Stuart Cosgrave
The founder of Mondello inspired the greats of motorsport, writes Martin McCarthy
STUART COSGRAVE, who has died aged 78, was a generous, amiable and insightfully determined Dubliner, who designed and built Mondello Park during an era of crisis for Irish motorsport in the late 1960s, thus enabling a bevy of Irish hot shoes, led by John Watson, to hone their talent at home before heading to England, where half a dozen made it all the way to the very top — Formula One. Stuart brought motorcycle speedway to Shelbourne Park and also was general manager at the Donington Park Grand Prix track, before developing the successful academy for future Irish stars that is Kylemore Karting in Dublin.
Stuart, who was born on August 13, 1938, grew up in Donnybrook, attending school in Muckross NS, and later Catholic University School.
He then studied and qualified, like his father, as a solicitor, but even at this early stage, he was well bitten by the speed bug and joined the Leinster Motor Club (LMC) and acquired a Mini 850.
In the 1960s, motorsport in Ireland was all about road circuits — with Dunboyne being the LMC flagship event for the Leinster Trophy, while the Irish Motor Racing Club ran Phoenix Park each autumn.
But while Robin Rennicks, Frank Keane, Michael Smurfit, Rosemary Smith and others mastered the Co Meath track, a number of fatalities meant that by 1967, racing at Dunboyne ceased, and as secretary of the LMC, Stuart had to work with his committee to find an alternative. A phone call by The Irish Times motorsport correspondent, the late Des Bradley, put Stuart in touch with fellow racer and businessman Eddie Regan, and Eddie’s brother-in-law Jim Morrin, who owned land at Caragh, outside Naas, near the Grand Canal aqueduct over the River Liffey.
Stuart had designed a track to be compact and challenging. The trio formed Motor Racing Circuits Ltd and named it after Mondello, a suburb of Palermo in Sicily, home of the great Targa Florio race.
Stuart’s optimistic nature was tested to the limit as the trio and support clubs overcame all manner of obstacles but opened to a huge crowd in May 1968. John Watson won the first single-seater race there and the following year, the cream of that crop — Watson, Brian Cullen and Ken Fildes — began to make occasional forays into European Formula2. Watson went on to become Ireland’s most successful driver ever, with five Grand Prix wins.
Mondello gained momentum in the 1970s, with a golden generation of Eddie Jordan, David Kennedy, Derek Daly, Bernard Devaney, Michael Roe and others being able to master the British circuits using the skills they had learnt at the 1.2-mile Mondello circuit. Stuart ran it successfully, with support from his wife Sheila and daughters Nicola and Alison — attracting big crowds for major meetings and nurturing talents such as Tommy Byrne, Martin Donnelly and others. World champions Emerson Fittipaldi, James Hunt, Mika Hakkinen and Ayrton Senna all raced at Mondello Park on their way to the top.
In the 1980s, recession was difficult for the track, and operations were taken over by Club Consortia and later by race driver and developer Martin Birrane, who has greatly enhanced the facility. Stuart was general manager at the Grand Prix track at Donington Park in England, before returning to Dublin to open Kylemore Karting on the Killeen Road, Dublin 12. He enlarged and expanded it with clever track design, improvement and innovation.
Stuart, who died on June 3, was ill in recent months, but never lost his sense of humour or interest in motorsport matters.