Outstanding all-round Irish Athlete of all time.

Hero and winner of Scott’s Medal for Bravery

COMPILED BY MARTIN O’DWYER – BOB

This is my small tribute to a famous  Tipperary  man (Bill Shanahan) who became a legend in his own lifetime

His uncle, Captain Tom O’Grady lived at Archerstown, Thurles, and was a fine athlete in his day. It was he who  captained the victorious Tipperary hurling team who toured America in 1888.

He played with Two-Mile Borris selection for the Cuffe Shield in 1914, which they won.  His brother Tom, born  in  1895 and died on 8th May  1948, played with Boherlahan and was with them when they won the 1916 All Ireland , the Munster Senior Hurling Championship in 1916-17, All Ireland Junior Hurling Championship in 1913 and 1915 and in 1917 when they lost to Dublin. He feared nothing and hurled with a dash and spirit typical of Tipperary at its best. Bill had no back-up like sponsorship through media or otherwise  and it was from sheer hard work on his father’s farm, and his spare time was taken up with strenuous endeavours and diligent practice to become a good jumper – but there was nobody to give the enthusiastic lad a wrinkle or tip as to the true art or skill  of jumping . It was with the enduring effort both physically and mentally that sportsmen achieved their ultimate goal and great credit is due to them at the end of the day. All of them brought joy and pride to their county .

It is generally agreed that Bill Shanahan is the greatest all-round athlete since the days of J.P .O’Sullivan and  there are some that would go so far as to say that Shanahan was the greatest  all­ rounder of all time. Shanahan ‘s record in championships alone is positively bewildering , and it would require three times the amount of space to tabulate his numerous successes. It can be said , “he never left a field without a prize”

In the year 1917, at the age of 20, he contested the Irish high jump championship for the first time at Knockavilla at 5ft 2ins He cycled to the event and home afterwards proudly bearing his first prize- a biscuit barrel worth about 2s.6p.   A month later he cycled 32 miles to Nenagh sports and won the high jump event with a remarkable leap tor a raw novice of 5ft 9ins. On the way home he met a local to whom he was bursting to impart the  news  of  his victory .   So says Bill “I won the high jump  at Nenagh  today , Tom, and do you know what height I jumped?” “Did you jump 9 feet”, replied the unknowledgeable Tom. Poor  Bill  was  so crestfallen and disappointed at this wholly unexpected reply that he said nothing, but rode on quickly without a further word.

He got 2nd place for -Irish high jump  championship  at 5ft.  10ins. in Limerick and was rather unluckily deprived of the crown by a fraction of an inch, by D. Buckley, Cork, 5ft. 10.14 ins. His achievement was nothing short of wonderful  at that untutored  stage of his athletic career, but he made the National  gold  medal  his own in the following year and retained the title until 1922 when  T.J. Carroll beat him. Bill   was   a trier   if   ever   there   was   one,   and   that   he   had remarkable, natural ability and achieved great things in the athletic world is strikingly evident from the following brief resume of his outstanding feats and performances over the course of the next ten years.

In 1918 he cycled to a sports at Curraghaneddy,  near Bansha, a nice little push of some 23 miles. The exercise seemed to do him good for he carried off the prize in the 100 yards and was first in the long jump, covering the tidy space of 21ft. 3ins. 

Won Munster high jump championship in Cashel at 5ft. 8ins. on a wet day.

Won Irish high jump championship in Limerick at 5ft. 9ins. on bad ground.

In 1919 he tied with D. Buckley, Cork, for G.A.A. high jump championship of lreland at Limerick at 5ft. 10ins.

Was 2nd at same championships for throwing “56” over a bar (12ft. 6ins).     At the G.A.A. sports, Limerick, won 100 yds. open handicap, the high jump (do) at 5ft. 10ins. and the long jump at 21ft. 4ins.

He also won the 100 yds. sprint at Shaun’ s Park, Belfast. The bookies were in attendance at this meeting and there was big betting on this particular 100 yds. event. Bill was reckoned  to have little chance against the “cracks” competing – like Tom Burke of Drogheda, Tom Cullen of Dublin and the scratch man, D. J. O’Leary of Cork. The money was piled on Cullen particularly, but he didn’t even qualify for the final – Bill and another beating him into third place in his heat.

At the 100 yards race in Limerick Bill was crossed accidentally, but he was running so well at that time that he could afford to draw

back and cross behind into the outside lane and still manage to win the race on the tape by inches. That, he believes, was the best l 00 yds. he ever ran, and in the circumstances of the crossing referred to, he must have been doing a 10 sec. 100 yds. to win.

At the Munster championships in Dungarvan he tied for 1st  place with D. Buckley, Cork, at 5ft. 9ins. in the high jump

In 1920 In the Irish championships he won the high jump, 5ft. 11ins, hop-step-and-jump 44ft. 9ins. and the long jump, 21ft. 5 .14 ins. At the National Championships at Kilmallock, won 120 yards hurdles, and the all-round competition  constituting  ten  events, winning G.AA title of  1920  from  Dave  Birmingham,  Kildorrery, and  J.K,  Beazley  of Upton,  among  others.

1921 Tied for Ist place in  Irish  championships  with  J.M. Sheehan at 5ft. 9 ins. on a wet day and was 2nd in the long jump championship at 21ft. 9ins.

1922 Shanahan was Irish champion in the long jump, hop, step and jump; His best long jump was 22ft. 9ins. at Kilkenny in 1922 and his best hop-step-and-jump, 44ft. 9ins.

1923 He was second to T.J. Carroll for N.AC.A. high jump championship at 5ft. 8 ins.

Up to and following the opening ofthe 1920’s his best mark was 5ft. 11ins. Larry Stanley reached 6ft. Jins. at the Tailteann Games of 1924.   The most astonishing feat of Shanahan’s career was to clock 11 2. 5 sees. for the 100 yds. during the 1924 Tailtean Games, and  in which  contestants such  as the great Harold  Osborne  and Kinsey, ofthe Illinois Athletic Club competed. Bill won numerous provincial championships   both   in Leinster   and   Munster,   and though specialising in the jumps  he has also secured  hurdles and weight-putting titles at the provincial championships He represented Ireland on four occasions at the international triangular contests,  and  he  was  the  country’s  sole  representative   in  the Decathlon which  comprises  of an  all-round  athletic test  at  the Paris  Olympic  Games  of  1924 at  Colombes  Stadium  where  he finished   in  19th.  position.  He  failed  to get  placed  in  the  event  but his performance all-round was excellent and several of his attempts 

show an improvement on hi·s home form Both he and his friend Stanley made history at this event as Larry Stanley carried our National Flag which was being displayed at the Olympic Games for the first time ever. Also carrying the hopes of lreland at the games was J.J. Ryan from Drumline who competed in the cross­ country, but he was forced to drop out with the scorching conditions.

1924 Won Munster long jump and hurdles championship; won Co. Dublin high jump and hurdles clearing 6ft. in the former.  Won Irish 120 yards hurdles championship

1925       Sceptics had a rude awakening in the Championship of

1926   when  he surmounted  6ft I ins.   as  runner-up to D.M.G.A. comrade, Garda Con O’Connor. At the National championships in June of this year.  Shanahan gave a wonderful all-round display, and his performance in the hurdles caused intense excitement, as he and Price (Belfast Unit) raced neck and neck, the Northern, however, beating our representative in last lap. Stanley (holder) did  not defend in the high jump, and the laurels passed to O’Connor, 6ft 2 ins. and Shanahan 6ft. l ins.

Bill  represented  Ireland  with  real  distinction;  for  he took  the Triangular International (Ireland, England, Scotland) high jump laurels of 1926 at Hamden Park, Glasgow, and was runner-up the following year at Fallowfield, Manchester. Shanahan was Pole Jump Champion at 10ft. 3ins. in 1927 and the high jump when he surmounted 6ft  2 ins. to tie for 1’1  place with comrade, Garda Con O’Connor, from the “The Kingdom” It was a duel from first to last between the two.  They progressed by two­ inch stages from 5ft. 6ins. to 6ft. where the first failure occurred. It was surmounted, however,  and a hard  struggle followed  at 6ft. 2ins.,  O’Connor  got  first   across,   and  then   the   imperturbable Ballinure man cleared it like-wise.   Both stopped at 6ft 3ins. and suffered alike by an element of ill-luck in at least one try.   When Shanahan swung his lathy body and long legs across six feet two the  crowds  in  the  stand  cheered  for  minutes  at  end. It was  a  delightful exhibition under ideal jumping conditions. All and sundry agreed that Bill’s continued improvements over the years contravened all laid-down athletic standards. The same season he won two Munster Championships in hurdles and  javelin at Limerick. Helped to win the “Londonderry” Cup for his club at an event in Belfast tying in the high jump with O’Connor at 6ft. 0 1/4 ins. for 1st place. He cleared 6ft. lins at College Park, Dublin University, at inter-club match.

William Woods of the Gaelic Sportsman newspaper, penned the following verse at the opening of the 1928 season, during which the Olympic Games were due to take place in Amsterdam:-

“The critics say of Shanahan that he will never last, 

But we have heard them stating this for many years gone past;

And Bill not only holds his form but jumps on better still,

And proves he is not going down but forging up the hill.

The turning point has yet to come and it may now be near,

And what a fitting thing ‘twould be in such a fine career.

If his best effort were to come upon that fateful day,

To  make him  world  famous and all precious  things outweigh!

1928 Bill won Irish high jump  championship (5ft  11ms); 3’d m standing high jump at Tailteann Games.

1929  Won Munster high jump  championship at 5ft  10ins.

Many notable athletes have  showed  top  form,  simultaneouslv  in the jumps and hurdles, but on at  least  two occasions  he turned  in dual wins, in 1930 at lveagh Grounds, Crumlin,  and  at  Carlow. which no other Irish athlete of any era, excepting Dr. O’C;:dlaghan, could register, and that was to high jump 6ft. and throw a  56lb. thirteen feet over the bar on the same day. And to  make  the combined  performances  all  the  more  extraordinary,  he  had  entered his  14  successive season of championship jumping  at that time.

Many and many a time did he fail on his first and second try, but there was no other of his era who so consistently surmounted the “fathom” mark and thereabouts at the  final attempt,  for  he remained cool, calculating and unruffled no matter how important the occasion

1930 Second in the pole jump championship; 2nd. place in pole jump Munster inter-county contests, Ennis.

1931 Second in pole jump, Irish championship; tied for 1st place in pole jump Munster inter-county contests, Mallow.

1932 Tied for first place in standing high jump, Tailteann Games (4ft 7ins); second in pole jump at Munster inter-county contest, Clonmel.

1933 Cleared  Sft.  11ins  at  Dungannon  sports  in  high  jump; threw the “56” for height (over bar) 13ft. at Mullingar, tied for 1st. place in the pole jump, Munster inter-county Limerick.

In addition to the foregoing, over the years he won a multitude of lesser important events and  championship  at athletic  meetings all over the country, from Antrim to Cork, and from Dublin to Galway.

Bill  was the  rarest  of characters,  his  witticisms  and  unfailing good humour usually proving the  life  of  whatever company he travelled with to various sporting venues. He  tells  of the  time  he went all the way to Bantry to  take home a Munster hop,  step  and jump title, believing it  was there for the asking.  Just  as the  event was due to begin, a heavy shower came, and all entrants, save one, ran for cover. The only remaining sought the permission of the handicapper to do a “bit of practice in his bare feet” with the rain falling in torrents. The practice apparently was beneficial, for the barefooted worthy won the title and was seen riding out of town, bareback, that evening, on a white horse. He was Minihane, from Schull.

Many years ago, Shanahan and Davy Fogarty, from Kilfeacle, went to Dungarvan to compete in an event  Before they  started they assumed Davy  would  be first  and  Bill  second  in  the three standing jumps. Following two rounds of the test, the placing were that way, with the others nowhere, when a small man, wearing a hard hat, came on to the pitch and asked if there was any objection to him competing; Davy and Bill feeling there was nothing in the world to affect their placing, replied, in lordly fashion, that they had no objection. The small man then doffed his hard hat, took off his clothes, having togs underneath, and in his first effort covered 34 feet, to beat both by more than a foot. He was Pat Power of Ballinamult, Co. Waterford.

The following is Shanahans outstanding  performances:

Tailtean Games, 1924 – 100 yds. 11 2/5 seconds National Championships, 1927– high jump 6ft. 2ins. Leinster Championships, 1922 – long jump 22ft. 9ins. Kilmallock, 1920 -hop-step-and-jump, 44ft. 9ins. National Championships, 1930 -pole jump, 10ft. 9ins. Waterford, 1928– 56lbs. without follow, 23ft. 0 ins. College Park, 1926 – 120 yds. hurdles, 16 3-5 sees. D.M.G. Sports, 1928 – 56lbs. over bar, 13ft.

National Championships,  1922 -standing long jump, 9ft. 6ins. Tailteann Games, 1924– standing high jump 4ft. 9ins.

Munster  Championships,  1927-javelin,  135ft.

The above record, which speaks for itself is possibly unique in the annals of athletics.

His championship medals total more than 80, made up of county, inter-county, and All-Treland.

The athletic field was not the only field in which he distinguished himself.  On May 7, 1940, two weeks after  his  wife’s  death, Officer Shanahan was involved in a gun battle in a Dublin street in company with D/0 James McSweeney, as they were bringing State Mails from Pearse St. Post Office in a motor-cycle combination when passing through Holles Street, a motor car  cut in,  forcing them to the side of the street. As the car passed two Thompson sub-machine guns were thrust out through the windows of its left-hand side, and two bursts were fired at the detectives at  almost point-blank range.  Both men were wounded.  Bill Shanahan taking a burst of half-a-dozen bullets in the chest, and McSweeney getting at least one bullet in his chest.

It  was  Scott’s  intention  that  one  medal   should  be  awarded annually to the member of the Garda Siochana who had “specially distinguished himself for valour in the performance of duty. The donor of the Medal for Valour was born in 1861. As a young boy he found a job in the grocery business, probably as a messenger boy, at two dollars a week. By the age of ten he was manager of a small fruit store near Harvard University. At fifteen, he was manager of general wholesalers in New York. He retired in 1932 after 55 years service with the same employer. In his letter to Gen. Duffy confirming the offer to endow a Medal for Valour for the new Irish police force, he wrote: “It was always been a practice of mine to present flowers during life, when one can enjoy  their beauty and fragrance”. He sponsored various scholarships throughout the States. When he died in 1935 he was laden with honours at home and abroad. He was a  knight  of the  French Legion of Honour, a member of the Belgian Order of Leopold and held the Silver Grand Cross of Austria. The British Government also decorated him.

The Tipperary Star Newspaper of May 11th’ 1940 carried this piece. “The outrageous attack by gunmen on two Detective Officers in Dublin this week caused pain throughout the country, but nowhere more than in County Tipperary, for one of the victims is a man who has helped to swell Tipperary’s fame on the athletic field. Detective Officer Bill Shanahan is a typical product of Tipperary soil, kindly, genial and humorous, and it has  touched many hearts in the county and indeed far beyond, that such a man should be so ruthlessly shot down. The tragedy of the shocking affair, however, has one brightening and  redeeming  feature  and that is the heroism of Detective Officer Shanahan and his comrade. Their courageous defence of the papers committed to their care is in keeping with the best traditions of loyalty and devotion to duty of any police force in the world, and the State was quick to appreciate their action by instant promotion. Both of them,  we trust, will recover from their wounds and, some future day, return to duty amid the welcomes and congratulations of their comrades in the Garda.