What could a pioneering Irish boxer, grave robbers and RCSI have in common?? Remember it is Halloween.....
A 200 year old preserved right arm of course!!
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| Dan Donnelly's right arm |
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| He's pointing at you! |
Dan Donnelly was born in Townsend Street, Dublin in March 1788. He was one of 17 children growing up in the harsh living condition faced by the majority of Dubliners in the late 18th century. Donnelly was a carpenter by trade but was known in Dublin for being a hard drinker and an even harder hitter! Donnelly was known by RCSI surgeons from an incident in his youth. He rescued a lady from being attacked by two sailors down by the docks but in the fight his arm was badly mangled. Donnelly was brought to Abraham Colles who operated and saved Donnelly's arm from amputation. Colles described Donnelly as a 'pocket Hercules' to his surgical friends.
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| Dan Donnelly (1788-1820) |
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| George Cooper |
Donnelly's biggest fight took place in December 1815 when he took on the British prize-fighter, George Cooper, in (what subsequently became known as) Donnelly's Hollow on the Curragh, Co. Kildare. The fighters were equally matched but in the 11th round Donnelly landed a blow that broke Cooper's jaw. It was over, Donnelly won and instantly became a national hero. With his winnings Donnelly opened a public house, only to drink more himself than he sold. On 18 February 1820 he died at the age of 32 in his own pub.
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| Illustration highlighting Donnelly's abnormally long arms |
Donnelly was buried in Bully's Acre Cemetery in Dublin. Unfortunately for Donnelly it was at this time that grave robbing was at it's height and was most lucrative. After only a couple of days Donnelly's body was stolen and according to a letter in the Carrick's Morning Post 'the Resurrectionists of York Street' were the ones responsible. A not so subtle way of saying that a surgeon in the College was to blame, that surgeon was Dr. Hall.
Donnelly's friends confronted the surgeon who soon realised that having Donnelly's body in his possession was more hassle than it was worth. Hall agreed to give the body back on condition that he could keep the arm that took down the British champion. So Hall kept Donnelly's right arm, studied it, dissected it and then preserved it in red lead paint. To prevent any of Donnelly's friends turning up and demanding the return of the arm, Hall sent it to his medical colleagues in Edinburgh.
The arm stayed in Edinburgh for a while, then it became a popular attraction in a travelling Victorian curio circus. In 1904 Hugh 'Texas' McAlevey, a Belfast bookmaker and pub owner, acquired it and put it on display in his premises. After a number of years Hugh decided that maybe his customers didn't want to see such a grisly relic on the wall while enjoying a libation. So up into the attic went the arm. By the 1950s the arm had made it's way into and on to the wall of 'The Hideout' pub in Kilcullen, Co. Kildare. A town not far from where Donnelly and Cooper fought.
The arm stayed on display for the next 43 years and when the pub was sold by it's owner's, the Byrne's, the arm was taken down and is being carefully looked after away from the lime light.
So this Halloween when you hear a knock on the door, it could be Donnelly's right arm looking for a fight with YOU!
Images courtesy of The Boxing Glove, GAA Museum, The Belfast Telegraph, A Kilcullen Diary
- Researched and written by Meadhbh Murphy