Henry Whelan Memorial
This Sunday’s race (31 July) is the Henry Whelan Memorial. This race will be run as an Age CP over 4 laps of The Curragh circuit, with riders heading off in 5-year age groups (the oldest riders starting first). The time gaps for Age CPs (based on a 50 mile race) are published in a previous post on this website. Times will be adjusted pro-rata to take account of the shorter distance of this Sunday’s race (70 km).
The late Henry Whelan was Chair of the IVCA in the early 2000s and was hugely encouraging to new members. He joined Orwell Wheelers in 1948 at the age of 15 and was a keen road and track man. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, grass track racing was in vogue and cycling events were regularly held as part of Athletics meetings in Lansdowne Road and College Park, as well as elsewhere throughout the country.
Henry stopped cycling for 30 years due to family and business commitments, but returned to the sport in the 1980s through the IVCA and was a central figure in the Association up to the time of his passing. He was a great fan of sprinter Mario Cippolini and got to meet the great man in 1998 when the Tour de France visited Dublin.
