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#3. The Muldoon Barns

From the far side of the park behind the Civil War Monument, turn right onto Merton Avenue and walk for about 350 ft. The original barns that belonged to William Muldoon were at corner of Chamberlain and Merton/Charles St.




St. Patrick's Church is the site where William Muldoon’s barns sat dormant for 120 years. Muldoon, a native of Belfast, was an undefeated Greco-Roman wrestling champion of the day, and a renowned trainer, one who eventually whipped some fairly famous people into shape—Teddy Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Harry Houdini among them. In 1920 he was named the first chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission.


In 2009, Scott Burt, the president of the Bare Knuckle Boxing Hall of Fame and the Police Gazette Boxing Corporation, purchased the barns and began on a path to move and restore the barns. To do so, Burt and friends cut these structures in half and hauled them down the road to the present location. The barns are now the BKB Hall of Fame (#4).


Muldoon's home also sat near the barns. It was demolished in the 1950's and replaced with a convent.


When John L. Sullivan came to Belfast to train, a noted reporter named Nellie Bly came to interview both him and Muldoon. This is how her notes describe Muldoon’s home:


". . . one would never imagine from the surrounding that a prizefighter was being trained there. The house is a very pretty little two-story building, surrounded by the smoothest and greenest of green lawns, which helps to intensify the spotless whiteness of the cottage. A wide veranda surrounds the three sides of the cottage and the easy chairs and hammocks give it a most enticing look of comfort. Large maple trees shade the house from the glare of the sun.”

At this site in 1889, William Muldoon famously trained bare-knuckle champion, John L. Sullivan. Previous to his arrival, Sullivan's superstar status turned him into a gluttonous man with several health ailments. He needed both the strict oversight of a stern man like Muldoon and the solitude (or distance from revelry) the small town of Belfast offered. John L. came to Belfast in weak physical strength, but after training for nearly six months at this site, he left Belfast able to beat Jake Kilrain in an epic match for the Heavyweight World Championship title. Learn more about that fight here.

Before his arrival, Muldoon set out to squelch all distractions. He asked the local bartenders not to serve Sullivan alcohol and purchased hotel rooms to keep out reporters. His "old school" training tactics also took advantage of the local surroundings. Look around and imagine Sullivan (accompanied by local fans) running on the surrounding trails and up the hills, chopping wood, swimming in the river, black-smithing, and tossing heavy medicine balls (a device largely attributed as Muldoon's invention). Punching bags, wrestling and lifting iron were also part of the protocol (some of these objects were left inside the original barns and held in the BKHOF).






BONUS NOTES: This adjoining cemetery holds the remains of the Muldoon family - but not William Muldoon (he is laid to rest in Valhalla, NY). NOTE: at walking Site #5 visitors will learn about the fate of Mr. Gleason and Mr. Chalker -- both gentlemen are also interred here.


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