A man who stood on Dublin's O'Connell street for half a century had a forgotten past as an illustrious boxer
Every Dubliner was familiar with the black man on O'Connell Street in the bowler hat, starched white collar and crombie, who carried an advertising board for Nugget boot polish around his neck. He stood there for forty years, up until his death in the late 1950s.
But despite everyone recognising him, few if anyone, knew who he really was. The Dublin Theatre Festival of 2026 is attempting to piece his extraordinary life together. It turns out that he had boxed in the United States during the time of the "color-bar", when black and white boxers were unable to compete with each other for major titles.
The Dublin poet, Vinnie Caprani, claimed that Warren once took part in what were known as "Battle Royals", in which several black boxers entered the ring, and fought before a white audience, until only one remained standing. And as if these contests weren't grotesque enough, the fighters were often blindfolded.
In an interview with the Irish Independent in 1946, Warren said that as a 27 year-old in 1907, he'd boxed the heavyweight champion of the world, Jack Johnson. However, Boxrec, the definitive chronicler of boxing records, has found no evidence that such a bout ever took place. It is quite likely however, that he sparred the great Johnson - so perhaps he was referring to that.
It is well documented though that Warren fought Sam McVey, a great black fighter of that era, losing by a second round knockout.
Warren boxed in the United States, Australia and all over Europe. The event that led him to find his home in Dublin is worth mentioning.
Warren was knocked out by a white boxer in New York by the name of Mike Farrell, an incredibly short Irishman, who was blind in one eye. At the end of the contest, Farrell offered his hand to Warren and pulled him to his feet. This highly unusual and conspicuous gesture of fellowship during the darkest days of segregation, led to the pair becoming good friends.
When Farrell lost his remaining eyesight, he returned to his native Dublin to live in a home for the blind. Warren followed him to the city, where they would often meet up for a pint.
There are also stories that Warren became involved in Ireland's revolutionary movement, where he supplied intelligence to Michael Collins.
He also pops up in an Irish film from 1920, called The Days of St Patrick, in which he plays a slave.
An immersive piece of theatre by Louise Lowe and Anu, attempts to create a narrative from the small and sometimes unreliable crumbs of evidence about the Cyclone's life. The truth is tantalising, drifting in and out of focus. Glimpses here and there, fleeting mentions of him in stories about other people.
Dublin is a city that celebrates its "characters" perhaps like no other, so what better place for an exhibition about this fascinating boxer? By the end of it, his name will be better known, but I suspect his life will remain, for the most part, a mystery.
