Bill Shanahan

As an athlete, Bill Shanahan won over 80 medals in county, inter-country and all-Ireland championships. During his career he won Irish titles in the high jump, long jump, triple jump, high hurdles, pole vault, and decathlon, winning his first title in 1918 in the high jump. He attended his local Noan National School, then joined the old IRA, prior to joining the Army. In 1923 he became a member of the Dublin Metropolitan Police, and was stationed in Dublin for most of his career. On 7 May 1940 he and Detective James McSweeney were carrying state mail by motorcycle when they were attacked by sub-machine gun fire and were both severely wounded. In October 1941 both were awarded the Scott Gold Medal for Valor. Shanahan survived the attack, dying in Dublin in 1954, and is buried in Ballinure Graveyard. His brother, Tom, won a 1916 All-Ireland Senior Hurling medal with Tipperary.

Personal Best: Dec – 4931 (1924).