July 8th 1889 - An estimated 3,000 spectators turned up at a secret location in Richburg, Mississippi, to witness the last bare-knuckle world heavyweight title fight between the great Irish-American boxer John L. Sullivan and Jake Kilrain. What they witnessed was 75 brutal bloody rounds of a planned 80 rounds of action, which resulted in John L Sullivan, who was known as The Boston Strong Boy, knocking out Kilrain and being declared the winner.
It is not uncommon in these times to have movies shot on location in Ireland. Going back over half a century there was probably the best remembered of them all “The Quiet Man” which had its Irish premiere 70 years ago – June 5th 1952 to be exact.
Even though Elvis never got to Ireland – the closest he came to it was a plane stopover in Scotland one year – I firmly believe that if he’d lived longer he’d have made a point of doing some concerts here.
