Mohammed Ali is coming to Ennis. (maybe)

Ali visit to Ennis confirmed
08/08/2009 - 18:58:03

Boxing legend Muhammad Ali will visit his ancestral Irish home next month, it was confirmed today.

The former world heavyweight champion has accepted an invitation to see the birthplace of his great-grandfather in Ennis, Co Clare, on September 1.

He is due to visit Dublin for a charity event the previous day.

Members of Ennis Town Council are expected to make the 67-year-old, who is fighting Parkinson’s disease, the first Honorary Freeman of Ennis Town during his trip.

Mayor Frankie Neylon said thousands of visitors will come to the town to see the world famous boxer.

“I have no doubt that the people of Clare will turn out in huge numbers to welcome Muhammad Ali and that the boxer himself will thoroughly enjoy his visit to the Ireland’s Banner County,” he added.

Ali’s great-grandfather Abe Grady emigrated from his home on the Turnpike Road in Ennis to the United States in the 1860s.

Grady sailed from Cappa Harbour in Kilrush, Co Clare, eventually settling in Kentucky, where he married an African-American woman.


Their son also married an African-American and one of the daughters of that union was Ali’s mother, named Odessa Lee Grady.

She married Cassius Clay, senior, and they settled in Louisville, where their son was initially given his father’s name on his birth in 1942. He later changed his name to Muhammad Ali when he converted to the Nation of Islam after winning the world title in 1964.

Mayor Neylon said further details of Ali’s visit would be finalised during a special meeting of Ennis Town Council on Monday week.

“I will be proposing at the Town Council meeting that a Civic Reception, the highest honour that this town can give, be held in Muhammad Ali’s honour,” said Cllr Neylon.

“I will also be proposing that he be named the first Honorary Freeman of Ennis Town.”

He said the public interest in this planned visit has been immense.

“I believe that the publicity surrounding it will result in thousands of additional visitors to the town,” he added.

“The visit will serve as a huge boost to the local economy including its bars and hotels, which have experienced a huge downturn in business over the last year.”