‘I SUPPOSE YOU’VE NOT BEEN TO DROMCOLLOGHER?’ ... By John Walshe
The songs of Percy French (1854-1920) are still fondly remembered, especially such ditties as ‘Are You Right There, Michael’, ‘The Mountains of Mourne’ and ‘Phil The Fluther’s Ball’. Another of the Roscommon-born compositions celebrated the town of Dromcollogher, with one of the lines going ‘I Suppose You’ve Not Been To Dromcollogher?’
Well, for this writer its all of 48 years since his first ‘Been To Dromcollogher’, making the trip on that occasion in the company of Midleton club-mate Liam O’Brien. This was probably the first edition of the now long-standing road race, which over the years has attained a certain allure which somehow attracts one back year after year.
The previous day in 1978 Liam had won the first of his 11 national 3000m steeplechase titles and no doubt it was out of loyalty to Fr Liam Kelleher (who had moved from Midleton to Tullylease the previous autumn) that he traveled in support of this new event.
The race was founded by local shopkeeper Christy Brosnan, along with Joe Quaid of the North Cork club, which Fr Kelleher had founded. The course then was one complete lap with the finish in the main square making the distance around four-and-a-quarter miles. Now, it’s a measured four-miler.
Two things mark out this race as unique. One, it always takes place on a Monday evening, and secondly its part of an annual carnival which is one of the oldest in the country, having commenced back in the 1940s. Along with Liam O’Brien, over the years such well-known names such as John Lenihan, John Griffin, Desmond O’Connor and Lizzie Lee have graced these roads around Dromcollogher.
The race headquarters are now in the excellent Dromcollogher-Broadford GAA complex adjacent to the start. In a throwback to the past, there is no chip timing. Just the efficient Racemaster result system operated by Clare couple James and Sally Sexton. Entry fee was only €10 with a fine array of prizes presented in a variety of categories in the local hall afterwards.
Despite the 8pm start, the sun was still high in the sky on one of the warmest days of the year as the 100 or so runners lined up with the first mile straight out the Newcastle West road. The humid conditions certainly didn’t hinder winner Karl Fitzmaurice as he took command from the start, going on to cross the line in 19:56 which was not too far outside Sean Doyle’s course record of 19:38.
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| Winner Karl Fitzmaurice receiving the Christy Brosnan Memorial Cup from Dan Horan |
A member of Shannon AC, Fitzmaurice is a former scholarship attendee at McNeese State University in Louisiana. He has a 10,000m best of 30:45.23 and last November notched up a significant victory when winning the Brooklyn Half-Marathon in a time of 70:59.
It was a similar name that dominated the women’s race as Carol Finn made it three wins in a row – and six victories in all – when coming home in sixth place overall with her time of 24:54.
Local man Eugene Noonan is now the main organiser, with help from West Limerick AC. Amongst those representing the club on the night were two great stalwarts of the sport, Mike MacDomhnaill – who won the race in 1985 - and Seamus Cawley.
Mike, along with his wife Carmel, has been the mainstay of athletics in the region for many years. Their daughter, Sorcha, was a member of the Irish team (along with Niamh Allen and Fiona Everard) that finished second at the recent European 10,000m Cup in Italy.
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| Carol Finn receiving her prize from Dan Horan |
Seamus Cawley has also etched his place in running folklore as one of only nine runners to have completed every Dublin Marathon since the event commenced in 1980.
Percy French’s tribute and the long-running carnival and road race are two of the happiest occurrences associated with Dromcollogher. But there is also sadly a heartbreaking story which will be commemorated this coming September, 100 years after its tragic occurrence.
On September 5th, 1926, 48 people – many of them children - died when a candle ignited a highly flammable nitrate film in an upstairs cinema in the town. It wiped out a tenth of Dromcollogher's population and remains one of the deadliest fires in Irish history.
The 48 lives lost that night constituted the worst single disaster in the new Irish state until the fire at Whiddy Island in Bantry in 1979, in which 50 people died. Two years later, 48 people also perished in the Stardust tragedy in Dublin.
A national commemorative postage stamp will be issued in September, featuring an image of a funeral procession through Dromcollogher as part of the commemorations. The full story of that ill-fated night can be currently seen on the Echo Live website – https://www.echolive.ie/nostalgia/arid-41865438.html - written by John Dolan.
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Results
1 0:19:56 KARL FITZMAURICE, Shannon A. C M 25 1
2 0:21:40 ALAN MC CUTCHEON, Dooneen A.C M 24 2
3 0:22:17 KARL LENIHAN, West Limerick A. C. M O/45 14 3
4 0:23:35 SEAN MC AULIFFE, West Limerick A. C. M O/40 44 4
5 0:24:13 FRANK O REGAN, West Limerick A. C. M O/40 42 5
6 0:24:54 CAROL FINN, Leevale A.C F 50 6
7 0:25:08 KAROC DOWNEY, West Limerick A. C. M O/45 48 7
8 0:25:30 CORMAC DOWNES, West Limerick A. C. M 10 8
9 0:25:50 RYAN MORRISSEY, Newcastlewest M O/40 91 9
10 0:26:17 SINEAD MC DERMOTT, Dooneen A.C F 90 10
