DAN Donnelly was born in Townsend Street in the heart of Dublin’s Docklands in March 1788.
The Donnellys were a large family, carving out an existence at a time when Dublin’s working class lived in abject poverty.
As soon as Dan was old enough he followed his father to work as a carpenter in an effort to provide for his family.
Young Dan was greatly influenced by the United Irishmen. While working at Connery’s timber yard on John Rogerson’s Quay, Dan became friends with a brother of Anne Devlin, and he learned the stories of her torture.
Inspired by these stories, Dan decided to do what he could to fight against injustice.
Standing over six feet and weighing 14 stone, Dan was an impressive figure and soon became a champion of the Dublin working class.
Legends began to grow of how Dan Donnelly fearlessly defended the vulnerable against the criminals who preyed on dockside communities. His growing reputation began to make others jealous.
Dan was challenged by a Dublin boxer known as
‘Champion of the City’.
At first he refused to fight, feeling he had nothing to prove. But his challenger was relentless.
Eventually, Dan agreed and a fight was organised on the banks of the Grand Canal. Following a brutal contest, lasting 16 rounds, Dan beat the challenger to the ground and was declared the new
‘Champion of the City’.
Around this time, a boxing enthusiast named Captain William Kelly was searching Ireland for a fighter who could reclaim Ireland’s reputation as a country of brave warriors.
His search led him to Dan Donnelly, who he convinced to become a professional prize fighter.
Kelly organised Donnelly’s first fight against the prominent English boxer Tom Hall.
The fight took place at Belcher’s Hollow at the Curragh in County Kildare and was attended by 20,000 people. It was viewed in Ireland as a as a chance to strike a blow against England and Donnelly didn’t disappoint. During the gruelling fight, Donnelly delivered a smashing blow to Hall’s ear, and Hall refused to continue.
To celebrate Dan’s great victory for Ireland, Belcher’s Hollow was renamed
‘Donnelly’s Hollow’.
Dan’s next fight took place on December 13 1815, against the English champion George Cooper.
The fight drew a massive crowd of an estimated 30,000 and Dan’s reputation as a symbol of Irish national resistance continued to grow.
Cooper was a formidable opponent, but in the 11th round, Donnelly delivered a powerful right hand that broke Cooper’s jaw, and ended the fight.
As Dan marched victoriously to the top of the Donnelly’s Hollow, his supporters followed him, embedding his footsteps into the landscape and forming a local landmark which can still be seen today, known as
‘The Steps of Strength and Fame’.
Following the success of his fights, Dan opened a number of pubs in Dublin, but unfortunately the drink would be his undoing. On February 18 1820, Dan Donnelly died aged just 32.
But that wasn’t the end of his story. Following a massive funeral, Dan was laid to rest in the Bully’s Acre, one of Dublin’s oldest graveyards.
Several nights later, his body was stolen and sold to a Dublin surgeon named Hall.
Riots broke out across Dublin and Hall was forced to return the body, but not before removing Donnelly’s right arm.
Hall preserved the arm in lead paint and sent it to Edinburgh University, where it was studied for many years after by medical students.
Since then Donnelly’s arm has been on display in various pubs across Ireland, and remains on show today as the centre piece of the
‘Fighting Irishmen Exhibition’.