TONIGHT at 7pm sharp at City Hall, the Glen Boxing Club present the centenary commemoration to honour the memory of Tomás Mac Curtain, former Lord Mayor of Cork and Glen BC President. 

In association with Cork City Council, the Glen Boxing Club will promote a unique event as the show will include a two-hour concert followed by a top-class boxing tournament.

The patron is the Lord Mayor Cllr Deidre Forde, the special guests will be Fionnuala Mac Curtain granddaughter of the Irish Patriot and members and friends of the Mac Curtain Family. A special invitation has been extended to all former Lord Mayors of Cork.

Three years ago many events by various groups had been planned to honour Mac Curtain before pandemic ruined those plans. Now the Glen Club, who organised a club event three years ago are paying tribute on a much larger scale.

The Glen Boxing Club is the oldest club in the country. It has a proud tradition and Tomas Mac Curtain was very active on its behalf. As a businessman and politician he was well respected around Blackpool and engaged with local employers Goulding Fertilizers Ltd and secured a terraced house in Spring Lane which was converted into a boxing club where they remained for the next 50 years until 1966.

On the night the Mac Curtain Family will present a cup perpetuating the name of Tomas Mac Curtain. 

The presentation will be made by Tomás Mac Curtain great-grandson of Cork’s former Lord Mayor.

In a statement, the Glen said: "We are privileged to organise this tribute to our first president, we hope all patrons and guests will enjoy the evening, we request all attending to follow the seating arrangements and our stewards will be there to ensure everyone will enjoy a night to remember. The MC for the evening will be the well-known Echo sports editor John McHale."

Last weekend the Munster Boxing Championships concluded at Dungarvan, Cork boxers were once again very competitive at these Championships over a number of weekends, the full report on the success of Leeside Boxers in all categories of the Munster Championships will be published in The Echo in the near future.

On Friday night last, it happened on The Late Late Show for Caitriona Twoomey of Cork Penny Dinners when she was acknowledged by the host Ryan Tubridy for her outstanding work on behalf of the hungry, the lonely and the destitute. 

To see this woman being acknowledged publicly on national television is truly worthy of her hard-working endeavours. 

Caitriona is a long time associated with the boxing community in Cork. 

Her father Tom Lynch was very active and a founder member of the Brian Dillon's BC, last year’s Cork Boxing Club of the Year.

For many years now Caitriona has toiled at the cutting edge of life’s misfortunes. Over the years her work has expanded, and her open-door policy is the hallmark of her generosity of spirit. Four years ago at the Cork City Library, before a full house who were there for the opening of the Cork Memorabilia Exhibition which traced the history of Cork Boxing, a presentation was made to Caitriona.

This was the spirit of Jack McAuliffe Award. It was presented to her by a Cork Boxing Club member of the Golden Gloves Club, Saoirse Morrissey who was both an All-Ireland Champion and an International Boxer.

The spirit of Jack McAuliffe was to acknowledge what he did for the homeless and hungry of New York over 100 years earlier. McAuliffe was born just off South Main St. 

As a 10-year-old he emigrated with his family to New York. Ten years later he was the Lightweight Boxing Champion of the World. He is still the only Corkman to win a world title. 

He retired undefeated and became a successful businessman. Later in life, he was widely acclaimed for his work on behalf of the underprivileged. Hence the introduction of The Spirit of Jack McAuliffe Award which was presented to a truly worthy recipient in Caitriona Twoomey.

CELEBRATIONS

Last week as part of the St Patrick's Day Celebrations, the Tánaiste Micheál Martin was in New York. While there he was welcomed to the Big Apple by Donie Carroll Vice-President of The International Friends of Cork Boxing. Donie a well-known musician and former Cork boxer has been domiciled in New York for many years. 

He has met Micheál during his visit to New York over a number of years. However, more importantly, Donie has also met Micheál in Cork at a number of Cork Boxing Breakfasts. 

Last weekend Donie was accompanied by his musical instruments and friends, and very quickly the Tánaiste found himself very close to the dear old city by the Lee and those Shandon Bells.