Introduction

This account is based on my own work and the contribution of several club members. Important contributors were Pat Murphy, Denis Looney, Pat Twomey, Colin O’Herlihy and Joe Murphy, but special credit must go to former club member and long-time chairman John Quigley, whose contribution went a long way towards recovering information on the club’s history which was lost in 2014 when the old website, created in 1999, was deleted in circumstances which are unclear. The old site had been full of news, photos, history, videos, and all was lost.

The Early Years

The club was originally known as the Eagle Track Club upon its foundation in the Autumn of 1982. The three founding members were Fred and Sheila Gilbert and Mick Clancy. As stated by Fred Gilbert in an article in ‘Marathon’ magazine in 1984, the sole function of the club was then about training under-age athletes for track and field and cross country. Fred had operated earlier as a well-known coach with the juvenile section of St. Finbarrs Athletic Club. While Eagle TC had adult members from the beginning, their main role lay in coaching the juniors and juveniles. The club was based in the CIT (now MTU) track every Tuesday and Thursday evenings just as we still do today (lockdown allowing).

The following account of the early years of the club is based on several sources, including interviews with Joe Murphy, Pat Murphy, an article written by club member Paddy Lenihan for a book published by club member Colm Murphy in 1993, as well as my own researches. Unfortunately, Paddy was not very explicit in giving exact dates in his article and it is clear that his account spans the period from circa 1985 to 1993, though several references are not dated. As we shall see, the three founders left the club in 1988 leaving it in the care of a number of adult members who had been there from the first few years. These would go on to give many years of service, at least of fifteen years or more duration, some of whom remain members to this very day, 35 years later. This core group, responsible for developing and growing the club over many years, consisted of Liam Doherty, Pat Murphy, Joe and Ann Murphy, Denis Hegarty, Paddy Hegarty, Noreen Lenihan and her father Paddy, Monica Twohig, Hugh McSweeney, Ted Twomey, and Fidelma Kirwan.

Our members certainly kept themselves busy during the festive period as can be seen from the results below from various Christmas and New Years races. A great end to 2021 and a super start to 2022! Well done to all.

Parkrun Results

Christmas Day
25th December

Ballincollig

42. Siobhan Holland 21.55
43. Niall McSweeney 22.16
44. Richard Piotrowski 23.13
45. Olga O’Sullivan 24.24
46. Mike McGrath 24.44
47. Andrew O’Farrell 25.16
48. Denis Carroll 25.47
49. Alan Wong 30.10
50. Shane O’Rourke 30.40

New Years Day
1st January

Ballincollig

2. Damian Kenneally 17.25
3. Shane O’Rourke 21.48
4. Gary Gibbons 22.27
5. Siobhan Holland 23.04
6. Niall McSweeney 24.06
7. Pat Twomey 24.46
8. Elaine Guinane 26.59
9. Olga O’Sullivan 27.01
10. Tamara Lopez 27.02
11. Dolores Gibbons 38.33

( Well done to our club members who acted as pacers for this run also.)

Glen River

1.Ken Ince 18.07

18. Jack Murphy 25.01
19. Alan Wong 30.29

Eagle AC is delighted to announce the return of the 33rd annual Tommy Ryan Memorial 5 Miler in Carrigaline on February 20th 2022 at 11am.

The race will take place over the usual course. It’s a great route – some ups & some downs but overall, an excellent race! For a course preview please visit https://munsterraceroutes.blogspot.com/2013/01/cork001.html

We have a wide range of category prizes:

Male &Female 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th

Male & Female Teams 1st & 2nd

1st Wheelchair Male & Female

O35 M&F – 1st, 2nd & 3rd
O40 M&F – 1st, 2nd & 3rd
O45 M&F – 1st, 2nd & 3rd
O50 M&F – 1st, 2nd & 3rd
O55 M&F – 1st, 2nd & 3rd
O60 M&F – 1st, 2nd & 3rd
O65 M&F – 1st, 2nd & 3rd
O70 M – 1st, 2nd & 3rd

We would like to thank the Edge Sports Shop for their ongoing sponsorship of this event.

Registration will be online only this year, there will be no entries available on the day.

Unfortunately, due to Covid restrictions we will also not be able to offer catering in the hall following the race.

€2 from every entry will be donated to Carrigaline Meals-on-Wheels, and Carrigaline Community Drugs Initiative. Please find all race & registration details on the link below.

https://www.myrunresults.com/events/carrigaline_5_mile_eagle_ac/4289/details?fbclid=IwAR24xsByUnW2vUOHPQ9IXwGULHeLrNgqwc508hhcum4lWF-qNkw0DtAQ5Q8

We look forward to seeing you all in Carrigaline in February, and thank you for your ongoing support of our club event.

For any queries or questions about the race please contact eagleraces@gmail.com

See link below for a fabulous album of well over 200 photos of Eagle AC highlights from the year gone by.

From lockdowns to Parkruns to virtual marathons to XC to Cheshire to Tokyo and to everything in between!!

A big thanks to Derek Costello for putting this album together and for all of his photography work for the club throughout the year. It is very much appreciated.

https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzwP4U

Great to see the always popular, Togher AC 5k race take place last Monday in Cork City. 

The race had a field of nearly 500 runners and some excellent times were recorded by Eagle AC members, as can be seen from the results below. 

Ken Ince and Paul Cotter led the club home with 13th and 14th place finishes respectively. The guys have had some brilliant results recently and this race proved to be no different! 

Aoife Mahony was the first Eagle lady home with an excellent time of 18.46. Catherine Murphy finished not far behind with an equally impressive 19.08 run. 

No club names are listed in the results so please send us a message if we have missed any members. 

Well done to all! 

Togher AC 5K Results – 27th December

Ken Ince 16.38
Paul Cotter 16.46
Dave O’Keeffe 18.44
Aoife Mahony 18.46
Mark Murphy 18.53
Catherine Murphy 19.08
Pat O’Connor 19.08
Darren Casey 19.39
Finbarr Lehane 20.03
Jason O’Mahony 20.13
Niall McSweeney 20.35
Siobhan Holland 20.42
John Dunphy 21.01
Jack Murphy 21.10
Richard Piotrowski 21.42
Denis Carroll 21.48
Ken Higgs 22.51
Ian O’Brien 23.39
Paul Cotter 23.48
Denis Looney 23.56
Sean Lucey 23.59
Ber Looney 27.33
Alan Wong 30.04

https://www.premiertimingsystems.ie/2021-Race-Results/Togher-AC-5K-Results

Huge congratulations to Aoife Cooke who produced a very impressive performance last Sunday at the Spar European XC Championships 2021.

In a field full of Olympians and world class XC athletes, Aoife ran a very strong race, finishing in 38th spot overall, with a time of 29.15.

Her run also helped  to guarantee Ireland 4th spot in the team competition.

Aoife, as always, represented her club and her country with pride and we send huge congratulations from all at Eagle AC.

(Photos thanks to Derek Costello)

Congratulations to John Goggin who represented both his club and county very impressively at Sunday’s National Novice XC Championships in Gowran Co. Clare. 

John’s time of 21.33 earned him 102nd spot overall in a field of well over 200 runners. The Cork team claimed 3rd spot at the event. Well done John! 

https://www.corkathletics.org/latest-results/2021/407-december/2387-results-of-athletics-ireland-national-novice-and-juvenile-uneven-age-cross-country-championships-2021.html?fbclid=IwAR13t0FMTHqgEyNr5J5RoJcyQLbRRgEmNaHK3q6V8W7q3-nFs0RViIVbyuc#Girls_U11

A big congrats to Vivian Foley on his highly impressive performance at Munster Masters XC Championships in Clarecastle, Co. Clare, which were held on November 28th.

Viv was 6th overall in the Masters race and 1st M50 to cross the line. He was also the 1st scoring member of the Cork M50 team which claimed Gold in the team event! Well done Viv, a very worthwhile trip to Co. Clare! 

https://www.corkathletics.org/latest-results/2021/405-november/2383-results-of-munster-masters-and-juvenile-relay-cross-country-championships-2021.html?fbclid=IwAR2XkLoVyim-lyqLLjEZyTDvYelpLEB44Nxpoz6mv-69D2lrARvKx-qBGHg

A very impressive 5th place performance for Aoife Cooke at the National Senior XC in Dublin today . A highly competitive race in which no less than 5 former Olympians were included.

Well done to Aoife, whose performance must have put her well in contention for a European XC spot. A big congrats also to fellow Cork woman, Michelle Finn who claimed victory in the race and earned herself an automatic qualifying spot.

For full results see – https://www.myrunresults.com/…/irish_life…/4258/results

It was a very successful day for the Eagle AC Men’s team at last weekend’s Cork County Novice Masters Cross Country Championships. The event was hosted by St Catherines AC in Dungourney.

Damian Kenneally lead the team home with a 5th place finish overall and Gold in the M35 category. The M35 team won 3rd place with Damian Kenneally, John Goggin, Ken Ince & Mark Smith in scoring positions here.

The M65 team finished in an impressive 2nd place with Ken Higgs, Pat Murphy and Joe Murphy making up the team. Other athletes involved today included Finbarr Lehane, John Sheehan, Donal Dowling, Raymond Harrington, Grellan McGrath and Andrew O’Farrell.

Congratulations to all who ran. It’s fantastic to see Eagle AC so well represented.