Pat Nally

Patrick (Pat) William Nally (17^th March 1856 - 9^th November 1891) was an Irish Fenian.

Nally was born in the village of Balla, Co. Mayo on 17^th March 1856. [http://www.discoverireland.com/gb/ireland-places-to-go/placefinder/b/balla-mayo/]

Nally became well known in Ireland for organising athletics meetings which were open to all members of the public, where previously athletics meetings had been limited to entrants from the Protestant Ascendancy (the ruling classes). [http://www.mayo-ireland.ie/MyoAlive/Mag1198/nally.htm]

Nally was a member of the Irish Fenian movement, and this was rumoured to have ultimately been the cause of the end of his athletics career, as he was believed to have gone on the run to avoid arrest by the British authorities. [http://www.mayo-ireland.ie/MyoAlive/Mag1198/nally.htm] [http://www.terracetalkireland.com/articles/croke-park.htm]

Nally was captured by the British in 1882, and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for plotting the murder of land agents. [http://www.terracetalkireland.com/articles/croke-park.htm]

Pat Nally died in Mountjoy Prison on 9^th November 1891. [http://www.terracetalkireland.com/articles/croke-park.htm]

One of the stands in Croke Park is named after Nally, and is unique for being the only stand in the stadium named after a person who had no connection to the Gaelic Athletic Association. [http://www.terracetalkireland.com/articles/croke-park.htm]

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