Irish Whales
The Irish Whales or "The Whales" was a nickname given to a group of
The Irish Whales included;
Origin
While it is not entirely clear when this moniker came into use, and was likely not used in the face of any of these giant men, it seems to have first appeared in print in 1937 in John Kieran's New York Times column, "Sports of the Times," written by John Drebinger (who was substituting for Kieran).[3] The term was further popularized in "Sports of the Times" columns written by Arthur Daly in the New York Times, with the first reference to "The Whales" in 1942. On the subject of the origin of this nickname, Daly wrote:
"It was on the Olympic trip of 1912 that the 'whale' nickname took hold. Dan Ferris, then a cherubic little boy, recalls it with relish. 'Those big fellows,' he related, 'all sat at the same table and their waiter was a small chap. Before we reached Stockholm he had lost twenty pounds, worn down by bringing them food. Once as he passed me he muttered under his breath, 'It's whales they are, not men.' They used to take five plates of soup as a starter and then gulp down three or four steaks with trimmings. That Simon Gillis would think nothing of having a dozen eggs for breakfast. But what fascinated me was the way he ate them. He'd put a dab of mustard on each and eat it whole, shell and all.' The Irish American A.C. behemoths always were the life of any party."[4]
Another tale of the Irish Whales' voracious appetites came from Arthur Daly's typewriter twenty-two years later. In a Times column in 1964 he wrote:
"Some of their more prodigious feats were at the table. The Irish American A.C. was competing in Baltimore when (Simon) Gillis placed an order for a post-meet snack with the head waiter at a local restaurant. He ordered 27 dozen
oysters and six huge T-bone steaks. Slight Miscalculation - The waiter was ready when Gillis, McDonald and McGrath arrived. The table had been set for a party of 33. 'Do you want to wait for the rest of your group?' asked the headwaiter. He turned pale as he watched three whales devour 27 dozen oysters and six huge T-bone steaks."[2]
Summary table
Heights and weights are taken from various reference sources; heights given sometimes vary by several inches, while, obviously, weight can fluctuate substantially over an athlete's career. All Olympic medals won were for the United States, except for Con Walsh's which was for Canada.
Name | Birth | Death | Height | Weight | Olympic medals |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
John Flanagan | January 28, 1868 County Limerick |
June 3, 1938 Limerick |
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 248 pounds (112 kg) |
1900 Paris — Hammer throw |
Simon Gillis | April 6, 1875 Cape Breton Island |
January 14, 1964 Phoenix, Arizona |
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 241 pounds (109 kg) | none |
James Mitchel | January 30, 1864 Bartoose, County Tipperary |
July 3, 1921 Limerick |
6 ft 1.5 in (1.87 m) | 220 pounds (100 kg)[5] | 1904 St Louis — 56 pound weight throw |
Pat McDonald |
July 26, 1878 Killard, County Clare |
May 16, 1954 New York City |
6 ft 2.5 in (1.89 m) | 265 pounds (120 kg) | |
Paddy Ryan | 20 January 1883 Bunavoy, Pallasgreen |
13 February 1964 Limerick |
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 249 pounds (113 kg) |
1920 Antwerp — Hammer throw |
Martin Sheridan | March 28, 1881 Bohola |
March 27, 1918 New York City |
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 194 pounds (88 kg) |
1904 St Louis — Discus |
Matt McGrath | December 28, 1875 Nenagh |
January 29, 1941 New York City |
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 254 pounds (115 kg) |
1908 London — Hammer throw |
Con Walsh | April 24, 1885 Carriganimma, County Cork |
December 7, 1961 Seattle, Washington |
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 210 pounds (95 kg)[6] |
See also
References
- Footnotes
- ISBN 9780814752081– via Google Books.
- ^ a b "All About Whales." New York Times, July 13, 1964.
- ^ "Cementing Friendly Relations" New York Times, Dec. 25, 1937.
- ^ "About Some Whales, Human Variety."New York Times, June 12, 1942
- ^ "Jim Mitchel Bio, Stats, and Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17.
- ISBN 9781871305968– via Google Books.
- Sources
- Lee, Joseph; Casey, Marion (2006). Making the Irish American: History and Heritage of the Irish in the United States. New York: Glucksman Ireland House / NYU Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-5208-1.
- McCarthy, Kevin (2010). Gold, Silver and Green: The Irish Olympic Journey 1896 – 1924. Cork, Ireland: Cork University Press. ISBN 978-1-85918-458-5.