‘The Greatest’ – Muhammad Ali’s family history

Muhammad Ali

Today, the world celebrates the 70th birthday of the first and only three-time consecutive World Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.).

In celebration of Muhammad Ali’s extraordinary journey, MyHeritage decided to build his family tree and share his family and personal history.

Muhammad is a descendant of pre-Civil War era American slaves in the American South, and is predominantly of African-American descent, with some Irish and English ancestry.

His Irish ancestry was uncovered through research revealing his descent from a man who lived in the town of Ennis, in County Clare, Ireland.

Abe Grady – great-grandfather to Muhammad Ali – appears to have rented a “house and small garden” in Ennis in 1855 and later decided to move across the pond to the southern US state of Kentucky.

There, Abe met and later married an African-American woman who – according to officials at the County Clare Heritage Centre –  gave birth to Muhammad Ali’s grandfather, John Grady.

View Muhammad Ali’s family tree clicking on the image below:

Muhammad Ali's family tree, click to view.

In September 2009, Muhammad Ali visited Ireland and received an emotional reception from Ennis, his great-grandfather’s hometown.

Welcome: Muhammad Ali with his wife Lonnie (right) and daughter Hana (left) are greeted by a huge crowd. (Credit: www.dailymail.co.uk)

Read a complete article about the visit and see more pictures here.

View images of Muhammad’s life here.

(Sources: wikipedia.org, news.bbc.co.uk, dailymail.co.uk)