Pat Brennan, active in the ring - at 77

This story of a 77 year-old boxer will elicit a reaction just by the first sentence. Pat Brennan is still taking white collar fights with men more than 20 years his junior to this day.

Do you think that’s impressive?
I certainly do.

But the man himself pays very little homage to that fact.

“I’ve always done it, I don't know any different, I never think about what age I am,” Pat explained.

“Never drank or smoked in my life. I could never see the point of going into pubs and drinking for hours and hours. Even when I hurled I never went out after. I don't see the point in drinking and slobbering.”

The Clane resident hails his combat sports training for the incredible health, fitness and discipline that he has now into his seventies.

“I get great health from sport, and discipline.

Another thing about taking up a sport like a martial art is that you think you can beat everybody. And if you meet something on the street you don’t want to fight them because you feel he’s beneath you. I'm not gonna fight this fella because I can beat him, even if you can’t, it gives you the confidence to walk away,” Pat says.

“Up until I was 35 I could put my feet behind my head and I can still do the splits now. When you stop using muscles they die. It’s like a car that's left sitting for a year, you’ll find it very hard to start it again.”

Pat initially began boxing at the age of 12, alongside his exploits as a hurler in his home county of Kilkenny.

“I was a hurler all my life, three to 64. The same as every sportsman in the world, the older I get the better I was because nobody is going to check back to 1959,” Pat says with a rye smile.

“I was picked for an All-Australian hurling side and won a medal back in the day. The beauty of starting young is to know at a certain age that you are good enough or not to be world champion like we all want, to just do it as a sport and something that you love.”

No different to anyone else who takes to a sport, a young Pat dreamt of World Championships in his future.

“Of course (I had ambitions) to be World Champion but one thing I would say to young people is that you have to have a backup. I had mine which is what I am today, a boilermaker welder. Luckily enough, because I never made world or even Irish champion.

“I stayed boxing even as I moved around between America, Canada and Australia,” Pat said.

While in Australia, Pat took to another combat sport, Taekwondo. Trained by the former instructor of American troops he began to enjoy the increased range of striking between hands and feet.Having boxed and partken in other martial arts for his entire life both across Ireland and across continents, Pat now laces his gloves in Naas Kickboxing under the guidance of owner and head coach Dawid Blaszke.

Pat explained, “When I was in Australia, I did Taekwondo and I loved it. But I came back here and I went to lots of gyms and I just didn't find anything that I enjoyed. A lot of them were very undisciplined and a lot of them were uncaring about their students.

“I saw Dawid in Clane and I said this guy is something else. Then when he started up on his own I followed him. Outside of Australia he was the best I had ever seen, his technique and physical ability was incredible.”

Pat reflected on his own exploits fondly of course but was glowing in his description of Dawid and all the members of Naas Kickboxing.

Having more or less finished combat sports, Pat found his current head coach over 10 years ago and is still with him to this day.

“I’m by far the oldest there and yet they all seem to have a respect for me, which I enjoy. Everybody helps each other out and anyone with notions has them knocked out of them,” Pat jokes.

“He is an all-round good guy and surrounds himself with good people, which is important. I used to be the way if there were three people in a room I would end up not liking at least one of them. I can’t say that there, I love each and every one of them.”

He added, It’s a family club, there is nobody with notions despite their being lads there who can really fight. To train there is an absolute pleasure, for an auld fella like me I should be on the rosary beads by now but I just look forward so much to going up there. There are so many benefits, everyone helps everyone out.”

Despite Pat’s dismissive attitude towards him fighting and sparring men 20 plus years his junior, he acknowledges that he is an example that your sporting life is far from over in your late thirties and forties.

Pat concludes, “These inter-county hurlers and footballers that feel finished at 33 or 34, trust me, you're only getting started in life.”