Late former jockey fondly remembered in Charleville

NEWS of the death of former champion jockey Martin Moloney of Rathmore House, Ottersfield, Croom, Co. Limerick was received with sadness in Charleville, where he was a familiar figure in his younger days.

Martin was a past pupil of Charleville CBS Secondary School, where he distinguished himself at mathematics, prior to opting to choose racing as his career.

In an article he submitted to the CBS Year Book of 2005/6, Martin recalled his days at the famed Charleville school, which he attended for three years from 1935 to 1938. He wrote of cycling to Croom to get the bus to Charleville every morning:

‘I would leave my bike behind Hartigan’s butcher’s shop in Croom and take the bus to Charleville,’ he wrote. ‘My pals in school were Harry Bally and Maurice Buckley, both from Charleville and Willie O’Brien from Buttevant.’

The latter was also a keen horseman and was to develop into a very fine amateur rider, and was often a rival for Martin at race meetings.

Martin left school at 13 years to train as a jockey at the stables of another Croom man, Marty Hartigan, who stables at Ogbourne near Swindon in Wiltshire, England. The outbreak of the Second World War cut short his promising career as a jockey when the stables were shut down and Martin returned home to Croom.

However, he resumed his riding career and went on to become overall champion jockey in Ireland and also finished second to his brother, Tim, in the English National Hunt table. He rode the winners of three Irish classics and was placed in both the Derby and the Oaks in Epsom.

In 1950, Martin rode 116 winners in Ireland, 66 in in England and five in America.

It took 42 years for his Irish National Hunt record to be exceeded by the great Charlie Swan in 1992.

A head injury sustained in a fall at Thurles race course in in September 1951 forced Martin into premature retirement from the racing world.

He had a book written about him by Guy St. John Williams entitled ‘A Legend in his Own Lifetime,’ was received by Queen Elizabeth and was honoured by the Irish Turf Club.

One of nature’s gentleman, Martin was a daily communicant and lived with his wife, who predeceased him by some years, at Rathmore House in Croom.