An Irish Diary on Peggy O'Neil

Peggy O'Neil was described in 1942 as "one of the most famous actresses of this generation", but she has been forgotten by the general public. I have just written a Diary about her in the Irish Times. Read it here.

Portrait of Peggy O'Neil. Image source.

Born in Buffallo, New York to an Irish mother, Peggy O'Neil (1898-1960), was the subject of a vaudeville song 'Peggy O'Neil' and was known across Europe and North America for her acting. 

The song said that she had "eyes as blue as skies", "walks like a sly little rouge" and "talks with a cute little brogue". Over the years, it was sung by various artists including John McCormack and Danny La Rue. This is a video of a recording by John McCormack from March 1920. Perhaps it's time for a current artist to record the song so that we can introduce Peggy O'Neil to a new generation of movie fans. 

When she died in London in 1960, her burial plot was paid for by the Actors' Benevolent Fund.

RTÉ Brainstorm - Battling Siki in Ireland - 17 March 1923

100 years ago on 17 March 1923, the first international sport's event to take place in the newly formed Irish Free State played out in Dublin city. It was a world boxing title championship between the current holder who was a Senegalese-born Frenchman and a Clare-born boxer. I have just written about this sport's contest on the RTÉ Brainstorm website. Read it here.

Photo of Battling Siki in training. Image source.

Battling Siki (1887-1925) (real name Amadou M'barick Fall, also known as Louis Fall) was a larger than life individual who achieved worldwide fame when he beat the French boxer and current title holder, Georges Carpentier (1894-1975), on his home ground in France to claim the world Light heavyweight boxing championship title in September 1922. 

Photo of Battling Siki (center) after his win over Georges Carpentier. Image source.

Ireland was chosen as the venue for Siki (who was also referred to as 'Singular Senegalese') to defend his title after he was allegedly refused a visa to Britain. The world's press was watching closely to see if Siki could retain the title. Leading up to the fight, newspapers contained news of the preparations and some expressed fears that the Irish Civil (which was still going on at the time) could stop the match from going ahead or at least delay it. After the match, reports appeared in newspapers all over the world (as can be seen in the selection reproduced below, containing Swiss, French and American newspapers).

Siki pretending to be a boxing coach with two children on the streets of Dublin. From Swiss newspaper, L'Impartial, 19 March 1923. Image source.

 

 

Front page of French sport's magazine, Le Miroir des Sports, 22 March 1923. Image source. 

 

Inside page of Le Miroir des Sports. Image source.

 

Front page of the Richmond Planet, 24 March 1923. Image source. 

Description of the match in the Richmond Planet. Image source.