IRISH World of Sport, the latest book from Samuel Kingston — a contributor to RTÉ sport — details the historical impact the Irish have made on sports around the world.
Kingston writes: “A number of the biggest soccer clubs in England have Irish connections. Both clubs in Liverpool, George Mahon at Everton, while Monaghan-born Honest John McKenna at Liverpool was a key figure in the early development of the club. Both clubs in Manchester also have Irish connections albeit for different reasons. Manchester City were founded by Anna Connell as a sporting outlet for the poor."
He adds: “Manchester United became a favourite club of the Irish with the arrival of Dublin born Johnny Carey. Both manager Matt Busby and trainer Jimmy Murphy had Irish roots. Down south in the 1970s, the large Irish community in north London were drawn to Arsenal who almost had a starting eleven of Irish born players in their squad.
Kingston's book documents some of the most iconic names in Irish sport“Staying in London but switching to rugby, London Irish were an important team in both the amateur days and in the professional era. Moving back up north and switching to rugby league, two of the major towns, St Helens and Wigan share a deep rivalry but also connections to their local Irish community. Pocket Nook Shamrocks in St. Helens and Wigan St. Patricks made important contributions to the sport."
Jimmy Hogan
Born in Nelson, a Lancashire town in northern England to Irish parents, Hogan trained as a priest in his teenage years before football became his true calling. After an undistinguished playing career, he would become one of the most innovative and forward thinking coaches in the game.
Hogan is barely known in England; his legacy is on the continent where he played a significant role in developing the style of football in the Netherlands, Austria, and Hungary.
The Mighty Magyars of the 1950s defeated England 6-3 at Wembley shocking the homeland of football.
Gustav Sebes coach of that famous team said “We played football as Jimmy Hogan taught us”. Hogan had coached MTK in Budapest and led them to seven straight Hungarian titles. Hogan is seen by many football historians as the father to Total Football. His attempts to spread his ideas in England were not as successful. According to Jonathan Wilson, a leading football tactics historian, Hogan is one of the most important coaches in terms of developing the game.
Jack Kirwan
Born in Dunlavin, Co. Wicklow, Kirwan was a member of the Dublin team that won the Gaelic football All-Ireland in 1894 defeating Cork. He soon moved across to England to play soccer. He won the FA Cup in 1901 with Spurs making Kirwan the first player to win both an All-Ireland medal and FA Cup medal.
Kirwan held on to the match ball until his death in 1959.
It was during his time at Spurs that he won his first Irish cap and he was the first Spurs player to play for Ireland. He retired from playing in 1910 at age 32. Kirwan became part of that wave that saw Britain-based coaches going to the continent.
Ajax Amsterdam was founded in 1900 and Kirwan became the club’s first professional coach in 1910. He had an immediate impact guiding the team from the second division to the top division for the first time. It was Kirwan who suggested the now famous Ajax jersey of white with single red stripe.
After two moderately successful seasons in the top tier, Ajax were relegated in 1914-15 season and Kirwan left the club having helped bring recognition to the club.
He was replaced by Englishman Jack Reynolds who would go on to become one of Ajax’s greatest managers. Kirwan would coach Bohemian FC in Ireland for a short stint before coaching AS Livorno in Italy where the team finished third and fifth in his two seasons.
Manchester United in 1957, with Irishman Matt Busby (far right)
George Beamish
Born in Dunmanway, west Cork but raised in Coleraine, Beamish joined the Royal Air Force as did his three brothers Victor, Charles, and Cecil. George was first capped for Ireland in 1925 at age 19 while still playing for Coleraine. He would then play for Leicester and in 1930 was chosen to play for the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand. The Lions kit of the time was mainly blue with white and red with no green. George protested at this and sought the addition of green which was duly added to the socks. He played rugby for London Irish in the 1930s and was involved with Leicester Rugby and with the RAF rugby team as were his brothers Charles and Cecil, a noted golfer.
Cecil also played for London Irish whereas Charles played for Harlequins during a career that saw him capped for Ireland in a team with his older brother George as captain in some games. Charles would tour Argentina with the Lions in 1936. While Victor was a sportsman as well, he is better known as one of the most famous fighter pilots of World War II excelling during the Battle of Britain in 1940. He was killed in action in 1942. The Beamishes are perhaps a good example of the complexities of an Irish rugby club in London where Irish of varying political opinions came together to play the sport they loved. The complexities were more pronounced during the Great War and Easter Rising, and later during World War II.
James Frederick Byrne (Rugby union)
The captain of the English rugby team in the 1898 Home Nations championship was James Frederick Byrne. Fred as he was better known was of Irish heritage. Born in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, he played his club rugby with Moseley who were one of the leading clubs in the Midlands area.
Fred was one of the best full backs in the country whose scoring ability from the boot made him an important player. He was captain for both club and country and was a member of the British and Irish Lions Tour to South Africa in 1896. He was the only English international player on a team dominated by Irish players. In 1897, Fred was joined on the England team by his brother Francis who won a single cap against Wales. Byrne played his last game for England in 1899 which was against Ireland. He would remain involved with rugby through the Moseley Club and the Barbarians. He also played cricket for Warwickshire captaining the side in the 1903 season.
Stephen Donoghue (Pic: Public domain)Stephen Donoghue
Born in Warrington, Lancashire, Donoghue had no background in horseracing but his Irish born father did often gamble much of his steelworker’s wages on horses. Donoghue had joined him steel working but having tasted success winning a prize for donkey riding at a circus, he became determined to succeed as a jockey.
He established himself as the leading flat jockey in partnership with trainer Atty Persse. Donoghue won the jockey championship ten seasons in a row from 1914 to 1923. In 1937, at age 52 he captured the 1000 Guineas, the final piece he needed to have a victory in all five English Classics. In 1915 and 1917 he won the Triple Crown of British racing regarded as winning the Derby, 2000 Guineas and St. Leger all in the same season. A charismatic man, he married twice and enjoyed the ritzy glitzy high life that horseracing had brought him into. It would also be his downfall becoming bankrupt. He died of a heart attack at age 60 in 1945.
Benny Lynch
World champion at 22, dead by 33. The son of Donegal emigrants, Benny was born and raised in the tough tenements of the Gorbals in Glasgow. The Gorbals in the 19th and early 20th century was an overly populated melting pot of people all striving to get by in one of the key industrial centres of the British Empire, people had to fight to get by. Boxing was popular among the working class in Scotland and a good boxer had the potential to earn much more money than the average worker.
Lynch learned the ropes through street fights but also by boxing at carnivals booths. After a slow start in the ring, he began to find his feet. In 1933, at age 20, he would start a three-year unbeaten run that would see him become British, European and world flyweight champion. His reign as world champion was disputed by American organisations but Lynch would put the matter beyond doubt by defeating the challenger Small Montana from the Philippines.
Lynch had conquered the world and had it all but the demons would destroy him. His biggest fight was against alcoholism and unfortunately it was one he couldn’t win. He missed weight for fights, lost his boxing licence, assaulted family members in downward spiral culminating in his death in 1946 from alcohol related issues. His worst enemy was himself. At his height he enjoyed immense popularity among Scottish people, giving hope during the tough economic era of the 1930s. He is remembered as one of the greatest boxers ever to come from Scotland.
See More: George Beamish, Ireland, Jack Kirwan, Jimmy Hogan, Sport
