When Ali Came to Ireland is a 2013 Irish documentary film directed by Ross Whitaker. It tells the story of how Killorglin-born circus strongman and publican Michael "Butty" Sugrue put up £300,000 and persuaded the renowned American boxing champion Muhammad Ali to make his first visit to Ireland to fight against ex-convict Alvin Lewis in Croke Park, Dublin in 1972.[1]
Ali went to Ireland with an entourage on 11 July 1972 to spend time training for the fight on the 19th.[2] While there, he was interviewed for RTÉ Television by Cathal O'Shannon and was taught the rudiments of hurling (an Irish stick-and-ball field sport) by the champion hurler, Eddie Keher.[3][4] He revealed to the media that, apart from winning the fight, his main ambition in Ireland was to meet the Northern Irish member of parliament, Bernadette Devlin, whom he admired. He wanted to talk about her politics, philosophy, and aims in public life. Devlin visited Ali's camp and had dinner with him.[5]
He won the Lewis fight, attended by a little over 18,000 people,[6] with a technical knockout in the 11th round, and Butty Sugrue lost a lot of money bankrolling it. The documentary was first broadcast on RTÉ One on New Year's Day, 2013.[7][8][9]
Ali returned to Ireland twice in later years. He took part in the opening ceremony of the Special Olympics in Dublin in 2003,[6][10][11] and visited the birthplace of his great-grandfather, Abe Grady, in Ennis in 2009 (Grady left Ireland for America during the 1860s). Ali was greeted in Ennis by 10,000 people and was made an honorary freeman of the town.[6][12]
.jpg)
