Dublin Wheelers is a cycling club operating from the northside of

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

since 1933. As of 2022, it is based in Santry.

History

The club was established in 1933 by a group of six friends on a weekend away cycling in

Rostrevor Rostrevor () is a village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the foot of Slieve Martin on the coast of Carlingford Lough, near Warrenpoint. The Kilbroney River flows through the village and Rostrevor Forest is nearb ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

. The club founders were Eric Mason, David Perkins, Jim Doogue, Joe Walsh, Tommy and Leo McManmon. At peak a couple of hundred riders would depart from outside the offices of the

Irish Press ''The Irish Press'' ( Irish: ''Scéala Éireann'') was an Irish national daily newspaper published by Irish Press plc between 5 September 1931 and 25 May 1995. History Foundation The paper's first issue was published on the eve of the 1931 ...

in Dublin. A touring section later developed, and the club ran well-attended time trials. The club was one of only 2-3 Irish cycling clubs to have a fixed base, in its case a converted bus on a site in Ashtown, near the

Phoenix Park The Phoenix Park () is a large urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its perimeter wall encloses of recreational space. It includes large areas of grassland and tree-lined avenues, and since ...

Notable members

The most notable past member of the club is the great

Shay Elliott Seamus "Shay" Elliott (4 June 1934 – 4 May 1971) was an Irish road bicycle racer, Ireland's first major international rider, with a record comparable only to Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche. He was the first Irish person to ride the Tour de Fr ...

who won the

Irish National Cycling Championships The Irish National Cycling Championships are annual cycle sport, cycling races to decide the Irish National Cycling Championships, cycling champion for several disciplines, across several categories of rider. The men's road championship is usual ...

in 1952 and 1954. He was the first Irish person to embark on a professional career, in 1956, and won stages in the three big tours of France, Italy and Spain. In 1962 he finished 2nd in the World Championship Road Race in Salo and in 1963 he was the first Irish man to wear the Yellow Jersey in the Tour de France. To great excitement at the time he heroically held on to the Jersey for three days. In recognition of his great achievements he was awarded honorary life membership of Dublin Wheelers.Shay Elliott-Cycle of Betrayal
- 2009 Documentary - Zampano Productions Another member was Christy Kimmage, who rode in the World Championships, and three of whose family, including

Paul Kimmage Paul Kimmage (born 7 May 1962) is an Irish sports journalist and former amateur and professional road bicycle racer, who was road race champion of Ireland in 1981, and competed in the 1984 Olympic Games. He wrote for ''The Sunday Times'' newsp ...

were also active in Irish cycling, while another member, Willie Marks, was active from 1936 to 2014 (aged 95). Members of the club also played a strong role in the national cycling bodies, CRE and later the Irish Cycling Federation, which after later mergers now operates as

Cycling Ireland Cycling Ireland or CI is the operating name of the national governing body of the sport of cycling in the island of Ireland. Formally the body is a charitable company limited by guarantee, the Irish Cycling Federation. CI is a member of the U ...

, notably Steve Lawless as general secretary and later president, Donal O'Connell as a race planner and selector, Joe Doyle as national treasurer for more than a decade, and Ian Gallahar as PR Officer, all also serving as race officials. Donal O’Connell and Paddy McInerney co-founded the veterans association, which O’Connell led for many years. Others organised national races.

Today

Dublin Wheelers is active in Irish club bicycle racing, and has redeveloped a touring section. The club welcomes new members and the rise in cycling's popularity saw it grow from under 50 to around 90 between 2007 and 2012, and further since.

Honours

References

{{reflist

External links

Dublin Wheelers Cycling Club website
Cycling clubs Cycling in Ireland Cycling teams established in 1933 1933 establishments in Ireland