney
The unlikely friendship between prizefighter Gene Tunney and dramatist George Bernard Shaw is explored in a book by the boxer’s son, Jay Tunney. There are many books about famous literary friendships. John Keats, Lord Byron, and Percy Bysshe Shelley have more than a few dedicated to them, as do Edith Wharton and Henry James; Ernest Hemingway, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. While … [Read more...] about Boxing Buddies: George Bernard Shaw and Gene Tunney
Those We Lost
Recent Passings in the Irish American Community Harold Connolly 1931-2010 Harold Connolly, who won the gold medal in the hammer throw at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, died in Maryland on August 19. He was 79. His son Adam Connolly reported that he died of a heart attack. After suffering from severe nerve paralysis as a child, Connolly underwent serious physical therapy and began … [Read more...] about Those We Lost