Page:Athletics and Manly Sport (1890).djvu/77

52 XII. DONNELLY AND COOPER ON THE CURRAGH OF KILDARE. of the most famous fights in the history of pugilism was that between the English and Irish champions, George Cooper and Dan Donnelly, which took place on the Curragh of Kildare, in the year 1815.

Dan Donnelly was one of the greatest boxers ever seen in the ring—a man who, in prowess and other characteristics, much resembled John L. Sullivan. He was born in Dublin in 1788. He was a carpenter by trade, and a man of extraordinary strength, good temper, generosity, and pluck. He was noted in Dublin for his skill in boxing; but he was not a professional pugilist.

In 1814, when Donnelly was twenty-six years old, one of the most famous boxers in England, named Thomas Hall, who had beaten George Cribb and other renowned fighters, went to Ireland to make a tour of the country, giving exhibitions. His advent was proclaimed by an arrogantly worded challenge to "all Ireland."

He was checked by finding that his challenge