 Dickie
Comerford Remembered
At the Usher Irish Road Clubs
113th Annual Dinner Dance in the Citywest Hotel in Saggart on Friday 21st
November the Comerford family and friends, twenty-six in all, will gather
together to commemorate the 10th anniversary of their parents, Dickie and Eileen
Comerford's passing and for the presentation of the Dickie Memorial Trophy to
the 2003 winner of the Dickie Comerford Memorial Race held on Sunday 31st August
last. His daughter Bernie will present the trophy. Her sister Carmel and family
made the trip from Boston especially for the occasion.
The Comerford family have
been associated with the Usher Irish Road Club going back to the 40's when
Dickie was a top class cyclist of his day. He was a Kilkenny man and according
to his daughter Bernie, after saving for 6 months at the age of 16 to buy a
brand new racing bike at the vastly cost of one pound, he took up cycling. One
of his most memorable wins was the Dun Laoghaoire Grand Prix in 1950 when he
beat English rider Brian Robinson who later went on to become a professional and
took part in the Tour De France. After his competitive cycling days were over,
Dickie remained a loyal member of his club and took on several club committee
positions, including elected President and for years he presented a lovely
trophy to the winner of the club's massed start at the annual Dinner Dance. In
the 50's and 60's Dickie and his wife Eileen were a well known duo to be seen on
his Gold Wing 1200 motorbike, following and stewarding the Tour of Ireland, the
Coast to Coast, the Birr 3.Day. For the first few early Gorey 3.Days, Dickie
towed a caravan ahead of the race with his young family in tow whilst his wife
Eileen drove the Bonk Wagon for the club. Their home in Mount Brown was open
house for all cyclists. After his competitive cycling days were over he cycled
leisurely for years, each day taking the same route, through the Phoenix, out on
to the Strawberry Beds and back to his home in Mount Brown. In his latter years
of retirement, and failing health he moved out to Lucan to live with his
daughter Bernie. Bernie often relates the story of the day he went missing and
after a lengthy search by the family they traced him back to Mount Brown where
he had cycled to from Lucan on his old long since used racing bike which he
hauled out of storage in Bernie's shed when he had got the house to himself. He
was aged 76 at the time. It was his last spin and the bike was duly locked
securely in the shed from thereon.
When the club went through
its hardest financial years in the early 60's and the club and cycling was at an
all time low and a time when many clubs were folding up, according to Sam D'Arcy,
Dickie put his hand in his pocket on many an occasion to keep it going and not
alone helped the club but also the governing cycling body of the time - CRE.
Though none of Dickie's
family took up cycling, they have never lost contact with the Irish Road Club
and to keep his achievements remembered, his son Richard had a rear mech.
belonging to Dickie's last racing bike made into a lovely trophy for the winner
of his annual memorial race run by Usher Irish Road Club for the last 10 years.
Dickie passed away shortly
after his 78th birthday and was predeceased by a month by his wife Eileen but
will always be remembered by the older members of the cycling fraternity and his
old club.
Dickie winning the Dun Laoghaire Grand Prix in 1950
Result: 1 D Comerford IRC,
2 Brian Robinson Huddersfield RC, 3 T Henshaw Longeaton CC
4 P Marlow Dublin Whls, 5 D Forde Malboro CAC, 6 J Cluddeford Malboro
London.
Cycle Race in Trinity College Grounds
Grand Prix Na Eireann - Jim McQuaid wins from D Comerford in 1950
Sam D'Arcy with Dickie on his 78th birthday in 1993
Dickie blocks his ears from the loud music at IRC dinner
Dickie with his wife Eileen
The Comerford Family and friends many of whom returned
from
Boston, USA for the IRC Dinner Dance
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