[1] On 10 January 1959 he defeated Peter Keenan decisively in an eleventh round TKO in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to take the Commonwealth (British Empire) Bantamweight title.

[4] On 3 November 1959 he took the EBU European Bantamweight title from Italian Piero Rollo in a narrow fifteen round points decision in Wembley, London.

[1][5] He successfully defended the British Empire Bantamweight title against South African Bernie Taylor on 5 December 1959.

[1][7] On 20 October 1962, Gilroy fought fellow Belfast native and Olympic medalist John Caldwell in what is widely regarded as one of the greatest fights ever to be held in Ireland.

He retained his British Empire Bantamweight title, and immediately announced his retirement from his short but successful boxing career.