Former world heavyweight boxing champion John L. Sullivan visited Athlone in February 1910. The report by the Westmeath Independent noted that he had arrived by train and stayed at the Prince of Wales Hotel. His mother was Catherine Kelly from Curramore near Kiltoom and his sister was married to one of the Killion family of Drum, while there was also a connection with Lennons of Drum, the report stated. Sullivan was then 52 years of age and a teetollater for the previous six years. Two inches short of six feet and weighed 22 stone. Still of youthful appearance and agile and virile, the paper said he was also particularly interesting socially. To an interviewer he chatted freely on the great strides made by the Irish people in America, the prominent positions so many of them hold and the force they are today in the Great Republic. He criticised the lack of a proper mercantile marine service in America, pointing out that 92 per cent of food stuff produced in America was exported but in foreign vessels. Sullivan said he thought boxing was now too commercial and had therefore declined in popularity in America. The interview was interrupted by a semi-official welcome from members of the Urban District Council. The Athlone National Brass Band gathered outside the hotel as did a large number of people and Sullivan, introduced by Cllr M.J. Lennon, was cheered and spoke to the crowed of his Irish origin and local connections. The next day he spent visiting friends in the district in the company of his wife and left by the afternoon train for Dublin.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 20:43:11 +0000
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