On this day in 1908, Johnny Hayes, who was born in New York but whose parents were both from Nenagh, won Olympic Marathon gold at the London Games.

Hayes’ parents left Nenagh in 1880 in search of a better life in America. Johnny was their first child, born in 1886. As a young boy, he joined the local St Bartholomew’s athletic club in 1903 and received coaching for the first time.

Hayes was suddenly world-famous when he won the 1908 Olympic marathon for the USA. He was fêted by members of parliament in Westminster, and then left London to tour Ireland. He visited Dublin, Belfast and the Blarney Stone. In Cork, the Lee Rowing Club honoured him with a dinner and presented him with a gold medal.

The highlight though was his journey to Nenagh. It seemed as if every local had turned out to greet him when the train from Dublin pulled into the station. Johnny was borne shoulder-high to a waiting carriage amid fireworks and, with the horses unhitched, was pulled through the streets by the crowd to the cottage of the aged, beaming man after whom he was named—his grandfather John Hayes, the baker, who lived on Silver Street. A brass band and a fife and drum corps played outside the residence until late into the night.

Hayes’ died on 23 August 1965 in New Jersey. A bronze statue of Hayes (along with statues of Bob Tisdall and Matt McGrath) was erected outside the Courthouse in Nenagh in 2002.

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Sources

https://www.historyireland.com/showdown-at-shepherds-bush-the-1908-olympic-marathon-and-the-three-runners-who-launched-a-sporting-craze/

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