Olympic Champion and Noted Writer James Brendan Connolly, born in South Boston on October 28, 1868

 

James Brendan Connolly

Olympian and writer James Brendan Connolly was born on October 28, 1868 at 23 Bolton Street in South Boston, one of 12 children born to John and Ann (nee O'Donnell) Connolly, immigrants from the Aran Islands in County Galway, Ireland.

Connolly's early claim to fame came in 1896, when he became the first athlete to win a first-place medal at the Modern Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. He won the triple jump, and also placed second in the high jump and third in the long jump. Then in 1900, Connolly went to Paris, France for the second Olympic Games, taking second place in the triple jump.

James B. Connolly at the 1896 Olympics

After his illustrious sports career, Connolly retired from competition at age 32, but stayed involved in the Olympic movement, writing astute articles especially on the 1908 Olympic Games in London.

During this time, Connolly was also developing as a writer. He covered the Spanish-American War in 1898, sending dispatches from Havana to The Boston Globe, describing the war from the ground. Later he covered the Irish Civil War in 1922, also reporting for the Globe.

But his prolific output of short stories is what gave Connolly a literary reputation early on. His work was published in leading magazines of the day such as Scribner's Magazine and Harper's Weekly. Over his career, he wrote hundreds of articles and 25 books, including short stories, novels and non-fiction, particularly about the sea. His father John was a fisherman and often took his sons with him on fishing trips to Georges Banks, from Cape Cod up to Nova Scotia. His exposure to the fishing industry and fishermen gave James a love of the sea that showed up in much of his writing.

Connolly often credited his success to his Irish family and to growing up in South Boston, a place he once described as giving him superior "mental, physical and spiritual faculties," and adding, "I would rather be born in South Boston than any other pace I know of....The children growing up healthy, rugged just naturally had a taste for athletics. Among the boys I knew as a boy it was the exception to find one who could not run or jump or swim or play a good game of ball."

Connolly died at age 88 on January 20, 1957, and is buried at Holyhood Cemetery in Brookline.When he died, an outpouring of respect came from journalists like Arthur Daley of the NYTimes, who called him “An Olympian to the End.”

Connolly's papers are held in two collections at Colby College in Maine and Boston College in Massachusetts.

Statue of James B. Connolly in Joe Moakley Park, South Boston

On October 31 1987, South Boston residents including Boston Mayor Raymond L. Flynn and Bill Linehan, along with local track & field clubs gathered to unveil a statue to Connolly at Columbia Park, which today is called the John J. Moakley Park. The statue, by sculptor Robert Haxo, depicts Connolly completing the final part of the Triple Jump, an Olympic sport that was known as the Hop, Skip & Jump when Connolly was competing.

The James B. Connolly statue in South Boston is part of the Boston Irish Heritage Trail, a collection of memorials in downtown Boston and its neighborhoods that chart the Irish experience in Boston dating back to the 1700s.

Find year round details on Irish activities in greater Boston by visiting IrishBoston.org.