Lord Mayor Cllr Fergal Dennehy makes a presentation on behalf of Leeside boxing community to MacCurtain family

A significant part of Cork's boxing history and sporting folklore was recalled and honoured at the City Hall recently where, Cllr. Fergal Dennehy Lord Mayor of Cork hosted a very pleasant ceremony.

One hundred and ten years ago in 1916 Tomàs MacCurtain was inspirational in his quest to set up a boxing club in Blackpool. 

A former student of the North Mon, he was now a businessman and operated a very successful clothing manufacturing company in the area. 

MacCurtain was also a scholar of the Irish language, a musician, a poet, a politician and in the truest sense, he was a soldier of destiny. 

These were troubled times in the Emerald Isle.

Tomàs was also a Sinn Fèin councilor on the city council then known as the Cork Corporation. 

However, MacCurtain was a practical man, married with a young family and always focused on bringing strands of normality to his own city amidst a nation of growing unrest. 

MacCurtain amongst others believed a new boxing club in Blackpool would be of great benefit to the local community. 

Tomàs MacCurtain put a very strong committee in place to run the new club and set out the club to run along business lines.

Today, the Glen BC is Ireland's oldest boxing club and the Cork County Boxing Board wished to mark the outstanding contribution to setting up and developing that club made by Tomas MacCurtain. 

The board decided that an appropriately worded presentation plaque should be presented to the MacCurtain family. 

As Tomàs went on to be elected Lord Mayor of Cork, It was felt that the current Lord Mayor Cllr. Fergal Dennehy who is the secretary of the very successful Togher Boxing Club should make the presentation on behalf of the leeside boxing community.

The granddaughter of Tomàs, Fionnuala MacCurtin accepted the plaque on behalf of the family. 

She thanked the board for honouring her grandfather in a very meaningful way and thanked the Lord Mayor for facilitating the event which she described as an occasion which will be always reflected on and cherished by all members of the MacCurtain family.

Ms. Mac Curtain was also presented with a very special medal appropriately engraved. 

This was in recognition of the MacCurtain family presenting a beautiful silver cup perpetuating the name of Tomàs, thus creating a permanent link between the sport of boxing and the MacCurtain family.

Elsewhere, there was a big exodus out of Cork last week to Portugal, where many Cork boxers from various clubs participated in the much-acclaimed Portimao International Box Cup. 

The president of the Cork County Board Michael O'Brien congratulated all Cork boxers, who competed representing their clubs. 

Six clubs from the rebel county participated including Muskerry, Togher, Spartan, Cove BC, Rylane, and Sunnyside. 

Cork's gold medal winners were Patrick O'Donoghue, Caoilfhionn Mooney, Leah O'Brien, Saoirse Marsh, and Rati Aboladze, all Togher BC. 

Sean Quigley Levi Faulkner, and Noah Kelleher are all Cove BC. 

Emmet Shields and Kelly Stevens, both Muskerry BC were also gold medal winners. 

The Rylane BC gold medallists were Linda Desmond and Tom O'Reilly. 

Hannah Zidan won gold for Spartan BC and the hat-trick trio from the Golden Gloves club were, Emily Forde, Kelvin Greaney and Michael Faulkner.

Recently, another unique boxing presentation also took place at City Hall when Dan O'Connell the vice president of the International Friends of Cork Boxing made a presentation to Cllr. Fergal Dennehy to proudly acknowledge his elevation to the post of Leeside's first citizen, having been elected Lord Mayor of Cork.

Meanwhile, Cork's most successful senior boxing club over the last century was Sunnyside BC. 

Next year they will celebrate their centenary having been established in 1927.

Many of the club’s boxers received national and Olympic recognition but they also had many other multi-talented athletes, who represented the famed club in the ring with distinction. 

Amongst those would have been the very popular Arnold Dowling, a very proud Northsider. 

Arnold was educated at Scoil Iosagain and the North Mon. 

He went to school with Gordon Joyce and was encouraged to join the Sunnyside Boxing club, Arnold was the nephew of another fine boxer Tony Arnold, who passed away last year.

Dowling enjoyed a spectacular and very successful boxing career. 

He won seven county championship medals, five Munster titles and a national title when following some very tough bouts his hand was raised in victory as an All-Ireland champion in the National Stadium in Dublin in 1984. 

Arnold was coached by the great Albie Murphy and received international recognition when he represented Ireland at the Gaelic Youths and Pan Celtic Games. 

When the spotlight will shine next year on the great boxers who represented Sunnyside with distinction the name of Arnold Dowling will not be forgotten, as the Glen BC, coach Tommy Kelleher said recently. 

''Arnold was a good one, and he fought the best in the game.''

Finally, on behalf of all strands of Cork boxing, our sympathy and prayers have been extended this week to the Casey family, following the death of the much loved and respected Lorraine, wife to John, our good friend and esteemed colleague on the Cork County Boxing Board. 

May she rest in peace.