Johnny Kilbane's guest appearances

Johnny Kilbane

Roots of American Music

Finding Home

William Woods

Frank Lloyd Wright

Patrick Corrigan

John O'Brien

Gerry Quinn

Kevin Richards

John Lackey

Jim O'Donnell

Kathleen Casey

Jack McGarry

Dan Chambers

Timothy Lynch

Mark Freeman

Mike McGarry

Jason Meyers

OwlTail

In season two of the "Finding Home" podcast series, Irish American Archives Society Executive Director Margaret Lynch interviews an array of Clevelanders with specialized knowledge and stories about the history of the Irish in Cleveland. In the inaugural episode of season two, Kevin O’Toole, great grandson of champion boxer Johnny Kilbane, talks about discovering a treasure trove of memorabilia when his grandmother passed away in 1993. Tucked among the boxes in her garage was one containing old film canisters. Those canisters took O’Toole on a journey that led to the restoration of original footage from Johnny Kilbane’s 1912 world championship fight. O’Toole also shares how he’s built the website, www.johnnykilbane.com, as a way to share and learn about his beloved ancestor.

In season two of the "Finding Home" podcast series, Irish American Archives Society Executive Director Margaret Lynch interviews an array of Clevelanders with specialized knowledge and stories about the history of the Irish in Cleveland. In the inaugural episode of season two, Kevin O’Toole, great grandson of champion boxer Johnny Kilbane, talks about discovering a treasure trove of memorabilia when his grandmother passed away in 1993. Tucked among the boxes in her garage was one containing old film canisters. Those canisters took O’Toole on a journey that led to the restoration of original footage from Johnny Kilbane’s 1912 world championship fight. O’Toole also shares how he’s built the website, <a href="http://www.johnnykilbane.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.johnnykilbane.com</a>, as a way to share and learn about his beloved ancestor.

Episode 2.1 (Kevin O'Toole): Restoring Johnny Kilbane's Fight Films

 Johnny Kilbane was a world champion featherweight boxer from Cleveland Ohio and held his title longer than did any other fighter in any weight class in history.  Born into poverty in Cleveland’s Irish Immigrant ‘Angle’ neighborhood, Kilbane eventually leveraged his celebrity, determination, and smarts into a successful political career – holding public office in Columbus and then in Cleveland, Ohio.  Kilbane’s early life and career teach us great lessons about the immigrant experience – specifically concerning the Irish, but also lessons that apply generally to all those who have left their homes behind and journeyed to America in search of a better life.  No doubt, a ‘fighting spirit’ served Johnny Kilbane well during his well-lived life and a similar spirit has buoyed the prospects of  many of those who came before us from every corner of the globe.   Roots Music Revue: “A Fighting Heart” is part of ROAM’s program called The Ohio Heritage Music Project, whose mission is to re-imagine music production in order to document, preserve and build awareness of regional music. Roots Music Revue is funded, in part, by the Ohio Arts Council.

<a href="http://www.johnnykilbane.com/biography.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Johnny Kilbane</a> was a world champion featherweight boxer from Cleveland Ohio and held his title longer than did any other fighter in any weight class in history.  Born into poverty in Cleveland’s Irish Immigrant ‘Angle’ neighborhood, Kilbane eventually leveraged his celebrity, determination, and smarts into a successful political career – holding public office in Columbus and then in Cleveland, Ohio.  Kilbane’s early life and career teach us great lessons about the immigrant experience – specifically concerning the <a href="http://www.irisharchives.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Irish</a>, but also lessons that apply generally to all those who have left their homes behind and journeyed to America in search of a better life.  No doubt, a ‘fighting spirit’ served Johnny Kilbane well during his well-lived life and a similar spirit has buoyed the prospects of  many of those who came before us from every corner of the globe.   Roots Music Revue: “A Fighting Heart” is part of ROAM’s program called The Ohio Heritage Music Project, whose mission is to re-imagine music production in order to document, preserve and build awareness of regional music. Roots Music Revue is funded, in part, by the Ohio Arts Council.

Ohio Heritage Music Project: Episode 3 - A Fighting Heart, the Johnny Kilbane story and the Cleveland Irish Experience