Tour of Ireland 1972

This week we are recognising the 50^th anniversary of Pat Walsh`s participation in the Tour of Ireland race held in August 1972. Pat, formerly of Jamestown, and now in Robinstown, is the only Glenmore man to take part in the Tour of Ireland, we believe. In a recent chat with Pat, he recalled every stage, from Dublin to Athlone, to Galway onto Fermoy, to Dungarvan onto Arklow and finishing in the Phoenix Park. Pat, being an amateur cyclist, finished 16^th place overall. The race was won by Liam Horner from Dublin. Pat was cycling against the top Irish riders and cyclists from Europe as well. The McQuaid brothers were some of Irelands’ finest at the time and Pat McQuaid went on to be the president of the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale), the worlds governing body for cycling. .

Pat was a member of the Glenmore Cycling Club in the 1960`s and 70`s which was part of the ICF body. The club was formed by Bill Walsh, of Cappagh, Pat Roche, of Haggard and Paulie Fitzgerald of Moulerstown.   Pat Walsh recalled other club members of that time including: John Hennessy, of Graiguenakill; John Hennessy, of Busherstown; Robbie Hennessy, of Graiguenakill; Patsy and James Kirwan, of Gaulstown; Pat Power, of Forristalstown; John Joe Murphy, of Ballinlammy; Noel and Kevin Walsh, of Ballyedeen (Tullogher); Pat Greene, of Jamestown; Pat Power, of Snowhill (Slieverue); Gus Malone, of Milepost (Slieveruue); and Tommy Grennan, of Ballyreddy (Tullogher).

Competitive Cycling

For generations, the bicycle has been a part of all our lives. Used for work, commuting and for pleasure. The bicycle has evolved since its inception way back in 1817 by a man called Karl von Drais. Since this first creation, others have had a cut at putting their stamp on it. In the 1860`s  French inventors, Pierre and Ernest Michaux created prototypes with pedals attached to the front wheels. These machines were the first to be called bicycles, but also called boneshakers for their rough ride. The penny farthing was created by James Starley and these oversized front wheeled machines were all the craze in the 1870`s and 1880`s. The name has been noted to have been derived from the comparison between the penny and farthing coins at the time. They were made from all steel with a rubber tyre. Starley’s nephew, John Kemp Starley is credited for inventing what was known as the safety bicycle which had two same size wheels and a chain drive. Brakes and tyres followed shortly after. The pneumatic tyre invention was credited to John Boyd Dunlop, who developed it in Ireland in 1888. Robert Thompson, of England patented the pneumatic tyre 43 years earlier. Both men were not aware of the others work. For the earliest cyclists in Glenmore see our post of 29 December 2019.   

Cycling for sport seemed to have first started in Ireland in the 1860`s. The Dungarvan Ramblers Cycling Club, is recognised as the first official club set up and records show that they had a trophy race in 1869. Governance for the sport was set up in the 1870`s in the form of the Irish Champion Bicycle Club (ICBC). This was an all-island body as Ireland was then part of the United Kingdom. Since the formation of the Free State in 1922, two governing bodies had control of Irish cycling in a 26 and 32 county set up. The ICF was the 26 county body and NCF was the body for the 32 county set up. The two groups amalgamated in 1987 and are now known as Cycling Ireland. During the time of the two separate bodies, they both had their national road race. The ICF had the Tour of Ireland and the NCA had the Ras Tailteann.

The Tour of Ireland–13^th-20^th August 1972

The Raleigh Dunlop Tour of Ireland bicycle race in 1972 attracted 120 riders from eleven regional teams representing six countries. Teams from France and the United States competed, and it was noted that the American team that participated were racing in France as preparation for the Olympics. The tour started on Sunday the 13^th of August 1972 and consisted of eight days or stages totalling 738 miles. Day 1—Dublin to Athlone (96 miles); Day 2—Athlone to Salthill, Galway (75 miles) with an evening time trial held over a 4.5 mile circuit; Day 3—Around Connemara finishing back at Salthill (96 miles); Day 4—Salthill to Limerick (89 miles); Day 5—Limerick to Fermoy (92 miles); Day 6—Fermoy to Dungarvan (94 miles); Day 7—Dungarvan to Arklow (95 miles) and Day 8—a 60 mile dash from Arklow to Dublin, followed by a final 18 lap race around the two miles circuit of Dublin’s Phoenix Park (Liverpool Echo, Sat. 12 Aug. 1972, p. 20).

Glenmore Racers and Races

A number of newspaper reports obtained from the early 70`s detail events run by the Glenmore ICF Cycling Club. The best known of the Glenmore races was the Senior McCalmount Cup which was presented to the winner of the 70 mile road race that commenced at the Scow Bridge, on the Main Road in Ballinaraha. It followed a route past Dan Whelan’s at the Pink Rock, up to Ballycurran, on to Ballyfacey, down to Ballinclare and back to Ballinaraha. Several laps of this route were required to complete 70 miles. In 1970 a Junior race was held the same day consisting of 28 miles duration, and a Beginner’s Race was held. Unfortunately no details concerning the Beginner’s Race were provided in the newspapers. Most of the honours in 1970 went to representatives of the Dublin Wheelers’ Cycling Club. The Glenmore races attracted “a big attendance of spectators.” (Munster Express, Fri. 12 June 1970, p. 38).

In 1971, the Glenmore Club held two race dates. On 3 April 1971 two 50 K. races were held, a senior and a junior open cycle race. The senior race went from Glenmore to Mooncoin and back, and the junior covered the same distance and went from Glenmore to Ferrybank and back. All leading cyclists from Leinster and Munster competed, including representatives from the home club. (Kilkenny People, Fri. 2 April 1971, p. 10). The Cork Weekly Examiner (Thur. 8 April 1971.p. 9) proudly announced, “The 50 K road race, under I.C.F. rules, promoted by the Glenmore Cycling Club, was won by Ballincollig (Cork) rider Donal Crowley, who won by a wheel in front of Pat Hegarty of Fermoy, after local rider Pat Greene was caught with just 200 yards to go.”

In late May the second race date was held in 1971. The results were published in the Waterford News and Star, (Fri. 4 June 1971, p. 13) as follows:

Beginners Race: 1^st P. Kirwan, Glenmore C.C.; 2^nd J.J. Murphy, do.; 3^rd C. Bryrne, Dublin Wheelers.
Unplaced Locals—1^st P. Kennedy, Glenmore C.C.; 2^nd P. Power, do; 3^rd Gus Malone, do.
Junior—1^st J. Kelly, Carrick Wheelers Road Club; 2^nd T. Ryder, Eagle C.C.; 3^rd D. Crowley, Ballincollig C.C.
Senior Race—McCallfont (sic) Cup; 1^st T. Colbert, Tailteann C.C.; 2^nd S. Lally, Obelisk Wheelers; 3^rd T. Ryan, Carrick Wheelers Road Club; 4^th J. Keenan, Orwell Wheelers; 5^th P. Schweppes, Tailteann C.C.; 6^th N. Harte, C.D.R.C.
2^nd CATEGORY—1^st J. Foley, Dublin Wheelers; 2^nd P. Fitton, Ballincollig C.C.

Members of the Glenmore club often competed in racing events across the southeast. At the Avonree Festival in Callan it was noted that competitors from the southern area of the county won first, second, and third places in the five mile road race for ordinary bicycles. Fifteen competitors took part in the race, and according to the newspaper account all three places were won by Glenmore Club members. Mick Murphy, of Glenmore came in First; Second Place was won by Dermot Campion, do; and third went to Tommy Grennan, of Tullogher, (Munster Express, Fri. 19 June 1970, p. 37). The Irish Examiner (Thur. 8 July 1971, p. 13) reported in 1971 that “Pat Greene, the 22 year old …was in fine form at the Ballyduff Upper annual open sports day on Sunday where he completed a double in the one mile and three mile cycle events. In the mile scratch Greene scored easily from Peter Hegarty (Fermoy). In the three mile open handicap he came home in similar style over his clubmate Pat Walsh.”

In addition to road races track cycling was also popular. Pat Walsh explained that the tracks at that time were held on grass and laps of the track were done on fixed gear bikes. An article from the New Ross Standard from 24 August 1968 gave a report from a sports event in Gorey which included both athletics and track cycling. Pat Walsh raced in the 2 mile track cycle event and was beaten into second place by Liam Horner from Dublin. Horner went on to represent Ireland in the Olympics held that year in Mexico. The Rathgormac Cup was another track event, which seems to have only run for one year around 1970. Pat raced and won that cup on that occasion. Enquiries made to former cyclists from that area, confirm that the event took place for only one year. No explanation was provided as to why it did not continue.

Some Supporters

Lastly, we came across information concerning the annual Club raffle held on 21 December 1971. It provides the names of a lot of local people from fifty years ago as well as the prizes from that era. The following supporters won the following prizes:

1^st Prize—£15 Dick O’Shea of Scart;
2^nd Prize—£10, James Tobin of Mullinavat;
3^rd Prize—£5 Triona Mackey of Glenmore;
4^th Prize—bottle of whiskey, Michael Coady of Carrigcloney;
5^th Prize—Sweep ticket, Patrick O’Connor;
6^th Prize—bottle of wine, Thomas Hartley, Ballinclare;
7^th Prize—100 cigarettes, Alice Forristal, Slieverue;
[The 8^th prize and winner are missing from the newspaper article.]
9^th Prize—box of chocs, Jim McBride of Robinstown.  (Waterford News & Star, Fri. 24 Dec. 1971, p. 5).

Thanks to Pat Walsh for his excellent recollections and explanations. The feature photo above is Pat Walsh taken by Danny Dowling at one of the Glenmore race days around 1970.

Pat Dowling

Please send any additional information or corrections to glenmore.history@gmail.com.