Paddy Casey, the sole surviving brother of the legendary sporting Casey family of Sneem, Co Kerry, died in London on February 16th aged 92.
His death closes a chapter of incredible sporting achievements which made the seven Casey brothers famous in story and song at home and overseas as the "toughest family on Earth".
Twenty years ago, Irish Olympian Ronnie Delany presented Paddy Casey with an Irish Sports Hall of Fame Award in recognition of his family's achievements. And just a year ago the Caseys were given the Hall of Fame Award at the Kerry Sports Stars night in Killarney. Unfortunately Paddy Casey, then the sole surviving brother, was unable to travel from his home in Golders Green in London to personally accept that award.
It was the first time since he married Agnes (née Honey) of Kilkenny in May 1942 that Paddy Casey could not make the journey back home. An injury that he sustained 64 years previously had finally caught up on him.
That 1938 accident in a ring in Manchester ended Paddy Casey's three-year reign as All-Ireland heavyweight champion wrestler and his ambition to join his older brother Steve in search of sporting fame in the United States.
Steve, the eldest of the Caseys and the man sportsmen everywhere came to know as Crusher, had at that time become world heavyweight wrestling champion. He came home on a much publicised visit to Ireland after winning the world crown and Paddy intended to return to the US with him. But a broken back put an end to that ambition.
However, the injuries, sustained during a fight which he won, never diminished his interest in sport. He went on to promote wrestling in England with contests for his much-feared brother Mick high on the agenda.
The Irish in post-war London will remember Paddy Casey for the entertainment he provided for them at three clubs he established there - the Glocamora in Bayswater, the Inisfree in Ealing Broadway and the Shamrock Club in Elephant and Castle.
He began the Glocamora in partnership with fellow Kerryman Bill Fuller but bought him out to become sole owner. All three clubs provided a gathering place for the Irish of the time who were forced by economic circumstances to leave their homes in search of a living. The clubs provided them with the opportunity to meet, sing, dance and bask a bit in their own culture. Paddy Casey sold his interest in the clubs in the 1960s.
Paddy Casey often admitted that rowing was his outstanding passion. Pride of place among all the trophies that the Caseys won over the years was the Salter Cup which five of the Casey brothers - Steve, Paddy, Tom, Jim and Dan (cox) - won outright in Killarney in August 1933. They had also won it in 1930 and 1931, but there was no regatta in 1932. The organisers told the Caseys in 1933 that even if they triumphed that year they could not keep the trophy as it had to be won in three successive years. The Caseys, suspicious that an effort was being made to diddle them out of the cup, protested and their case was upheld.
Three years later Steve, Paddy, Tom and Mick Casey as members of the Ace Rowing Club in London won the All-England Rowing Championship and looked destined to head to Germany to compete in a variety of rowing races at the 1936 Olympic Games. But somebody reported that they had fought for money as wrestlers or boxers and so they were disqualified from going to Berlin.
The Caseys never had any doubt in their minds that they could have won all six gold medals in the rowing events and some years later Steve, Jim and Tom Casey posted a notice in the Boston Globe challenging all comers to a race on the Charles River.
One man, Russell Codman, who had recently won a silver medal in the American National Singles Championships, said he was prepared to take them on in single sculls.
They accepted the challenge and the Governor of Massachusetts, Leverett Saltonstall, put up a cup for the winner. The race took place on November 10th, 1940, and a reported 250,000 people lined the banks of the river for the event. Tom, Jim and Steve finished the race one, two and three as Codman looked on in open-mouthed amazement.
Steve Casey at that time had already become world heavyweight wrestling champion on February 12th, 1938, in Boston when his opponent was the reigning champ, Lou Thesz. Jim Casey, meanwhile, was earning his own enviable reputation as a wrestler and in 1944 won the Canadian and South American championships, while Tom Casey had became the British amateur heavyweight boxing champion in 1937. He was to box professionally both in England and the US but was dogged by hand injuries which eventually made him give up the game.
Mick Casey, after being trained in the finer points of wrestling by the injured Paddy Casey, was involved in about 200 bouts in a career that spanned two decades. He retired to run a pub in Sneem. Jack Casey was the only brother never to leave Sneem. He stayed on the family farm.
The Casey men inherited their strength from two sides of the family. Their father, known as Big Mick, sparred with John L. Sullivan in his young days in America. John L., whose family roots are in Finuge, Co Kerry, was bare knuckle world heavyweight boxing champion in his day.
Big Mick Casey was a powerful oarsman as well and spent summers in his youth in the US rowing at regattas as a member of a crew sponsored by the Vanderbilt family. The mother of the seven Casey boys and three girls was Brigid Sullivan, whose family were known around Sneem as the Mountains. Rowing brought Big Mick Casey and Brigid "Mountain" Sullivan together.
Paddy Casey is survived by his wife Agnes, sons, Patrick and Steve, and daughters, Bernadette and Patricia.
Paddy Casey: born February 1910; died, February 2002