Here's IrishCentral's top read stories in Irish news today:

Gold medal girl Katie Taylor makes Olympic history for Ireland

Katie Taylor made Olympic history on Thursday afternoon when she defeated her Russian opponent to give Ireland its first gold medal and first gold medal in boxing in 20 years…READ MORE



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Commentator slated after claiming Irish should compete for Britain at London Olympics

An ESPN commentator has been slated for suggesting Ireland should have teamed up with Britain to win Olympic gold…READ MORE

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Ireland at a standstill as boxing hero Katie Taylor will fight for gold – VIDEO

Fans of Olympic hopeful Katie Taylor caused a network outage on Wednesday afternoon, when they attempted to watch her fight online. She fights in the Olympic final in her class today…READ MORE

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Top read story in entertainment news

One Direction’s Niall Horan phoned Olympic medal winner boxer John Joe Nevin to congratulate him

One Direction member and Mullingar native Niall Horan phoned Irish boxer John Joe Nevin to congratulate him on his Olympic success…READ MORE

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Cian O’Connor wins bronze for Ireland – and this time he keeps his medal

Showjumper Cian O’Connor won Olympic bronze for Ireland in London – eight years after he was stripped of the gold medal in Athens…READ MORE