Dan Flaherty

Dan Flaherty was one of the eight-man Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland) boxing team at the 1924 Paris Olympics. Schedule to compete in the bantamweight division, he failed to make the weight and had to withdraw.

Flaherty served in the Irish National Army and took part in his first boxing contest at Miceal Barracks, Cork, in December 1923. His boxing coach in The Army was the British and European bantamweight champion Tancy Lee. Flaherty was unlucky to lose to Bob Hilliard in the 1924 Irish bantamweight championship, and shortly after the Paris Olympics, Flaherty reached the bantamweight semi-final at the inaugural Tailteann Games in Dublin before losing to England’s G. Martin. Flaherty turned professional in 1927 and won his only two bouts on points, including one over the experienced Belfast fighter Gunboat Smith.