Patrick McGuigan (1935–1987) was a famous Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 singer born in Clones

Clones

Clones is a small town in western County Monaghan, in the 'border area' of the Republic of Ireland. The area is part of the Border Region, earmarked for economic development by the Irish Government due to its currently below-average economic situation...

. His son, Barry McGuigan

Barry McGuigan

Finbarr Patrick McGuigan MBE , known as Barry McGuigan and nicknamed The Clones Cyclone, is a former Irish and British professional boxer who became a world featherweight champion.-Background:...

, is a former world featherweight

Featherweight

Featherweight is a weight class division in the sport of boxing. There are similarly named divisions under several Mixed Martial Arts organizations and in Greco-Roman wrestling.-Professional boxing:...

 champion boxer

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

, who is considered by many to be the greatest Irish boxer in history.

Pat McGuigan came into the national spotlight in 1968, when he competed for Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest

Eurovision Song Contest

The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...

(as Pat McGeegan) with the song Chance of a Lifetime, arriving in fourth place. Subsequently, he made some albums and scored a few hits, and his rendition of Danny Boy

Danny Boy

-Background:The words to "Danny Boy" were written by English lawyer and lyricist Frederic Weatherly in 1910. Although the lyrics were originally written for a different tune, Weatherly modified them to fit the "Londonderry Air" in 1913, after his sister-in-law in the U.S. sent him a copy. Ernestine...

became well known. McGuigan was also a respected songwriter.

McGuigan became known in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 after his son's world title winning victory over Eusebio Pedroza

Eusebio Pedroza

Eusebio Pedroza is a native of Panama who holds two records in boxing: His 19 defenses as world featherweight champion are a record for that division, and his seven years as world champion non-stop are a division record too...

. On June 13, 1986, he sang the
American national anthem before the world championship bout between Carlos Santos and Buster Drayton

Buster Drayton

Buster Drayton , was a professional boxer in the Light Middleweight division.Drayton turned pro in 1978 and won the Vacant IBF Light Middleweight Title with a decision win over Carlos Santos in 1986. He defended the belt twice before losing it to Matthew Hilton the following year...

in New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

.

Pat McGuigan died after a period of illness in 1987. He was 52 years old.