Nine medals, one Mayo townland
Martin Sheridan
Martin Sheridan was born in Bohola on 28 March 1881. He emigrated to New York in his teens, became an NYPD detective, and between 1904 and 1908 won five Olympic gold medals, three silver and one bronze across three Games — St Louis, Athens and London. His specialties were the discus throw and the standing jumps. At 6'3" and 194 pounds he was a physically imposing man, but the records suggest the precision was what separated him. He died of Spanish flu on 27 March 1918, a single day before his thirty-seventh birthday. There is a memorial to him on the Bohola village green. The Irish-American Athletic Club, who he competed for, fell apart not long after he died. The records stood longer.
The song and what happened to the pubs
Three Pubs in Bohola
Brendan Shine recorded "Three Pubs in Bohola" and the song became a fixture for every Mayo emigrant with a radio. It named the three: MacDonald's, Clarke's and Roche's. The narrator is a man returning from three years in London, choosing his village over the city. Since the song was written, Clarke's became the local shop and Roche's became The Village Inn. Two pubs remain. The song still gets played. The village still exists, which is the point the song was making.
Mayor of New York, twice over
The O'Dwyer brothers
William O'Dwyer (1890–1964) was born in this parish and emigrated to New York, where he became District Attorney of Brooklyn and then Mayor of New York City from 1946 to 1950. President Truman appointed him US Ambassador to Mexico. His brother Paul O'Dwyer (1907–1998) stayed in law and politics — a civil liberties attorney and, eventually, President of the New York City Council. Two brothers from a small crossroads in the Barony of Gallen. Their family gave the land for the Cheshire Home at Lismirrane, just outside the village.