County Clare could play host to boxing icon Muhammad Ali later this month.
Ali a.k.a Cassius Clay will be in Ireland for a charity function at the end of August and it’s hoped he will finally accept a long standing invitation by Clare County Council to visit here to look up his banner roots.
It’s believed the three times heavyweight champion descended from Abe Grady who lived on the Turnpike Road in Ennis and immigrated to the US in the 1860’s.
He then married an African American woman and their son also married an African American woman and one of their daughters was Ali’s mother Odessa Lee Grady who went on to marry Cassius Clay Senior.
Mayor of Ennis Frankie Neylon says they have made contact with the promoters planning Ali’s Ireland trip but it’s not clear if Clare will form part of his itinerary but remains hopeful it will.
