This restored vintage footage, below, of the 1954 Tour of Ireland offers a fascinating insight into racing in Ireland 65 years ago.
There is also remarkable footage in here of the people and towns of Ireland, and how enthusiastic the country was to cheer on the riders back then in what was just the second edition of the race.
As well as offering a fascinating window
in the country in the 1950s, the racing in the 1954 edition if the Tour of
Ireland was both epic and tragic.
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On the 120-mile stage 5 from Killarney
to Cork, British rider Dennis Westin crashed and was killed when the group he
was in came upon a runaway horse and cart as they approached Glengariff.
The following day, stage 6, saw the
riders race 117 miles from Cork to Waterford. Conditions were so bad, with
sleet and snow, that 60 riders abandoned. That left just 15 in the race,
including Irish riders John Lackey and Shay Elliott.
The following day the final stage took
the riders from Waterford into the heart of Dublin for a finish in St Stephen’s
Green; 137 miles cut to 120 that took 6½ hours.
Bernard Pusey (England A) won the
opening stage and he claimed the race overall. All seven stages bar one were
won by the British riders; Shay Elliott winning stage 5 into Cork from eventual
overall winner Pusey.
Tour of Ireland 1954
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