The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
“I don’t believe my eyes, it’s Rod Stewart, here in Farranfore and running in our road race.”
“I DON’T believe my eyes, it’s Rod Stewart, here in Farranfore and running in our road race. I think I am going to cry or even faint.” That was the startled reaction of Killarney teenager Denise Cronin on St. Stephen’s Day in 1983. Denis and hundreds of other onlookers were at the finish line of the Fr. Dan Browne Memorial Road Race in Farranfore as the winner dashed across the line having just beaten more than 120 other runners to claim the coveted winner’s cup, one of the most iconic trophies in Irish road running.
As cheers and applause rang out across the Farranfore landscape there was a frantic dash to meet and greet the race winner believed to be Rod Stewart, the British rock singer and songwriter and one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold over 120 million records worldwide. Many fans chased the winner down the road to the village, screaming at him to stop, until they eventually caught up with him. To their disappointment and amusement, the race winner was Dessie O’Connor from Tipperary Town who was, and still is, regularly mistaken for the rock icon at home in Ireland and at his home in Louisiana in ther United States.
This is just one of the many stories from one of the oldest road races in Ireland. What started with just 20 runners in 1961, attracted a field of over 450 runners in 2019.
Farranfore Athletic Club was established in 1932 by a local committee that included John J. Crowley, Patrick J. Broderick, Sonny Barry, Garry Barry, Con McGillycuddy and Michael Barry. The club featured prominently in Track and Field athletics and Cross Country in the early years and this was followed by road running success in the late 1950s.
“Road races only began in the late 1950s with the development and popularity of road running shoes. Farranfore club hosted a few local races in 1959 before staging their first major race, the Fr.
Dan Browne Road Race in 1961. Fifty eight years later, the race is still going strong and is now listed as the second oldest road races in Ireland just behind one that takes place in Dublin. The original route was over 4.16 miles starting just outside the Kerry Agri Business facility in Farranfore and running to Firies Village past the Church and back to Farranfore,” said Jerome Crowley from Farranfore Athletic Club.
The inaugural winner in 1961 was Currow native Tom McCarthy who was a member of Farranfore Athletic Club.
McCarthy was an exceptional runner and while in England, Canada and America in the 1960s he won numerous high profile titles. In 1957 he won the London Youths Cross-country title while in 1960 he finished second in the All Ireland 15 mile road championship. In 1965 he outclassed a top International field to win the Cherry Tree Marathon, later named the New York Marathon, in a time of 2 hours 29 minutes.
Prior to the 1961 Farranfore Road Race the local priest, Fr. O’Leary C.C. presented a magnificent cup, which was originally used in the Firies GAA Parish League during the 1950s, to Farranfore Athletic Club who in turn dedicated the cup to the memory of Fr. Dan Browne who died tragically in Wales.
Fr. Browne, a native of Molahiff, the son of a local tailor, was ordained in Maynooth and assigned to a parish in Wales. A class mate and friend was Fr. Gearoid O’Donnchadhu who later spent many years at the Institute of Technology in Tralee.
Shortly after taking up his post in Wales, Fr. Browne drove to Birmingham to visit Fr. O’Donnchadhu but was tragically killed in a road traffic accident. Today his memory is commemorated each Christmas when Farranfore hosts a road race in his memory.
“In the early years of the race, during the 1960s, it was a Handicap Race ensuring all the entrants had an equal chance of success. Each runner was given a time handicap depending on their ability and previous performance at events in Kerry. In that period Dan Murphy from Ardfert won it on four consecutive years between 1976 and 1970 with Jimmy O’Sullivan from Kenmare winning in 1963 and again in 1965. James Clifford from Faha was the 1966 winner from a field of 20 runners. In the early years the race took place sometime between Christmas and Easter but in the early 1970s we decided on St. Stephen’s Day for the race. We found more people participated and especially people home for Christmas. It became a highlight of Christmas for many people.”
Each year the race is filled with drama and excitement. The 2003 Farranfore race went down in the history books when Irish International athlete, Freda Davoren from Causeway, was first to cross the line, ahead of all the other 80 male and female athletes in the race. The U.C.C. student posted a highly impressive 22 minutes 30 seconds for the route crossing the line with County Novice cross-country champion, Donal O’Callaghan from Riocht AC. This time is still the course record. Davoran was using the race as part of her grueling training aimed at achieving the qualifying standard in the 1,500m for the Athens Olympics. The Farranfore race attracted the top runners in Ireland during the 1970s, 80s and 90s. Winners included Boston Marathon winner Neil Cusack (Limerick) 1977, Olympian Jerry Kiernan (Clonliffe Harriers/Listowel) 1976, Finbarr Long (UCC) 1976, Liam O’Brien (Middleton) 1980 and 1982, John Griffin (St. Johns) 1979 and 1986, Pat McCarthy (West Limerick) 1985, 1993 and 1994, Michael Herlihy (North Cork) 2009 and 2010, Mark Hanrahan (Leevale) 2011 and 2012.
Kerry winners included John Lenihan (Riocht) 1987, 1988, 1996 and 2004, Kieran Lambe (Tralee) 1997, Enda Granfield (Riocht) 2000, John Barrett (Desmond-Currans) 2001, Donal O’Callaghan (Riocht) 2003, Cian Murphy (Iveragh) 2005 and 2007.
“Ladies running was taking off big time in the 1970s and in 1975 we had a separate section for the Ladies. The inaugural winner was Ann O’Riordan from Kilcummin followed in 1976 by Noreen O’Sullivan from the host club. Kerry runners dominated this section of the race with Kenmare athlete Maureen Harrington winning in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2000 and 2001. She was followed on the honours list by Niamh O’Sullivan from Riocht winner of eight titles between 1993 and 2008.”
So who were the fastest runners on the route?
In 1977 Neil Cusack (Limerick) set a blistering pace to post a winning time of 20 minutes and 3 seconds. Many followers of the sport believed that record would stand for many years. However, in 1985 Pat McCarthy from West Limerick, home on holidays from America where he was on an athletic scholarship, set a new record when he became the first runner to dip under 20 minutes clocking a highly impressive 19 minutes 59 seconds. Two years later John Lenihan (Riocht) knocked one second off the record and then in an octane-fuelled race in 1988, the Ballymacelligott World Hill Running champion shattered the record when he crossed the finish line in a sensational 19 minutes 52 seconds, a record that still stands and is unlikely to be beaten.
The Ladies record is held by Freda Davoren when she posted a blistering 22 minutes 30 seconds on her way to overall race victory in 2003. The nearest time to Davoren was recorded in 2012 by Tralee athlete Laura Crowe running in the colours of Riocht AC when she ran 23 minutes 24 seconds.
One of the most iconic figures in the Farranfore race was club president John J. Crowley, a founder member of the club. His shop on the Firies road was the race headquarters for many years prior to the development of the Farranfore GAA Community Hall in 1989. He served as official race starter for decades and was one of the most active officials in organising and promoting the race along with Jim O’Shea, Jerome Crowley, Joe Clifford, Martin Culloty, John O’Donoghue, John O’Shea and many others.
The winner of the Ladies Race receives the Fr. Gearoid O’Donnchadhu Cup which was presented to Farranfore AC by the Pierce Family from Listowel who have a long association with the race. The New York Trophy, first presented in the early 1980’s, to the winning team was presented to the club by six men from the Farranfore area that were living in New York. They were Mossie and Mike Murphy, Donie Sheehan, Sean Brosnan, Sonny O’Sullivan and Bill Fell. Currently this trophy is now awarded to winners in the masters section of the race.
However success brings its own problems. That was the case surrounding the Farranfore Road Race in 2013.
“We went from fields of 30 and 40 up to 100 along the 4-mile route with relative ease and safety. However in 2011 and 2012 we were faced with entries close to 300. This created major logistical problems, not least a safety issue. We decided in the interest of safety and with growing numbers to shorten the distance to 5Km, mostly along the same route. We knocked off the loop in Firies Village and with the assistance of Kerry County Council and the Gardai had a road closure from Farranfore to Firies, this ensured total safety for the runners. This also ensured more competitors and in 2013 we welcomed 422 runners with that number increasing to 460 in 2018. We also incorporated a fun 2km family race which is proving a great success.”
With the race now over a 5km route, new records were the focus of many top class runners. The inaugural winners over the 5km course were Ed Murphy (Gneeveguilla) and Maria McCarthy (Farranfore) who also won in 2014.
The new records were set during the 2015 race by Laura Crowe (Riocht) 15 minutes 26 seconds and Mark Hanrahan (Leevale) 14 minutes 38 seconds. The Leevale runner also won in 2011 and 2012 while Crowe had victories in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
Others to win over the 5km distance were Tim O’Connor (Riocht) 2014, James Ledingham (Kilkenny City Harriers) 2016 and 2017 and Conor O’Mahony (Riocht) 2018. Olympian Michelle Finn (Leevale) won the Ladies race in 2018, Ide NicDhomhnaill (Donore Harriers) 2017 and Carol Finn (Leevale) in 2016.
Adding another chapter to the Farranfore Road Race story was the 2019 race which saw Michelle Finn from Leevale in Cork win the ladies race in 16 minutes 18 seconds, a full 30 seconds faster than her winning time the previous year. On this occasion Finn ran a spectacular race to finish third overall beating off the challenge of more that 350 runners in the process. Conor O’Mahony (Riocht) retained his men’s title running one second faster than the previous year.
The race may have celebrated its 58th birthday in 2019 but there are still lots of candles to be extinguished on the cake that is the Fr. Dan Browne Road race. Here is to another exciting chapter in the history of this iconic event. On your marks, get set...