Editing Pat O'Callaghan (section)

===Early sporting life===

O’Callaghan was born into a family that had a huge interest in a variety of different sports. His uncle, Tim Vaughan, was a national sprint champion and played [[Gaelic football]] with [[Cork GAA|Cork]] in 1893. O’Callaghan's eldest brother, Seán, also enjoyed football as well as winning a national 440 yards hurdles title, while his other brother, [[Con O'Callaghan (decathlete)|Con]], was also regarded as a gifted runner, jumper and thrower. O’Callaghan's early sporting passions included fishing, poaching and Gaelic football. He was regarded as an excellent midfielder on the [[Banteer GAA|Banteer]] football team, while he also lined out with the [[Banteer GAA|Banteer]] [[hurling]] team.

At university in Dublin, O’Callaghan broadened his sporting experiences by joining the local senior [[Rugby union|rugby]] club. This was at a time when the [[Gaelic Athletic Association]] forbade players of [[Gaelic games]] from playing "foreign sports". It was also in Dublin that O’Callaghan first developed an interest in [[hammer throwing]]. In 1926, he returned to his native Duhallow where he set up a training regime in that discipline. Here he fashioned his own hammer by boring a one-inch hole through a 16&nbsp;lb shot and filling it with the ball-bearing core of a bicycle pedal. He also set up a throwing circle in a nearby field where he trained. In 1927, O’Callaghan returned to Dublin where he won that year's hammer championship with a throw of {{cvt|142|ft|3|in|order=flip}}. In 1928, he retained his national title with a throw of {{cvt|162|ft|6|in|order=flip}}, a win that allowed him to represent [[Ireland at the 1928 Summer Olympics]]. On the same day, O’Callaghan's brother, Con, won the shot put and the decathlon and also qualified for the Olympic Games. Between winning his national title and competing in the Olympic Games O’Callaghan improved his throwing distance by recording a distance of {{cvt|166|ft|11|in|order=flip}} at the [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]] Sports in [[Belfast]].