Guth & Tuairim, Meán Fómhair 1982

SPORT Rosses' Boxing Club -Edited extracts from the book'Rosses Athletes' published in 1958. 12 '>'hel"E> wes at all times a strong boxing tradition in thE: Rosses. '-:any years ago, •..rhen there was neither facilities for trRininc nor co~ctition at hone, young Rosses' men emigrating to America, soon made their prosenc~ · fel:. in boxing circles there. !lost notable of these .ef!1igrants were Hency Dufi'y of Heenbannid, ;rho becumc . ~matc,ur ::id,lle-we!ght. Champion of i-lid. Western ~tates 8nd John Barley of Rannyhual, who won the Amateur Heavy-\leight Championship of the State of l!ontana. others who ll'.ade the grade ancl had many notable victories to their credit were Peter Dui'i"j of Annagry, James 3harkey of Nullaghderg M•• , Eddie Doogan of Croveigh, fatrick Glackin of l·ieenacross and John (Ban) 5hnrkey of Kincasslngh. . At a time when these emigrants were proving their worth in the Land of the Free, another Rosses 1 man was hittine the headllnes at home in Irebnd. This 11as the lute An<lrew ~harkey of Zincasslagh, a member of the Garda stationed in Jt.tblin. An.:ire~-1 first C'ai".C into pr.Jminence vrhen he won the 3en' or .tU:Jateur Heavy""'Wffight Championship of Ulster in 1932. Later, he represented Ireland 1~ith succass i!l internati.onal contests in many of the great cities of E\U'Cipe. ':ia :;rea::.eo~ v!.ctt,ry, h o1mver, \~ao at 3allyhauni s in 1932, when he k.o.J. the :J:el'!:lan heavy-..~eight, itar.eck. The lo.tt •~r \::cth 53 successive v:Lctories to his credit, had already k.v.d. the re i c;n:.ne Irish heaV'j... reight champion, 0 ' Dr.iscoll. It c.:une as a shock to t hP boxing world, \Then the pract·~cally unknown Rossen 1 man put this lS stone mass of bono :::usclo ou':. fo;.· -:~hl' co•mt, a fe;:t that no ot!:er boxer had previously perfot--o.led. It ;,raa no '"onder, t ne rr:LO:ore, t hat ur,en ':.he iloss es 1 3oxin~ Club 1,ras f ormed in 1950, yotmg Rosses' lads were deter;.r~~1E:·d t o emulate the fe a"!:.s of ~hcse 1--: ionoers 1 .-!ho had brou~ht fame to their native ~-.arish. Succes.s came more su:,.ftly ';.[_an ever c,;-,e most ent !-.uo iast'.c of the Club's officials had hoped. The Club becane affiliated with the I.A.J• .A. i n 195.:, vhe:t ':.he Done:;!ll ::: oUlr~.i Soard. ;1as forned. I n that same year the Ros ses' Club won first place i n the ScLm ~y Chan;_:Jion::;hips '·1ith four i:.:'. tlen, \Th,i lc t\To of its members, Fa uharkey , heaV'j....teight and Patrick Harley, li[;ht he :lll;{-\.Je:i,:;ht, re :3.ched the f inals of the Uls te r .:>enior Championship being narro-.rly defeated on points. In 1<;51 t he <lo~ses had many s uc eensec; i:~ inte r club t.curna::~ents but these were onl:; the prelude to greater things to c oe1e f or in Dece:n:Sc;; of t.!1at ;;ear i:a :.-har '-:ey t ook t.h!' Iriah Juni or neaV'; -weight title to Donegal and the :lossen for t~c fi r s t t ime ew. r , ra-vr: ::l: r:nrle.f, an other member of the Club, made a gallant effort to bring home a second title, l os i..ng nart•ov1l :,r on ~fain ts to the ultim~te ·.~'~~.:1!1er , .:: • Ly onn. The latter af t erwards became one of Ireland: s be3t kun'-'rn !"~p resento.t i.ves in int.-: r n.:!t:!.ona.l ci rcles. 1952 \... 'ao1 ?..nl)thet• sv.c~e:3 -: .ful yenr 2.11d. i n the C :>t~nty ~hampionnhi~)S the 3.osseG t Club again took first p lace. I n t'::a:, lear also , an in~crnntionnl tournu!llcnt .,,a;J he l d at I.etter~enny and Fa .Sher 'tcey was the I r i sh heavy_....re i ght rr;p r~~3ent~tive. In 7-be foll.oHi~1g ;-rear , ...l harkey , ' .. ;hi l e tvorkin,:; in Sc otland ente red for -'.::,he 3 cot t ish Seni or Champ – ions~ i:f)s snri ,...,on ~he he.:;.v~r-;,r.:;lJ!'lt t it l e . !-~e ua~ t:.hen chos en to repres ent S cotl::1nd against Engl and in an inter– n a.tion~l tournament an<l '!d3 narTOI·Il / defeated by .·c.-nglish hea-rJ -.rei.e;ht and A. B•.\ . ·,rinne r , Harper. At home the .{ c '~ ;--: e::; 1 Cl ub a;:;a5.n t ool: fi.rs ~ ~Jlace i.'"'l the Count:r ..)en.:.or Championshi:;,s. ~n 1')54 the Cl ub s t ~-~ecl. its first inkrnational t ournament at ?a l ca rragh. T~o10 of their boxe rs >I€re s e l ect ed f :;r the ~ri,>h ~eam , :a .>ht, r lw;r, he olV/->ie~zht and Fatrick :!ar l ey , light he av:l-uaight. Sha r key had t o for f e it t he h on~mr, hoHevGr, an he v.ra.J about to c~ir;ra~o to Aust r alia. ·-:ne tournamen t ·.~3s a n out standing s uccess and the Cl ub r e ::eLved con:;ratuls:':.ions fr '>in the Central and "·rovincial Councils for the efficient mar.ner i n ·.,•hich i t '.o7as run. I:mi ,;rution, that bu;;bear of a ll cla;:; :; es of s_port in rural Ireland, •ras now taking i t s t e ll of the roombers of tl;e Clnb. In apite of t.his, hoHever, in 1956 six of their boxers •,;ere mat ched aga ins t a Scottish select ion and fonr \-/f' re <JDre succe~ :J ful . Conal Doo~a."l , one of the most pr o:>1i s ing of the yotmger members of t he Club , had tHo vi ctode s o-Jcr ·i:.he ::>cottic;h h<~~·;;r-·,-~l~t J<c 'Ji car to his credi t . That year a lso , the gr eat est honour of all cane to ':.he .: l ub Hhen i a 3~nrkey \JU::l s e l e cted. a;-; hea-r; - riei ,::;ht r epr es entat ive on the I rish Jl,>-rr.~pic Team. He was a ucrt!1y re·.; resP.ntati ve and e;ave a mos t courace oun display a.:;ainnt t he Swedi sh champion. In f act it was his ma c;n:'. ficen t " co\l:::'o.:;e that l ed to hi:> defeat, for sens i ng that he •,ras slight).;;' behind on points, he went a ll out, for ~he 1: . ::::, an1l thu:; left h imsel:' open. Yes indeed, I reland's honour Has in safe hands and though defeated, he eB.rr~~d ·~!-:e p l auJ:. Gs o"!. .. the Cl""(.Y\tid f or his game dis p lay. In 195-j tho :~rz: :>e:> •·mS arrain to the fore when Cona l Docc;an ~Ton the Irish Jun:'.or :-:idclle-~..eight Tit.le. He won b o ~h the semi-fiM.l ancl f L1al bouts ins !.de the distance, his victims being E. NcCullag h of Thurles and B. Donnelly of Corinthianu. Great credit must go to the iioss es Club, when it is cons i dered that the only tvro nat:'.onal titles which have come to Done~nl nave be.;n \Wn by ilor; ses 1 boxers. In fact, in the history of Amateur boxing for the lust fifty years only t hree titles have been ga5_ned by Donegal men and all t .hre•: have been won by Rosses 1 boxers. Uls ter ~enior hearJ-weight title - won by the late Andrew 3harkey of Kincasslagh, i n 1932. r ut: onal Jun '.. or heav:;-'.teight title - won by Fa Sharkey · of Rannyhual, in 1951. Hational Juni or mi.Jdle-weight title -won by Conal Doogan of Gortnasate, in 1953. In adciition to those boxers already mentioned, others Hho have won many notable victories in inter-club ·tou.::-na!nents are: Ja'Ues l'at t erson, Ilunaman; Patrick O'Donnell, Kerrytown; Hichael O'Do:mell, Rannyhual ; Thomas Earley, Rannyhual; Joe Bonner, !-!ullaghd11ff; Charles He Fadden, Calhame; John Sharkey, Nullaghderg Ht.n; Charles Doogan Gortnasade ; John ~lard, Keadue; Fred Sharkey, 1-lull.aghderg :1tn.; Fatrick 0 1 Donnell, Annagry; Charles J'Donnell A!1nagry; !;;ean Eehir, 3urtonport; F.:'!. Gallagher, Belcruit; J .Grubb Duff-.Y, J.nnagry. James Sanpbell (Jw1.) Eotel, Dtmgloe I-IOU the Irish Arrrr3 .Seni or Niddle-weight Tit.le in 19)6. The follo\Jing y~ ar he was runner up for the All Irel.wd Seni or :·liddle-o~eight THle being narrmrly defeated on points in the final. ?ionn ;rac Cumhaill, the not.ed I rish writer from i'ie enamara (Upper rtosses) was Amateur i-lelter-weicrht Champion of t he 1-!i d . \Jes ~ern ..:>tates of Ameri ca. o J olm 0' Donnell (:Jed), i·:ecnacros s won Irish Army Cruiser-.reight Title in 1942. He had also many successes in inter-c h tb t ournaments before emigrating to Ameri::a. Eddie Duz·!y, nephe1v of He U!"'r Duff-y , lie enbannid, whi le with Gentex Club, Athlone, won the Irish Junior l"e at her-.r.< i i;ht 'l'iTj.)d in 195?.~ He became Iri sh Seni or Feather-.teight Champion in 1954. ·' ~n the ~ Lur:;::eo..n I a:1t:·ion~h-' ps at ·~iars aw i n 1952, he ~ fought hi::; way to the semi-fin a l . In the ~ ~urte c-fL1al, ·h., 'l(~fea+.od 3urrofi' (3ul,;aria) ~ en poi:-1"!-,s. He 1 .·i~l s nurr(1\.Jl :;t defeated by ~ ~ ocweicsh (Poland) in the s er:i-final. The late ~ ! a 1 Don;-,e :'.1 , '::- . ;) • of 3urtcnpor t 1-1as a!no a ::; boxer in hi3 y:.;uth. :.ihile at University College, ~ DubLn, he represented his Col l ege on s-everal ~ oc casions in inte r - va.r sity t ourna'llents as a ~ mi.:id l e-·,reisht and bter t oo~ an act .~ve interest ~ j n the sport be ~ng a popular ref eree at many ~ intn c~bb ;'"""";"'' in Donog•l · r? ~ DDRNALAIOCHT fL ~ 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111· ~ ~ ~ ~ Oweni e Shn rkey, Fa Sharkey and Fatri ck Barley.