Entertainment

Book tells story of top Irish boxer and of Boston underworld links to the IRA

What links an IRA arms shipment, a former top lieutenant of infamous US gangster Whitey Bulger and a world class Irish-American boxer? Rónán Mac Con Iomaire throws some light on a fascinating story, now the subject of a film and of his latest book

Former top boxer Seán Mannion, who is from Ros Muc in Connemara, in Grealish Boxing Club, Boston
Former top boxer Seán Mannion, who is from Ros Muc in Connemara, in Grealish Boxing Club, Boston Former top boxer Seán Mannion, who is from Ros Muc in Connemara, in Grealish Boxing Club, Boston

SPLASHED across the front page of an Irish newspaper on October 20 1984 was a photograph of one of the largest IRA-destined arms hauls ever intercepted on the way from the US.

Over seven tonnes of guns, ammunition, hand grenades and surveillance equipment were seized by the Irish navy from the trawler the Marita Ann in an operation that saw future Sinn Féin TD Martin Ferris arrested off the Kerry coast.

On the same front page, tucked away in the bottom right corner, was a short report on Irish boxer Seán Mannion’s WBA world light middleweight title fight held in Madison Square Garden in New York City the night before.

Few people could have imagined a connection between the Connemara boxer and the seven tonnes of guns and explosives seized from the Marita Ann off the Kerry coast. But there was.

The actions of two young men living in faraway Boston but both from the tiny Galway Gaeltacht village of Ros Muc, both of whom had attended the same school, and who were related to one another, had made the front page of the newspaper on the same day.

Seán Mannion warming up pre-fight with his legendary trainer Angelo Dundee
Seán Mannion warming up pre-fight with his legendary trainer Angelo Dundee Seán Mannion warming up pre-fight with his legendary trainer Angelo Dundee

Pat Nee was right hand man to one of the US’s most notorious gangsters, Whitey Bulger. Despite having tried to assassinate one another in the past, they had come to a truce and started working together. It was Nee, with the imprimateur of Bulger, who had assembled the substantial arms haul that had been shipped from Massachusetts aboard the Valhalla, before being transferred off the Irish coast onto the Marita Ann.

The interception by the LÉ Aisling came after an alleged tip-off by IRA informant Sean O’Callaghan. The taoiseach at the time, Garret Fitzgerald, didn’t hide his disgust at the actions of the likes of Nee.

“We know that there are still significant funds being raised in the United States,” Dr Fitzgerald said following the interception. “There are still people in the United States failing to comprehend the situation in this country, and are willing to give aid for the purchase and sending of arms to murder Irish people.”

Nee, who served 18 months in prison for his role in the failed plot, was predictably blunt in his response.

“If you’re looking for a conscience, you’re not going to get it,” he says in Rocky Ros Muc, an award-winning documentary screened in Belfast earlier this week as part of the city's international arts festival.

The documentary is based on my new book The Man Who Was Never Knocked Down, which tells the remarkable story of Seán Mannion, who set off from the village of Ros Muc in 1977, looking to fulfill his dream as a pro fighter.

The 17-year-old flew into Boston from rural Ireland, straight into a world of gun smugglers, drug dealers and the world’s best boxers. The Man Who Was Never Knocked Down tells the story of Mannion’s rise as a fighter while being protected by Boston gangster and IRA gun smuggler Pat Nee.

Mannion had 57 professional fights and, despite the calibre of his opponents, not one boxer managed to knock him down throughout his career.

By 1983 he was ranked the number one US light middleweight boxer, topping the likes of Tommy Hearns and Mike McCallum. His challenge for the world title a year later, however, was brutally crushed by future Boxing Hall of Famer McCallum, a defeat from which he would never recover, prompting a descent into disaffection and alcohol abuse.

“I’ve only ever had two fighters that could take any sort of punch thrown at them, Muhammad Ali and Seán,” said the legendary boxing trainer Angelo Dundee, who trained Mannion after the McCallum fight. “If I had only gotten him when he was 20 instead of 30, he'd have been a champion, no question about it.”

When Mannion first arrived in Boston, he hooked up with a coach whose gym was a breeding ground for Whitey Bulger henchmen. Mannion declined offers to become a henchman himself, and his distant cousin, Pat Nee, made sure to come into the gym to make a show of his friendship with his fellow Ros Muc man, making it clear that anyone who messed with Seán would suffer the wrath of Nee.

Seán Mannion in his prime, defeating Roosevelt Green in the fight prior to his WBA light middleweight world title fight against Mike McCallum, 1984
Seán Mannion in his prime, defeating Roosevelt Green in the fight prior to his WBA light middleweight world title fight against Mike McCallum, 1984 Seán Mannion in his prime, defeating Roosevelt Green in the fight prior to his WBA light middleweight world title fight against Mike McCallum, 1984

Today, however, Nee laughs off the suggestion that he provided Mannion with protection.

“He’s from Ros Muc, I’m from Ros Muc. We were climbing to the top in our respective fields. I would have done anything for Seán, but Seán was a tough guy in his own right. He didn’t need me. He could take care of himself on the streets.”

:: Rónán Mac Con Iomaire is the author of The Man Who Was Never Knocked Down: The Life Of Boxer Seán Mannion, published by Rowan & Littlefield and available in bookshops and online now.