Joe Feeney

One of Ireland’s truly great wrestlers, Joe Feeney not only won Irish titles, but was also the British welterweight champion nine times between 1957 and 1968. He went to both the 1960 and 1964 Olympics, with a best place finish of equal 11th in the welterweight class at Tokyo 1964 when he was eliminated by Mongolia’s Jigjidiin Mönkhbat in the third round.

Although he was a member of the Spartan Wrestling Club, Feeney was an all-round sportsman and was a prop forward for the Monkstown Rugby club in Dublin. His fellow prop was another Olympic wrestler, Gerry Martina. Feeney’s son, Joe junior, made his name as a soccer player and spent his entire career as a player, coach, and committee member of Raheny FC in Dublin.