Surprise presentation for Kildare Motor Club stalwart

A get-together by members of a motor club established more than half a century ago brought happy memories and at the same time illustrated a changing state in Irish motorsport. 

The lunch occasion in the Hideout in Kilcullen had been planned to surprise one of those there with a presentation for his contribution to the County Kildare Motor Club (CKMC) and to local motorsport.

Liam Murphy was one of the founding members in 1968 when the club was formed to provide local car enthusiasts with outlets for their common interest with car treasure hunts, night navigation rallies, film evenings, and an annual dance. 

But there was a bigger ambition, as photographer and motorsport enthusiast Oliver McCrossan — also at that founding meeting — told last week's group of 30. 

"Some eyebrows were raised when we said we also intended to run a race meeting at the new Mondello Park race-track when it got under way," he recalled. 

Mondello, the first bespoke motor race track in the Republic, opened in May 1968, some weeks later, and among those making a podium finish on that day was the young Liam Murphy in his Sunbeam Sprite. Another of the CKMC's members, Dick O'Reilly, also put in some "very fast laps" in his Mini Chick.

Mondello became where many clubs members and other enthusiasts got their opportunity to develop some serious track skills. Oliver McCrossan name-checked David Hall, Eddie Reagan, Des Donnelly, Sean Connaughton, Michael Roe, Seamus O'Connor, Brendan Conlon, John Burke and Jay O'Malley. 

True to that founding ambition, the club typically organised several race weekends each year through succeeding decades as well as running their own autotests, rallies, kart race meetings, rallycross and 4x4 trials.

John Dowling, also at the CKMC's inaugural meeting, made the surprise presentation to Liam Murphy, whom he noted had spent at least 60 of his 81 years involved in motorsport.

"Not as an observer, not from a distance, but right there in the middle of it. He has to be getting his hands dirty and not just with spanners but in creating, organising and supporting." 

He recalled Liam's great forte was in raising sponsorship for the club and the races they organised in Mondello Park. 

"For one meeting we had so many trophies that we took the whole window in Kerrigan's shop in Naas to show them."

John Dowling said the idea to make the presentation 'sooner rather than later' had come when he and Oliver had driven together to attend the funeral of George Frayne. 

"We were acutely aware of our mortality seeing as we had parted with one of our most popular members in George," he said. He expressed his appreciation on behalf of the club to George's wife Breeda for being present at the lunch.

Current President of the club Robert Moody says their organising of Mondello events is no more as the race-track management do all that themselves. 

But the club has their own test trial events, including most recently their first mud-plugging competition at a venue in Ballysax which had been organised by Liam Murphy. "We had four trial events last year, and this summer we've planned six."

The age profile of those at the lunch highlighted that it's hard these days to get new young enthusiast members for such clubs. 

"Young people are competing in motor races," Robert Moody said. "But they're not getting involved like we used to. For us it was as soon as you could get four wheels on the ground you'd take part in night navigation rallies and trials, do your turns at stewarding. Marshall at Mondello meetings and get into racing on the circuit. Young guys now don't want to do all that early stuff." 

It's not just an Irish issue, he added. 

"When you look at who's popping up on the motorsport WhatsApp groups from across Europe, they're all the same age as us, and the cars they love are the same, from the 1960s and 1970s."

Liam Murphy commented also on how much more expensive it is to get into motorsport now. 

"You could maybe pick up a basic car for €1,500, but by the time you kit yourself out in safety gear it's another three grand. Everything is very expensive here." 

He also highlighted a generational issue about people and their spoken interest in sport. 

"They say they're into motorsport, but that might mean watching a Grand Prix on television. It's a bit like people who say they're into rugby, but mean they watch the internationals ... you don't see them down mucking in at the local pitches."

But the club (cokildaremotorclub.com) remains very active, and last week's celebratory event in the Hideout was a happy buzz of reminisce and recollection, with echoes of gatherings in the same pub through the 1970s and 1980s when it was often where members met to plan and debrief club activities, particularly many night navigation rallies which used to start from there.