As a small group of men stood on the steps of the GPO in Dublin on Easter Monday 1916 and proclaimed to a bemused crowd of onlookers the establishment of an irish Republic they did so with the ideals which all nations hold dear in mind. They dreamt of an Ireland free to govern its own affairs, administer it's own land in its name and not in the name of a foreign power, they dreamt of the rights of the Irish people to decide their own destiny and the destiny of their nation.

With many lives lost, millions in damage done and divisions caused which to this day are not healed, an Irish State emerged from the Civil War in 1923 which granted the Irish race much authority over its own affairs. It now began the process of International recognition which had been refused to it during the past 800 years. A seat in the League of Nations and the appointment of Irish ambassadors to foreign powers were followed by Irelands involvement in the 1924 olympic Games. For the first time ever the Irish Tri-colour had an equal position amongst the flags of the other competing nations. While Ireland sent a strong Boxing team it would have to wait until Dr. Pat O'Callaghan in 1928 for it's first medal.

The main importance of O’Callaghan’s medal is in the way he accepted it and in what it meant for the Irish Nation. On accepting the medal O'Callaghan remarked:

O'Callaghan had lived through the bitter years and understood fully the importance that this medal held for the emergent Ireland. His statement also shows the great pride he felt in his victory for his country, not for himself. He understood the sacrifices that had been made so that Irish men and women could compete for a free Ireland, under the Irish Tri-colour and he understood the sacrifices made which lead to Amhran na bhFiann been played as he excepted his medal. Ireland had arrived on the World scene. It's ties with the British Empire were steadily breaking an in the eyes of world Ireland was being seen as an independent entity to Britain. Ireland was forgoing it's own destiny.

The 1932 Olympics solidified O’Callaghan’s status as the greatest athlete ever to compete for Ireland achieving what no athlete has to this day. He successfully defended his Olympic Gold medal and would surly have done so again if the British dominated IAAF hadn't banned General Eoin O'Duffy's NACAI in 1936 to prevent Ireland from competing at the Berlin Olympics. O’Callaghan’s career now began to decline with no opportunity of international competition.
He had achieved much, more then any Irish athlete with the exception of John Flanagan and began to focus on this medical practice. He would retire permanently from the sport in 1938, as good as bringing to an end the First Golden Age of Irish Throwing. Starting with Flanagan in 1900 the Irish lost only one Olympics between then and O’Callaghan’s final victory in 1932. Ireland has not had an Olympic medalist in the throws since and only sporadic victories on
track.

But O'Callaghan would end his career in style. "At Fermoy in 1937 he threw 195' 4" - more than 7ft ahead of the World record set by his old friend Paddy 'Chicken' Ryan in 1913" The same political forces that made sure he would not emulate his childhood hero John Flanagan refused O'Callaghan his rightful place as world record holder and his career ended amid the insueing international crises and the pressures imposed upon the Irish State to protect it's sovereignty from the duel treat of Nazi Germany and the British Empire.

The Irish Throwers Club seeks to commemorate Dr. Pat O’Callaghan’s World Record of 1937 and to give it the recognition that it truly deserves. O'Callaghan used his medical training to develop the hammer technique further and in his research style preceded the Soviet Union and America. O'Callaghan is not only one of Irelands greats but one of the worlds greatest ever hammer throwers.