Ali & his Fighting Irish Roots

ALI TAKES TRIP BACK TO FIGHTING IRISH ROOTS

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MUHAMMAD ALI
In kin's town yesterday.


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Last updated: 10:22 am
September 2, 2009
Posted: 2:57 am
September 2, 2009
DUBLIN -- Boxing legend Muhammad Ali made a sentimental journey yesterday to discover his Irish roots, and met distant relatives during celebrations at the local town hall and a nearby castle.
Thousands lined the streets of Ennis, western Ireland, to cheer the motorcade carrying Ali as the three-time world heavyweight champion visited the home of great-grandfather Abe Grady.
Fans adorned streets with red, white and blue American bunting and flags, while shop windows competed to display the most impressive posters honoring Ali. Ali, who is 67 and battling Parkinson's disease, offered a few playful jabs to cameras but made no public comments and steered clear of throngs of autograph-seekers.
Grady settled in Kentucky in the 1860s and married a freed slave. One of their grandchildren, Odessa Lee Grady Clay, gave birth to Ali -- then Cassius Clay -- in 1942.
Ali's wife, Yolanda, said her husband's Irish blood might help explain his legendary ability to bludgeon his opponents with blarney as well as punches. She stayed close at Ali's side, steadying him as they walked arm in arm.
"When you look at Muhammad's pugilistic skills and his loquacious ways, I am sure if his great-grandfather was alive, he would swear it came from him," she said.
Former Irish national champ Jim O'Sullivan recalled sparring with Ali and his trainer Angelo Dundee in 1978 -- and wished he'd known then that "The Greatest" was "just a Paddy like us."

 

Good story...its a smaller world then we think