120th anniversary of Mayo man Martin Sheridan’s first world record
By Tom Gillespie
THIS week marked the 120th anniversary, when, at the age of 21, Bohola man Martin Sheridan set his first world record in the discus with a throw of 120 feet and seven and three-quarter inches.
For the next 10 years, until his retirement from competitive athletics in 1911, he was to reign supreme, unsurpassed in this, his favourite event.
Not only did he hold the world record in those 10 years, he broke his own record on numerous occasions.
In fact, at one competition in 1902, he beat his own world record three times. By the time he had retired, he had brought the record up to 141 feet and four-and-a-half inches.
Some years ago a dedicated committee in Bohola produced the 114-page The Martin Sheridan Story. The researchers who worked on the book were Bernadine Malee and Patrick Bolton while the editing committee consisted of chairman, Joe O’Neill, secretary, Anne Mulroy and Angela Burt, Fr. Padraig Costello, Margaret Molloy, Mary O’Brien and Kevin Roughneen.
In the forward, Joe O’Neill wrote: The story of the life and times Martin Sheridan which is being told in this book is a story of remarkable achievements and success which have rarely been emulated in the field of sport.
Martin Sheridan won more Olympic medals that any other Irish athlete - five gold, three silver and one bronze - as well as 12 US championships and over 30 Canadian, metropolitan and regional championships.
In the course of his illustrious athletic career he established 16 world records and was virtually unbeatable over a 14-year period - all of this from a man born and reared in the parish of Bohola.
Mr. O’Neill continued: When on a visit to the library of the Olympic Museum in Lausanne in Switzerland I quickly made my way to the section dealing with the Olympics. Despite being aware of the achievements of Martin Sheridan it is only when you flick through the books in this section that it strikes you how dominant Martin was in athletics at that time.
If Martin Sheridan lived in the present day, I have no doubt that his face would be one of the best known on TV screens all over the world and in the daily newspapers.
However, Martin lived in a different age - an age prior to the major advances in technology, when news travelled slowly around the world and perhaps never reached many places.
While all of the main achievements of Martin Sheridan were well chronicled at the time, many of the details and great stories behind his success were undoubtedly lost. Hence we felt it was important to research in detail and write the story of the life and times of Martin Sheridan, so that today’s generation and future generations will be aware of the heroic achievements of our most famous son.
The research undertaken for the book also formed part of a bigger project - the development of an Olympic Museum in the Sheridan Memorial Community Centre, at Bohola. Funds from the sale of the book went to that project.
In throwing the discs, Martin developed what amounts to a double turn inside the circle. This gave him a great advantage over his competitors, who made a turn and a half.
He won the American championship titles with two events in 1904, one in the discus, and the other in the 16 lb. shot-putt. He won it again with the discus in 1907, 1908 and 1911.
It was at the Olympic Games at St. Louis in 1904, the Intercalated Games at Athens in 1906, and London in 1908 that Martin achieved his greatest glory. From these he carried off nine medals - five gold, three silver and one bronze.
Martin Sheridan was born in Bohola on Monday, March 28, 1881. His father, also Martin, was a native of Bohola and inherited the family farm of about 90 acres from his father, Patrick Sheridan. Little is known about him apart from the fact that he was a District Councillor for many years with Swinford Union, and was also the local egg grader - a very valued position at that time.
It is said that Patrick Sheridan came to Bohola from Moorehall, Ballyglass, as a herdsman for George Henry Moore who had land in the area.
Martin had three brothers and three sisters: Richard, the two Catherines (one of whom died as an infant), Joseph, Mary Ann and Andrew.
Martin was the second youngest. He was baptised in Bohola Church on Sunday, April 3, 1881.
A story is told of how Martin, his father, brothers and sisters would be saving turf in Barleyhill Bog and on receiving a signal from their mother in the form of a white sheet being raised or a whistle blown, that the meal was ready at home, Martin, his brothers and sisters would run home barefoot across the fields, jumping ditches and drains, never stopping until they reached home, a distance off at least two miles.
At the age of 18, in 1899, Martin set sail for America, following in the footsteps of his brother Richard.
Shortly after his arrival in the US, Martin became an athletic instructor and on Friday, January 5, 1906, he joined the Gotham New York Police Force.
Shortly after joining he displayed great bravery in risking his life when he came upon a house fire while on patrol. On that occasion he saved four children and their parents from certain death.
It was as a result of heroic deeds such as this that he was swiftly promoted to the rank of First Grade Detective attached to the First Branch.
On Friday, March 22, 1918, Martin was taken to hospital suffering from pneumonia.
His condition stabilised for a short while, but he then deteriorated rapidly and he died on March 27, five days after being admitted to hospital and the day before his 37th birthday.