Last evening's online talk by
Brendan O'Connell on his experiences both as competitor and official with the Irish Olympics teams was quite fascinating,
writes Brian Byrne.
Using a Zoom video link, canoeing enthusiasts and other local people tuned in for the event, hosted by
Michael O'Farrell of Kilcullen Canoe Club.
In a preamble Brendan recalled the beginnings of the Kilcullen Canoe Club, which came from the late
Paddy Maloney's early interest in fabrication of canoes in the village. He noted the days of the Kilcullen Regattas, during which hundreds of people would line the banks of the Liffey locally for an afternoon of competitive racing.
Brendan went through the story from his first competitive Olympics in 1972 in Munich, which was tragically disrupted by the massacre of Israeli athletes, and his 1976 adventure in Montreal.
The talk was peppered with a range of personal stories and memories, of his competitions for selection, the Olympic events themselves, and his work while a board member of the Olympic Council of Ireland from 1989. He touched only briefly on his reasons for eventually leaving the board, when the Council was led by
Pat Hickey, 'saying they are for another time'.
Highlights of his Olympics era included meeting his hero, Sweden's
Gert Frederickson, who won gold medals for Olympics canoeing in 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960 and 1964. He was in his late 40s when Brendan met him, "and later into his 80s he was still paddling."
As Transport Manager for the Irish team in 1992, he was present when
Michael Carruth* won Ireland's first ever Olympics gold medal for boxing, and Ireland's first gold since
Ronnie Delaney* brought one home from Melbourne in 1956. His recollection of finding Michael's father Austin sitting alone in a dressing room after the fight, 'thinking of the rest of his family back home' is a particularly poignant one.
Through the talk, viewers were shown a wide range of Brendan's collection of photographs and memorabilia, and all in all, it was an hour or so really well spent last evening.
*Both Ronnie Delaney and Michael Carruth were guests of honour at the Kilcullen Olympians celebration last year as part of Kilcullen 700.
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| Back where it started, Brendan revisits the Munich canoe race site. |
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