204:"It was on the Olympic trip of 1912 that the 'whale' nickname took hold. Dan Ferris, then a cherubic little boy, recalls it with relish. 'Those big fellows,' he related, 'all sat at the same table and their waiter was a small chap. Before we reached Stockholm he had lost twenty pounds, worn down by bringing them food. Once as he passed me he muttered under his breath, 'It's whales they are, not men.' They used to take five plates of soup as a starter and then gulp down three or four steaks with trimmings. That Simon Gillis would think nothing of having a dozen eggs for breakfast. But what fascinated me was the way he ate them. He'd put a dab of mustard on each and eat it whole, shell and all.' The Irish American A.C. behemoths always were the life of any party."
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224:- The waiter was ready when Gillis, McDonald and McGrath arrived. The table had been set for a party of 33. 'Do you want to wait for the rest of your group?' asked the headwaiter. He turned pale as he watched three whales devour 27 dozen oysters and six huge T-bone steaks."
152:
in all. "Matt McGrath was built like a wedge. He was a six-footer, but he weighed 248 pounds. John
Flanagan was about the same. Simon Gillis was 6′2″ and 240. Paddy Ryan was 6′5″ and 296, while Pat McDonald was 6′5″ and 300 pounds."
216:"Some of their more prodigious feats were at the table. The Irish American A.C. was competing in Baltimore when (Simon) Gillis placed an order for a post-meet snack with the head waiter at a local restaurant. He ordered 27 dozen
597:
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Heights and weights are taken from various reference sources; heights given sometimes vary by several inches, while, obviously, weight can fluctuate substantially over an athlete's career. All
Olympic medals won were for the
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column, "Sports of the Times," written by John
Drebinger (who was substituting for Kieran). The term was further popularized in "Sports of the Times" columns written by Arthur Daly in the
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While it is not entirely clear when this moniker came into use, and was likely not used in the face of any of these giant men, it seems to have first appeared in print in 1937 in
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113:. They were known as such because of their athletic prowess, physical size, voracious appetites, and their impact on a generation of sports fans.
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events in the first two decades of the 20th century. "This group dominated the field events, particularly throwing events, at the
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Another tale of the Irish Whales' voracious appetites came from Arthur Daly's typewriter twenty-two years later. In a
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with the first reference to "The Whales" in 1942. On the subject of the origin of this nickname, Daly wrote:
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148:. What Sheridan lacked in girth, he made up for with his appetite and athletic accomplishments, nine
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were considered an
Olympic event at the time, but are not now counted among official Olympic Games.
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Making the Irish
American: History and Heritage of the Irish in the United States
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Making the Irish
American: History and Heritage of the Irish in the United States
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944:
Lee, J. J.; Casey, Marion; Casey, Marion R. (February 9, 2006).
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Gold, Silver and Green: The Irish
Olympic Journey 1896 – 1924
986:"Cementing Friendly Relations" New York Times, Dec. 25, 1937.
1111:
101:
between 1896 and 1924." They were primarily members of the
77:or "The Whales" was a nickname given to a group of
1066:. New York: Glucksman Ireland House / NYU Press.
1034:Poet Madman Scoundrel: 189 Unusual Irish Lives
8:
248:
1107:Sports.reference.com 1908 Summer Olympics
1085:. Cork, Ireland: Cork University Press.
1149:Nicknamed groups of Olympic competitors
936:
238:, except for Con Walsh's which was for
1010:"Jim Mitchel Bio, Stats, and Results"
969:
967:
7:
1031:Slattery, David (October 15, 2012).
1062:Lee, Joseph; Casey, Marion (2006).
995:"About Some Whales, Human Variety."
489:6 ft 2.5 in (1.89 m)
434:6 ft 1.5 in (1.87 m)
97:national championships and at the
14:
874:6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
791:6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
634:6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
568:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
393:6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
301:6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
1014:Olympics at Sports-Reference.com
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111:New York City Police Department
1:
920:Irish American Athletic Club
220:and six huge T-bone steaks.
175:Irish American Athletic Club
103:Irish American Athletic Club
33:Irish American Athletic Club
116:The Irish Whales included;
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1047:– via Google Books.
960:– via Google Books.
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212:column in 1964 he wrote:
1112:Winged Fist Organization
1081:McCarthy, Kevin (2010).
794:254 pounds (115 kg)
571:249 pounds (113 kg)
492:265 pounds (120 kg)
437:220 pounds (100 kg)
396:241 pounds (109 kg)
304:248 pounds (112 kg)
109:and also members of the
877:210 pounds (95 kg)
637:194 pounds (88 kg)
244:1906 Intercalated Games
89:athletes who dominated
47:in St. Louis, Missouri.
35:, with fellow Irishman
1144:Irish-Canadian culture
1139:Irish-American history
1134:New York Athletic Club
226:
206:
185:
107:New York Athletic Club
95:Amateur Athletic Union
70:
59:
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41:New York Athletic Club
532:56 pound weight throw
450:56 pound weight throw
344:56 pound weight throw
222:Slight Miscalculation
214:
202:
164:
65:
54:
19:
973:"All About Whales."
555:Bunavoy, Pallasgreen
870:Seattle, Washington
519:Two-handed shot put
1117:2009-02-01 at the
755:Standing long jump
703:Standing long jump
690:Standing high jump
598:56 lb weight throw
380:Cape Breton Island
186:
71:
69:at the 1920 Games.
60:
49:
45:1904 Olympic Games
1092:978-1-85918-458-5
1073:978-0-8147-5208-1
911:
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774:December 28, 1875
182:U.S. Olympic team
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1016:. Archived from
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267:Olympic medals
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198:New York Times,
177:, posing for a
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138:Martin Sheridan
91:weight-throwing
29:Martin Sheridan
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1020:on 2020-04-17.
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881:Competing for
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502:1912 Stockholm
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165:Irish Whales:
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150:Olympic medals
126:James Mitchell
87:Irish-Canadian
83:Irish-American
37:James Mitchell
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236:United States
229:Summary table
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118:John Flanagan
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99:Olympic Games
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42:
38:
34:
30:
26:
25:John Flanagan
22:
18:
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1026:
1018:the original
1013:
1004:
996:
991:
982:
974:
946:
939:
905:Hammer throw
894:
880:
857:Carriganimma
834:Hammer throw
821:Hammer throw
808:Hammer throw
797:
766:Matt McGrath
742:Greek discus
640:
594:1920 Antwerp
585:Hammer throw
581:1920 Antwerp
574:
528:1920 Antwerp
495:
481:May 16, 1954
476:County Clare
460:Pat McDonald
426:July 3, 1921
368:Simon Gillis
357:Hammer throw
331:Hammer throw
318:Hammer throw
307:
293:June 3, 1938
232:
221:
215:
209:
207:
203:
197:
193:
187:
171:Matt McGrath
167:Pat McDonald
142:Matt McGrath
130:Pat McDonald
122:Simon Gillis
115:
75:Irish Whales
74:
72:
56:Simon Gillis
21:Irish Whales
20:
901:1908 London
861:County Cork
804:1908 London
751:1908 London
738:1908 London
725:1908 London
716:Stone throw
712:1906 Athens
699:1906 Athens
686:1906 Athens
673:1906 Athens
660:1906 Athens
353:1908 London
190:John Kieran
1128:Categories
926:References
830:1924 Paris
543:Paddy Ryan
419:Bartoose,
314:1900 Paris
134:Paddy Ryan
105:, and the
67:Paddy Ryan
931:Footnotes
845:Con Walsh
146:Con Walsh
1115:Archived
914:See also
677:Shot put
564:Limerick
506:Shot put
430:Limerick
297:Limerick
58:in 1912.
1056:Sources
472:Killard
218:oysters
173:of the
43:at the
39:of the
31:of the
1089:
1070:
1041:
954:
891:Canada
888:
778:Nenagh
729:Discus
664:Discus
651:Discus
621:Bohola
264:Weight
261:Height
242:. The
240:Canada
184:photo.
157:Origin
399:none
258:Death
255:Birth
210:Times
79:Irish
1087:ISBN
1068:ISBN
1039:ISBN
952:ISBN
252:Name
179:1912
169:and
144:and
85:and
73:The
27:and
192:'s
1130::
1012:.
966:^
903:—
859:,
832:—
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329:—
316:—
140:,
136:,
132:,
128:,
124:,
120:,
81:,
23::
1095:.
1076:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
