The Irish National Cycling Championships are annual cycling races to decide the Irish cycling champion for several disciplines, across several categories of rider.
The men's road championship is usually held on a Sunday at end of June; the women's race is held the previous day. The winning élite rider wears the national champion's jersey for all road races in the following 12 months. Unlike most countries, the jersey does not contain the national flag or stripes from the flags colours; instead, the jersey has a wide green band superimposed with a shamrock, the national flower of Ireland. The men's under-23 champion is awarded to the first under-23 in the élite race. The junior road races are held on the same day as the élite and the time-trial championship is earlier in the week. The national criteriums are later in the summer.
Medals
National Championships
Championship medal 1885–1923
NACA/NCA medal 1923 to 1979
ICF/NICF medal 1967 to 1979
Irish Cycling Tripartite Committee medal 1979 onwards
1875–1905: Richard J. Mecredy, Arthur du Cros, Charlie Pease, Bob Reynolds 9 Championships each,
Harry Reynolds 5 Championships,
R. Hassard 6 Championships
25ml track: 1889: Arthur du Cros; 1890 & 1891 R.J. Mecredy; 1895: Harry Large; 1896: Harry Reynolds; 1909 Sam Cochrane; 1924 Culvenor Gibson.
50ml track: 1876: H. H. Law; 1896: M. S. Walsh;
1890s R. J. Mecredy won the 2nd 100ml championship
Inter Club Team Championship: 1886, 1887: Leinster C.C.
1895 track: J. Mackey
1896 &1898 L. R. Oswald-Healy of DUBC won an Irish championship
1904 motor paced: Harry Mussen
440yds, 880yds, 1ml, 2ml, 3ml, 4ml.
5ml; 5ml Pt. to Pt.; 10ml; 500m; 1,000m; 2,000m
3,000m; 5,000m; 6,000m; 7,000m; 8,000m; 10,000m
10,000m Pt. to Pt,; 3/4ml; 6ml; 4,000m; 8ml;
1962 5,000m point to point: Dan Ahearne
Sprint; 1km TT; Pursuit; Points
Junior: 1,000m; 1 mile; 5,000m; 5 miles; Others
Mountain bike
Marathon XC
Hill Climb
Elite/Senior Men
Elite/Senior Women
Criterium
Elite/Senior Men
Elite/Senior Women
(* Demo Event)
Cyclo-Cross
Elite/Senior Men
Elite/Senior Women
Notes
The Irish National Cycling Championships are annual cycling races to decide the Irish cycling champion for several disciplines, across several categories of rider. Through the years there have been new championships added and older championships dropped as social and sporting attitudes changed.
Track
Up to the late 1960s the distances for track championships were affected by economic factors. Combined athletic and cycling meetings were held in every part of the country and attracted large attendances, the outstanding cyclists of the day were household names. This led to the organisers of meetings demanding a championship (county, provincial or national) to attract bigger gates. The number of championships was increased to meet this demand and this has created difficulties in compiling these lists because one cannot be sure that the absence of a result for an event is due to lack of research or the fact that the event did not take place in a particular year. There were, of course, core distances that were regularly raced for many years. No matter what the motive for putting them on the calendar these championships were keenly contested and the winners are due as much respect as those who won the events that have persisted through the years.
Championships were raced on a mixture of hard surfaces and on grass depending on where they were held. Championships were not designated as grass track or hard track but rather as distances.
After the late 1960s the "local" began to die in Ireland. Sports meetings faded out with showbands. People became less interested in going down the road to see local heroes when they could sit at home and look into the pores of the best competitors in the world on television. This brought a contraction in the number of track championships back to the core distances and disciplines.
Road
Road racing was less affected by economics and fashion. Time trials have been a feature since the earliest days. It should be remembered that time trials became so popular in the United Kingdom because cycle racing on the open road was illegal. Riders wore sports jackets and tights as part of the strategy to avoid detection and prosecution. Once independence was achieved in part of Ireland time trialling escaped from these stifling rules and gradually massed start road racing became popular and championships were held.
The classic time trial distances were 25, 50 and 100 miles and 12 and 24 hours. From the early 1960s the longer events faded away. Although the 25 miles remained on the books there was sometimes a slight variation in the distance and out and home courses were not always used.
Massed start championships for men were initially held at more than one distance each year but by the early 1960s settled into one event of at least 100 miles/160 km.
Categories
Racing as recorded in Ireland was almost completely amateur and no professional stand-alone championships were ever held. When the Olympic Games abandoned the amateur ruling, cycling internationally adopted a system of over 23 Elite and under 23 with no distinction between amateurs and professionals.
Junior racing
The term "Junior" has had many meanings. At one time the gradings were Novice (who had not won 3 prizes), Junior (who had won 3 prizes) and Senior (who had gained a place in the first three in a Senior championship). Later "Junior" meant under 18 on a particular date. There were occasional "Youths" championships which at one time meant under 20 years on a specified date but this may not have been consistent.
Women's racing
Women's racing goes back to at least the 1930s but only a small number of championships are recorded before the 1980s.
Organisations
At various times there was more than one body organising cycling in Ireland and each promoted their own championship. These are all regarded as being of equal merit in this listing.
The overlaps are:
1900s,10s and 20s :Irish Cycling Association (ICA) <> Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA);
1936 to 1940: National Athletic & Cycling Association (NACA) <> Cumann Rothuideachta na hÉireann (CRE);
1950 to 1967:Cumann Rothuideachta na hÉireann (CRE) & Northern Ireland Cycling Federation (NICF) <> National Cycling Association of Ireland (NCA);
^ a b"Irish National Road Championships: Day 2 – June 30: Road Races". Cycling News. 30 June 2002.
^ a b"Irish National Road Championships". Cycling News. 29 June 2003.
^ a b"Irish National Road Championships". Cycling News. 27 June 2004.
^"2009 Irish National Road Race Championship results". IrishCycling.com. Archived from the original on 2 July 2009. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
^"2010 Irish National Road Race Championship results". IrishCycling.com. Archived from the original on 30 June 2010. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
^"2011 Irish National Road Race Championship results". IrishCycling.com. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
^"2012 Irish National Road Race Championship results". IrishCycling.com. Archived from the original on 28 June 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
^"2015 Irish National Road Race Championship results". StickyBottle. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
^"Roche solos to second national road race title". CyclingNews. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
^"Ben Healy wins National Championships in Limerick". The 42. 4 October 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
^ a b c dShane Stokes (26 June 2009). "DERVAN AIMING FOR NUMBER FIVE". Irish Cycling/Post. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2009.
^Shane Stokes (26 June 2010). "2010 Womens Elite RR result". Irish Cycling/Post. Archived from the original on 29 June 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
^Shane Stokes (25 June 2011). "HORGAN BEATS MORIARTY TO TAKE SUPERB FIFTH NATIONAL TITLE". Irish Cycling/Post. Archived from the original on 27 June 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
^Shane Stokes (24 June 2012). "SPATH SCOOPS IRISH ROAD RACE CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE AHEAD OF HORGAN AND DILLON". Irish Cycling/Post. Archived from the original on 29 June 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
^StickyBottle (28 June 2012). "SFull result of women's road race at National Road Champs, Omagh". StickyBottle.
^CyclingNews (27 June 2012). "Boylan defends Irish national championship". CyclingNews.
^Shane Stokes (28 June 2008). "FOURTH WIN IN A ROW FOR DERVAN". Irish Cycling/Post. Archived from the original on 11 October 2008. Retrieved 23 October 2009.
^Shane Stokes (27 June 2009). "WILSON PIPS DILLON FOR NATIONALS GOLD". Irish Cycling/Post. Archived from the original on 4 September 2009. Retrieved 23 October 2009.
^ a b c d e f g hKilkelly to Kelly
^ a b c"Irish National Road Championships: Day 1 – June 28: Individual Time Trial". Cycling News. 28 June 2002.
^ a b"Irish National Championships". Cycling News. 1 July 2001.
^ a bCarbery, 70 years of Irish athletics
^ a b c d e fKelly to Kilkelly
^Medal
^ a bNCA 21st Birthday Book
^ a b70 Years of Irish Athletics
^Irish Independent, 30 December 1974
^"2014 Results" (PDF).
^"2015 Results" (PDF).
^Tommy Campbell (16 June 2010). "2010 Criterium result". Irish Cycling/Post. Archived from the original on 25 July 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
^Tommy Campbell (18 June 2011). "2011 Criterium result". Irish Cycling/Post. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
^Stickybottle (4 September 2014). "2014 Criterium result". Stickybottle.
^Stickybottle (7 August 2015). "2015 Criterium result". Stickybottle.
^Stickybottle (28 July 2017). "2017 Criterium result". Stickybottle.
^Stickybottle (15 June 2018). "2018 Criterium result". Stickybottle.
^Tommy Campbell (9 January 2011). "2011 Cyclo-Cross result". Irish Cycling. Archived from the original on 13 January 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
^Shane Stokes (8 January 2012). "2012 Cyclo-Cross result". Irish Cycling. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
^Caroline Martinez (13 January 2013). "2013 Cyclo-Cross result". Sticky Bottle.
^Ger Cromwell (12 January 2013). "2014 Cyclo-Cross result". Sticky Bottle.
^"Results: National Cyclocross Championships 2016". Cycling Ireland. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
^"Results: National Cyclo-Cross Championships". Cycling Ireland. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
^ a b"Results: National Cyclo-Cross Championships". sticky bottle. 14 January 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
^"Results: National Cyclo-Cross Championships". sticky bottle. 13 January 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
^ a b"Results: National Cyclo-Cross Championships". sticky bottle. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
^"Results: National Cyclo-Cross Championships". sticky bottle. 13 January 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
Other external sources
Information not referenced above was gleaned from:
NCA 21st Birthday Book published by Kerry Sloane which listed NCA championships between 1938 and 1959.
1978 NCA Racing Calendar which repeated some of the above list and brought it up to that date with some anomalies.
NICF Year Books between 1950 and 1975, with some gaps, provided by Jack Watson and examined by Rory Wyley.
Cycling Ireland Year Books 1988 to 2012, examined by Rory Wyley.
The Cyclist and The Irish Cyclist volumes from 1934 to 1940 in the National Library of Ireland.
The Irish Cyclist files in the archives of the Royal Irish Automobile Club in the care of Bob Montgomery: November 1890 – May 1891, June–October 1891, Jan–March 1898, April–June 1898, 1898–1899, July–December 1906, July–December 1908, The Wheelman 1902
Major input from Cyril Smyth, chairman, Dublin University Central Athletic Club.
Dundalk A Cycling History by Kevin Dolan; no ISBN
External links
Irish Cycling Championships - Official Site
2009 National Road Race Results - Elite, U23, Junior
2008 National Road Race Results - Elite, U23, Junior
2002 National Road Race Results - Elite Men, Women