Episode 2.1 (Kevin O'Toole): Restoring Johnny Kilbane's Fight Films

In season two of the "Finding Home" podcast series, Irish American Archives Society Executive Director Margaret Lynch interviews an array of Clevelanders with specialized knowledge and stories about the history of the Irish in Cleveland. In the inaugural episode of season two, Kevin O’Toole, great grandson of champion boxer Johnny Kilbane, talks about discovering a treasure trove of memorabilia when his grandmother passed away in 1993. Tucked among the boxes in her garage was one containing old film canisters. Those canisters took O’Toole on a journey that led to the restoration of original footage from Johnny Kilbane’s 1912 world championship fight. O’Toole also shares how he’s built the website, www.johnnykilbane.com, as a way to share and learn about his beloved ancestor.