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run-ins across the city, culminating in his event
ual triumph over the man previously named as the best in Dublin. His rising reputation as a budding professional caught the attention of Captain William Kelly, an Irish aristocrat and sports-obsessed racehorse trainer. Kelly was provoked by English prize-fighters mocking the reputation of Irish men and wanted to find a daring rival who could put an end to their stereotyping. The Fighting Irishman In the Summer of 1814, Donnelly entered rigorous months of training under the watchful guise of Scottish trainer Captain Robert Barclay. Deprived of his fondness for women and taverns and with his natural strength professionally tweaked, Donnelly was in good enough shape to take on his first opponent: seasoned English fighter Tom Hall. The bare-knuckle fight between the two men was staged in a natural amphitheatre, then called Belcher’s Hollow, in the Curragh, Co. Kildare. The crowd that gathered was allegedly 40,000 people strong, mainly travelling from Dublin. Though the match officially ended in a tie, Donnelly’s supporters still avidly celebrated his victory, hailing him as a national hero on his journey back to Dublin. The best performance of Donnelly’s career happened in September 1815, when a more formidable English boxer, George Cooper, arrived in Ireland to challenge him. Once more back in the Curragh, Donnelly claimed his victory over Cooper in the eleventh round, with two bludgeoning hits, the second of which broke Cooper’s jaw. A wildly adoring crowd watched as he claimed the winning £60 prize. He was then transported back to Dublin in a carriage pulled by his admirers. Belcher’s Hollow was renamed ‘Donnelly’s Hollow’ in his commemorative honour, displaying Donnelly’s level of notoriety at the peak of his career. For all three of his official contests, Donnelly’s unique skillset required him to seek worthy opponents from across the Channel. As a result, a wider pool of both English and Irish audiences followed along, further authenticating the practice of Irish pugilism and enshrining it with a more respectable, admirable heir. In July 1819, Donnelly took on his final 19