This week: Former Heavyweight Champion Floyd Patterson in Ireland; The life and death of 19th century Irish-American boxer Jimmy Elliott; and the modern architectural history of Dublin.

Floyd Patterson

Floyd Patterson was known not only for his prowess in the ring, but also for his humility and kindness outside of it. This former World Heavyweight Champion had a long career from the 1950s to the 1970s, featuring bouts with Ingemar Johansson, Sonny Liston, and Muhammad Ali.

His wife, Janet Seaquist Patterson had roots in County Offaly, and in retirement, Floyd spent a lot of time here in Ireland. Our reporter Marc McMenamin found out more about this enigmatic boxer, and his relationship with this country.

He talks to Al Seaquist, a nephew (by marriage) of Floyd Patterson who lives in Rhode, County Offaly; and Pauric McShea, – a sporting icon in his own right in Donegal, having won two Gaelic Football Ulster Championship titles with Donegal in the 1970s. Pauric recalls meeting Floyd in Bundoran.

We also hear Floyd Patterson's voice from the archives - in August 1978 he was interviewed by BBC reporter Alan Green on Buncrana beach in County Donegal, six years after his last professional fight against Muhammad Ali.

Jimmy Elliott

We're going to hear now about a man who was perhaps as ungentlemanly as it gets. 'He had’, according to the New York Times, ‘not even that kind of honor which is said to be common among thieves. He was treacherous, ungrateful, cowardly, revengeful, mean, malignant, and as ugly in temper as he was in person. Those who knew him best loathed him the most.’ He was ‘a contemptible cur’ who contained ‘all the odious characteristics of the serpent warmed into life.’

So said the New York Times obituary for James Elliott, an Irish boxer who had once been the Heavyweight Champion of America. Over a week earlier, on 1 March 1883, Elliot was shot and fatally wounded in a Chicago saloon.

To learn more about the circumstances of that death, and the life that preceded it, Myles is joined by Ian Kenneally, historian and researcher for The History Show, who has written about those events.

Dublin's Modern Architectural History

The Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt once wrote: "The character of whole nations, cultures and epochs speaks through the totality of architecture - which is the outward shell of their being"

This is certainly true of the city of Dublin in the 20th century. Its buildings are physical manifestations of the city's political, social, cultural and economic histories.

More Than Concrete Blocks is a series of richly illustrated books, that focuses on architecture as the central thread, in the story of a capital city in formation. The third and final volume, published last year, is edited by Ellen Rowley and Carole Pollard, and covers the years 1973 to 1999. It features 31 Case Studies, covering buildings and structureswhich were completed during that period.

As we’ll hear, this is not a "best of" collection of architectural history. It’s rather a representation of the capital’s built environment. The series incorporates overlooked architecture, like industrial buildings, and private and public housing – to illustrate the relationship between architecture and people.

The series editor, architectural historian Dr Ellen Rowley, joins Myles in studio. The book is called More Than Concrete Blocks: Volume 3, 1973 - 1999. Its published by UCD Press.