Johnny O Connor of New Village founded the Oughterard Boxing Club in 1964. Johnny saw boxing as a great means of keeping the local youth and GAA players fit over the winter months and the club grew from there.

Johnny O Connor was a dedicated trainer, well respected but never feared. The local G.A.A. players gathered in the Hibernian Hall, Camp Street, for winter training.  Matt Molloy from Eighterard, said that he was asked by Johnny to propose its formation at a Muintir na Tíre meeting back in 1964.   First Committee: President: Pat Mc Gauley, Derrymoyle. Chairman: Johnny O Connor. Treasurer: Frank Kyne. Committee: P. Joe O Malley R.I.P., Paschal Mc Donagh, Mattie Maloney and Joe Donnellan.

Johnny had trained and sparred while in the army and wanted to use his experience as a means of gaining fitness and instilling discipline in the youth of Oughterard. In the first year the emphasis was on Junior Boxing. The club had only one pair of boxing gloves.

The first memory Máirtín Lee has of boxing in Oughterard under the supervision of Johnny O Connor was at a Regatta in Baurisheen.  There was a ring erected beside the lakeshore and a number of contests involving outside clubs were put on in order to promote boxing locally. (There had been Irish dancing on earlier, so the ring was serving a dual purpose).

Johnny Lee from Cloosh and Tom Gavin from Magheramore were persuaded to tog out at the end of the tournament.  Johnny Lee got into the ring all ready for action, but the ring collapsed before his contest and the boxing was abandoned. (Máirtín Lee says there were too many heavy weights that day, or else too much Irish Dancing earlier on and Johnny Lee and Tom Gavin had a lucky escape)!! Whatever fright Johnny got that day he didn’t box again until 1970 though he was always on hand to spar against his brothers Máirtín and Raymond which was of great benefit to them as they knew that they could hit him as hard as they wished as he had a few years advantage over them. Needless to say he was hitting hard too.

Johnny won Connacht Junior Welter-weight Championship in 1971/1972. Junior at the time was under 25 which is now called Intermediate (i.e. next to senior) while Junior to day is a category for 17and 18 year olds).at a tournament in Ballina it was decided that he should get his chance to box in the Irish Junior Championships.  Máirtín was persuaded to accompany him to the National Stadium to box in in the same competition. Joe Mc Gauley went as coach as Johnny O Connor couldn’t attend. Johnny and Máirtín lost in the semifinals. Instead of staying overnight in Dublin they came home on a goods train in order to save the Club money. The journey took much longer than the normal train as there were many stoppages. They were very tired and thirsty all the way down to Galway. They arrived home at 2am.  Although Johnny was the first of the Lees to become involved in the Boxing Club, he was also the last of them to have won a Connacht Championship and the only one of the Lees to have won a Junior Title.

The first official boxing tournament held in Oughterard by the present club under Johnny O Connor was in the old Kirk Hall where the Community Centre is to day. It was held about 1965. Some of the local lads who boxed on the night were Pascal Mc Donagh, Micksie Mc Gauley, John Walsh (James), Mickey and Brian Quinn and Raymond and Martin Lee. (Sorry if I omitted anyone but it was a long time ago.)

The number of County and provincial titles won by Oughterard Boxing Club, in Johnny’s time in charge, are too numerous to mention and there were also two national titles won in 1969 and 1970.  His best year as trainer/coach at provincial level, achievements-wise, was in 1970 when our club won 6 Connacht Juvenile titles on the same day at Swinford, and won the award for the best club in Connacht, (an award not won again until 1995 when the club won 5 Connacht Juvenile titles and had one finalist on the same day at Manorhamilton.)

Assisting Johnny at Swinford were Christy Butler, Joe Mc Gauley, Frank Kyne and Pat Mc Gauley, formerly from Derrymoyle. That was the night when Paddy and Tom Geoghegan from Rusheeney carried Johnny on their shoulders up the Main St. in Swinford.

Máirtín Lee often wondered how Johnny could spend so much time helping out in the various clubs and organizations that he was involved with.  As a farmer his time must have been limited but we never felt that, as he was a very generous man, both with his time and his money.  For the National Championships alone, it involved the best part of a week away from home and for many years he did this, from 1969 up until the eighties.

Máirtín was with him in Dublin on three occasions in 1969, 1970 and 1971 and he knows there were many more events that demanded his time later on. In late 1969 he accompanied Mairtin  on the International Juvenile Team to a triangular tournament, involving Ireland, England and Wales in Coventry. They were more than a week in England. They stayed for some time with Johnny’s brother Jimmy and family in Woverhampton. 

How many men would sacrifice such time, especially farmers, who never seem to have a chance of a day off, all for the sake of sport and young people?  Johnny O Connor did just that, he was a good organizer, but more importantly he had a good back up team in his wife Josie and family – Bridie, Kevin, Patti and Pauline who also must have sacrificed a lot in order that he could have time off to contribute to and be a leader of his community.  They deserve our thanks.

Many of the teams were very often made up of members of the one family who won County and later Inter Provincial titles together, not alone in the same year but in some cases on the same day.

The Walsh Family from, Camp Street, the Keoghs, Main St. won County and Connacht Boxing titles. David, Seán and Des reportedly won Connacht titles together on four different occasions. Henry and Padraic Keogh won a number of County titles over a number of years and at least one Connacht title together in 1976. Henry had also won a Connacht title in 1975 along with Patrick Mc Quinn (Camp St.) and John Thomas Gibbons. John Thomas had also won a Connacht title in 1974. Mike Noone lost out on a technicality in the 1975 Connacht Championships.  Des Walsh won his first Connacht title along with the Keogh brothers in 1976, and is reported to have won other Connacht titles than those mentioned. Conrad Keogh also boxed for some time but did not have the same degree of success as Henry or Padraic at Championship level.

In April 1966 Mártín Lee of Cloosh won the first County Championship followed by National titles in 1969 and 1970. Martin was also chosen on an Irish International Juvenile Team that boxed in England in 1969.  Martin Lee and Mattie Molloy, Camp St. won County and Provincial titles in 1969: Mattie Molloy broke his hand when he fell down the stairs in St. Paul’s school ( old convent) and couldn’t box in Dublin.

Gerry Clancy who was later heavily involved in the local GAA won a county title in 1969.

1969/1970 Mr Christy Butler and Joe Mc Gauley became involved with the club and they made an enormous contribution during the following years in the running of the club.

1970 The Club won six Juvenile titles in total and for the first time four brothers won juvenile titles on the same day, namely Martin, Raymond, Gerry and Richard Lee. Matty Molloy and Jimmy Butler won juvenile titles too. There was great jubilation in Swinford, Co. Mayo when they won. Travelling supporters carried Johnny O Connor, their coach, shoulder high through the town. Johnny Lee went on to make it five brothers to win Connacht titles in the same year when he won at Junior level.  The Club won the trophy for the best club in Connacht. The Lee brothers with Matty Molloy and Jimmy Butler went to Dublin to compete in the National Championships and Máirtín won the All Ireland Title for the second year. This was a great achievement for a club only eight years in existence.

Galway Sports Star Award 1970:

In January Martin Lee was awarded “Sports Star of the Year” for his achievements in 1969. (Mick Molloy won the Athletics Award that night also).