Brendan's Olympics blazer on display
Maybe a little lost in the summer evening reflections in O'Connell's Bar window, in the middle of a 2024 Olympic Games where Ireland is already doing well, a blazer belonging to Kilcullen Olympian Brendan O'Connell is on display for the duration, writes Brian Byrne.
Brendan participated in canoeing events in the 1972 Olympics in Munich and the 1976 Games in Montreal, and attended in official capacities at a number of subsequent Games — the blazer is from the Los Angeles event in 1984.
He is one of five people with direct Kilcullen connections who have participated in the Olympics, the others being the late Col Bill Mullins, the late Colm McCoy, Noel Lynch, and Susan Shortt.
In addition to his competing, Brendan was also elected a board member of the Olympic Council of Ireland in 1989, and 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.
Kilcullen's Olympians, including those who have participated in Special Olympics, were celebrated in November 2019 as part of the Kilcullen 700 programme, when Ronnie Delaney and Michael Carruth were on hand to give out the special trophies and mementoes.
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