For the fifth collection post, the spotlight is on ... Newsworthy! I'm sharing the stories of two brothers on the maternal side of my family tree, who were worthy of mention in the newspapers of their day.
 |
| 1908 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony |
Back in their day though, they were identified on Olympic Games records as being British and were listed as competitors for the Great Britain & Ireland team. This was before Ireland achieved independence.
How am I connected to these brothers? My 1st cousin 2x removed, Margaret (known as Aggie) O'Donnell married William Kiely. William's father was Thomas Francis Kiely and his uncle was Laurence Kiely.
Although Thomas is probably better known in Irish athletics history, I will start with his brother Laurence's story. Laurence was born in 1880, the second youngest of nine children born to William Kiely and Mary Kiely nee Downey.
The 110 men's hurdles event was run on a grass track in the infield of the White City Stadium, which was where the 1908 London Summer Olympics Games were held.
Sadly, there's only a few references to Laurence in present day media sources.
There is a very brief Wikipedia page devoted to Laurence: Laurence Kiely
He was included in a list of Tipperary Olympians for a series of newspaper articles published by the Tipperary Star newspaper in the run up to the 2012 London Olympics.
At the time of the 1908 Olympics though, newspapers (outside of Ireland) would have reported:
The first round of running took place on July 23, 1908, making short hurdles one of the last events to start. The Americans won every race in which they competed. The British team also had a strong showing, winning every time there was no America in the race.
The semi-final round took place on July 24, 1908. Each of the four runs of the second round was won by American runners.
In the final, the American Smithson broke away from his compatriots in each hurdle set by a difference of five meters and set a new world record.
How did Laurence Kiely fare in this event? In the first round (13 heats), he recorded a 'walk over' in Heat 4, as he had no competition for that race.
Heat 4
Kiely had no competition in the first round.
| Place | Name | Nation | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Laurence Kiely |  Great Britain | Walkover |
In the semi-finals, Laurence ran in the third race.
Semi-final 3
The British competitor Healey ran most of the race at the front, with Rand close behind him, but Healey was unable to clear the ninth obstacle cleanly, allowing Rand to pass him and win on foot.
| Place | Name | Nation | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | William Rand |  United States | 15.8 seconds |
| 2 | Alfred Healey | Great Britain | (15.9 seconds) |
| 3 | Laurence Kiely | Great Britain | Unknown |
| 4 | Tim Ahearne | Great Britain | Unknown |
Laurence came in third, missing out on a place in the final.
Laurence Kiely had previously won two Irish GAA athletics titles and two IAAA titles.
Titles Won by Laurence A. Kiely at Senior National Championships:
Irish Amateur Athletic Association Championships
1906 120 yard Hurdles 16.8
1907 Hammer (9ft circle) 127 ft 10 in (38.96m) TIE
Gaelic Athletic Association Championships
1901 Hammer (unlimited run & follow) 130 ft 2 in (39.67m)
1904 120 yard Hurdles
When Laurence won his two GAA titles, he succeeded his brother Tom, as the holder of both.
Laurence lived his life on the family farm in Ballyneale, County Tipperary.
He died in December of 1961 at the age of 80.
When Thomas was aged 34, he was invited to compete in the Men's All-Round Championship in July of 1904 in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A. At that point in time, he was the holder of 36 Irish track and field titles and 28 world record marks! Quite an astonishing accomplisment.
At the time the Men's All-Round Championship was not considered part of the official 1904 Olympic Games. That recognition came many years later. It wasn't until 1954 - three years after his death - that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to include the 1904 All-Round as part of its official record and added T. F. Kiely to the list of Olympic Champions.
The 1904 Summer Olympics was officially known as 'The Games of the 111 Olympiad', running from August 29th to September 3rd.
The 111 Olympiad was however part of an extended sports program which started on July 1st and ended on November 23rd. This international sports festival was held on the campus of the Washington University in Missouri, U.S.A and was known as the 'World Fair Olympiad'.
The entire 'World Fair Olympiad' was poorly organised and poorly attended. Not only was it a difficult feat for athletes to get to Missouri from overseas (the transatlantic trip was very expensive and it had to be followed by a 1000 mile train journey), there was also a general state of tension in Europe because of the Russo-Japanese War. As a result, only 62 of the 651 competing athletes came from outside North America! Not exactly a 'world' event.
Thomas competed in what was regarded, at the time, as a World Championship event, run before the main athletic elements of the Olympics as part of the gymnastics championships. All-rounds had not ever been part of an Olympic Games before. Once the All-Round was subsequently acknowledged as part of the 1904 Olympic Games, it then had the distinction of being the only time this ever happened. Afterwards, the All-Round evolved into what became known as the Decathlon, an Olympic Games event which has been run over 3 days ever since 1912.
In 1904 however, Thomas completed ten events of the All-Round in one day, including: the 100 yard run, shot put, high jump, 880 yard walk, hammer, pole vault, 120 yard hurdles, 56lb weight lift, the long jump, and the mile run, against a field that was made up entirely of Americans. He scored 6036 points and won a gold medal.
At the time, he was credited with winning the medal for Great Britain and Ireland, as Ireland was not recognised as an independent country as it was still under British control. The British team had offered to pay his expenses, if he joined the team, and he was offered sponsorship by the Irish-American Athletic Club in New York and other American athletic clubs.
Thomas refused all these offers and chose to pay for his own expenses According to author Bob Withers, who wrote 'Tom Kiely: For Tipperary and Ireland', "Kiely funded his trip to the States by selling many of the prizes claimed during his illustrious career."
He also made it clear we would be representing only Ireland by signing up for the competition as "Tom Kiely from Tipperary and Ireland". At home the Cork Examiner commented at the time that “(Kiely) acted very differently from many Irish athletes who went before him. He preferred that the old country should have the honour, whatever it might be, of the great contest."
Thomas had entered his first athletic event when he was 19 years old, and by his career's end (he competed until aged 38) he had won an incredible 3,000 prizes. This was well before the professional era however, so his career did not make him a wealthy man. He still managed his farm while travelling to competitions.
In 1906, two years after his gold medal win in Missouri, Thomas returned to America to complete once more in the World All-Round Championship in Boston this time. He claimed the title again and bought home another gold medal.
 |
| Tom Francis Kiely's All-Around Medal from the 1906 event in Boston |
Excerpt from 'All-Around Men: Heroes of a Forgotten Sport' (Frank Zarnowski, 2005)
"I wanted to take a half a minute or maybe a minute to change into my other shoes. Your Boston man Clark said no and I ran the hurdles in me stockin' feet. And I beat 'em. In me stocking feet! I beat him in the All Round of course."
That was the boast of Irish athlete Tom Francis Kiely (1869-1951), winner of the 1906 Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) All-Around in Boston.
Thomas won two more GAA championships in 1907, then retired in 1908 after he hit a hurdle for the first time ever, and fell heavily, breaking his shoulder. Apparently spectators comments "Hard luck, Tom", to which he replied "All in the game, boy." Well that's how the story goes anyway.
Titles Won by Thomas Francis Kiely at Senior National Championships:
A memorial was erected outside Ballyneale Church in 1978, acknowledging his great accomplishment.
There is a Wikipedia page devoted to Tom: Tom Kiely
A google search will provide lots of results, including:
In the Journal of Olympic History - Winter 1999 edition pp. 34-35, there is an article titled: Tom Kiely - Olympic and World All Round Champion
He is mentioned in 'Gold, Silver and Green: The Irish Olympic Journey 1896-1924' written by Kevin McCarthy, published 2011;
Thomas Francis Kiely's name still appears in newspapers now and then. He was featured in the County Tipperary news at the end of last year, 2019, to commemorate 150 years since his birth.
Five of Thomas F Kiely's grandchildren attended the ceremony and are featured in this photo that accompanied this newspaper article. I've been fortunate enough to meet one of them, my maternal 2nd cousin once removed -Tom Kiely, standing second on the right holding the commemorative wreath. At the time I didn't know the story behind this branch of the family!
I'm joining Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2020 project / challenge.
This time I'm catching up with the prompt for Week 29 of 2020 - ''Newsworthy".
You can join by blogging or posting on social media with the tag #52Ancestors.
This time I'm catching up with the prompt for Week 29 of 2020 - ''Newsworthy".
Check out Amy's FB pages: Generations Cafe or Amy Johnson Crow
Great post
ReplyDeleteThank you kindly.
Delete