Clara ‘Ma’ Copley – Ireland’s first female boxing promoter is remembered by Melanie Ward

 

In the twenty first century women’s boxing has become a mainstream sport, particularly in Ireland where boxers Katie Taylor and Kellie Harrington have achieved worldwide acclaim. But over a hundred years ago, in Belfast, another woman was making a name for herself in the sport – as one of the world’s first female boxing promoters.

Clara Copley was born in Rotherham, Yorkshire, in 1865, to a fishmonger and his wife. Following her marriage in 1886, Clara and her husband also became fishmongers and by 1895 were operating a fish and chip stall in the fairground at Rotherham.

From this Clara began taking an interest in entertainment and the couple moved to Liverpool, where they owned and operated an amusement arcade and waxworks museum. By 1901 the Copley’s had moved to Belfast, running a novelty stall at the Chapel Fields fairground and living in a caravan on site; it was to be their home for the next thirty years.

In 1908, Clara opened the Theatre Royal in Bangor, Co Down. For the next four years her theatre company put on three or four productions a week – with Clara often performing on stage herself.
Clara continued to run her novelty stall at the fairground and in the 1920’s became the proprietor of the site, which was advertised in the press as ‘Copley’s Amusements’. A boxing booth operated by ex-professional boxer Jim Lagan, where members of the public were challenged to go three rounds with a boxer of their choice for a prize of £1, formed part of the amusements.

In 1934 Clara and Lagan started staging unlicensed boxing tournaments in the booth.
Copley continued running the booth after Lagan’s death a year later, moving the tournaments to a large tent and staging them as sole promoter. As the popularity of the bouts increased, Clara constructed a wooden arena and applied to the British Boxing Board of Control for a promoter’s licence; when this was granted in April 1936 she became the first licensed woman boxing promoter in Britain and Ireland.

Copley’s boxing tournaments took place on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday evenings and over 600 were staged through the years. Cheap to attend, they were entertainment for a predominantly working-class audience in the days before television – and Sky Sports.

Continue reading in this week’s Ireland’s Own