On what would be National Cross Country day we celebrate the outstanding successes of Clonliffe athletes in this event. Our senior men have captured the Holy Grail on no less that 34 occasions from 1910 to 2019, including a fabulous Joe Cooper led 9 in a row from 2004 to 2013 and of course the regaining of the crown in 2019. The Roll of Honour for the senior men’s team championship reads:
1910 (T. Dowling 2nd, Frank Ryder 4th, B. Parker 6th, G. Kelly 7th, S. Pearson 25th, G. Johnson 31st).
1914 (Bertie Irwin 1st, Frank Ryder 2nd, S. Pearson 7th, F. Guthries 12th, D. McAleese 19th, J. Cronin 25th).
1923 (Billy Bingham 2nd, H. Walters 6th, W. Kinsella 7th, J. Peelo 8th, A. Cassidy 11th, George Walker 12th).
1925 (Billy Bingham 3rd, Charles Walker 6th, George Walker 8th, A. Cassidy 17th, ?? 23rd, ?? 24th).
1949 (Don Appleby 1st, J. Whye 7th, F. Sherwin 8th, ?? 11th, ?? 12th, ?? 20th).
1952 (Don Appleby 2nd, Larry Reid 5th, D. Roe 6th).
1953 (Don Appleby 5th, Frank White 6th, W. McCaulis 7th, D. Roe 9th, J. Leech 11th).
1954 (Don Appleby 2nd, Larry Reid 4th, Frank White 5th, Frazer Walker 7th, J. Leech 11th).
1955 (Paddy Killeen 1st, Don Appleby 2nd, Fraser Walker 5th, G. Carey 8th, Harry Thomas 9th, Larry Reid 11th).
1976 (Gerry Finnegan 9th, Jerry Kiernan 12th, Frank Murphy Junior 14th, Padraig Keane 19th, Tony Murphy ?)
1977 (Padraig Keane 4th, Jerry Kiernan 5th, Gerry Finnegan 18th, Tony Murphy 20th).
1980 (Gerry Finnegan 9th, Jerry Kiernan 11th, Denis Noonan 23rd, Eamon Tierney 24th).
1981 (Jerry Kiernan 8th, Noel Harvey 9th, Gerry Brady 15th, Peter McDermott 20th).
1982 (Jerry Kiernan 4th, Padraig Keane 8th, Brian Dunne 12th, Gerry Finnegan 14th).
1984 (Jerry Kiernan 1st, Gerry Brady 13th, Noel Harvey 16th, Denis Noonan 37th).
1986 (Noel Harvey 1st, Dave Taylor 5th, Eugene Curran 15th, Dermot Redmond 20th).
1987 (Dave Taylor 1st, Jerry Kiernan 8th, Eugene Curran 15th, Eamonn Tierney 25th).
1988 (Dave Taylor 1st, Jerry Kiernan 4th, Noel Harvey 24th, Gerry Finnegan 27th).
1989 (Richard Mulligan 6th, Jerry Kiernan 9th, Gerry Brady 16th, Gerry Finnegan 23rd).
1991 (Richard Mulligan 2nd, Noel Cullen 7th, Dermot Redmond 14th, Gerry Brady 24th).
1992 (Richard Mulligan 4th, Noel Cullen 8th, Jerry Kiernan 9th, Dermot Redmond 25th).
2000 (Noel Cullen 3rd, Cian McLoughlin 5th, Paolo Doglio 6th, Niall Bruton 13th).
2004 (Killian Lonergan 5th, Cian McLoughlin 7th, Paolo Doglio 12th, Rory Brady 17th).
2005 (Mark Kenneally 2nd, Killian Lonergan 9th, Aidan Bailey 26th, Paolo Doglio 28th).
2006 (Killian Lonergan 3rd, Mark Kenneally 6th, Gary O’Hanlon 12th, Cian McLoughlin 16th).
2007 (Mark Kenneally 2nd, Killian Lonergan 8th, Colm Rooney 9th, Cian McLouglin 13th).
2008 (Alistair Cragg 2nd, Chris Cariss 5th, Sergiu Ciobanu 9th, Brian McMahon 13th).
2009 (Mark Kenneally 2nd, Chris Cariss 6th, Sergiu Ciobanu 10th, Killian Lonergan 12th).
2010 (Mark Kenneally 1st, Chris Cariss 8th, Sergiu Ciobanu 9th, John Henegan 15th).
2012 (Sergiu Ciobanu 2nd, Gary O’Hanlon 3rd, Brian McMahon 4th, James Keevan 16th).
2013 (Sergiu Ciobanu 1st, Michael McDiarmada 8th, David Flynn 11th, Gary O`Hanlon 16th).
2015 (March) (Sergiu Ciobanu 2nd, Jayme Rossister 6th, Tuder Mircea 9th, David Flynn 10th)
2015 (Nov.) (Sergiu Ciobanu 7th, David Flynn 8th, Gary Murray 14th, Brian MacMahon 18th)
2019 (Efrem Gidey 9th, Jayme Rossister 11th, Cathal Doyle 14th, Colm Rooney 18th)
The senior women captured the title 4 times from 1966 to 1976:
1966 (R. Keogh 2nd, Ann O’Brien 4th, Norah O’Brien 5th, ?? 8th).
1967 (Ann O’Brien 2nd, ?? 4th, ?? 6th, ?? 9th).
1970 (Ann O’Brien 1st, Claire Walsh 6th, M. Byrne 12th, ?? ).
1976 (Padraign O’Dwyer 6th, Jean Appleby 10th, Kathryn Davis 12th, Patricia Appleby 14th).
Individually Clonliffe has produced 14 winners of the senior men’s race including many of the great names associated with the black and amber, going back to our first champion in 1911 Frank Ryder and our most recent in 2013 Sergiu Ciobanu. In between have been Dave Taylor, our only two time winner (1987 and 1988), Jerry Kiernan, the centenary winner Noel Harvey, Noel Cullen, Mark Kenneally and the legendary Carmichael “Bertie” Irwin. There have been 7 women’s champions including a remarkable 4 in a row by Ann O’Brien 1968 to 1971, Katheryn Davis 1978, Mary Donohue, of course in 1986 and our most recent Sarah McCormack in 2014.
Not to forget the juniors: the junior men successfully defended their title last year to make it 13 junior men’s titles. Individually there have been 7 winners, including Padraig Keane, Jerry Kiernan and Frank Murphy. Although the junior women have yet to taste team gold Hope Saunders has taken individual gold twice in 2015 (there were Nationals in March & November that year!)
Winning Junior Men’s teams:
1955 (N. Jennings 1st, J. McNamara 2nd, G. Taylor 8th, ?? 12th, ?? 22nd).
1956 (Mick Kelly 2nd, P. Rafter 4th, M. Kealy 7th, ?? 12th).
1957 (Michael Hoey 3rd, P. Twomey 5th, Mick Kelly 8th, M. Kinsella 14th).
1962 (Dick Burke 1st, ?? 10th, ?? 12th, ?? 13th).
1971 (Padraig Keane 1st, Tom Gregan 9th, B. Fox 12th, B. Maguire 18th).
1973 (Jerry Kiernan 1st, Derek Reilly 19th, Martin Green 20th, John Green 23rd)
1974 (Frank Murphy Jnr. 1st, Derek Carroll 6th, Gerry Finnegan 16th, Mick Byrne 23rd)
1983 (David Dunne 1st, Sean McGuirke 9th, Kieran Tumbleton 15th, G. Byrne 24th).
2009 (David Fitzmaurice 5th, Eoin McDonald 12th, Jayme Rossiter 17th, Colm Murray 22nd).
2015 (Nov.) (Cathal Doyle 4th, Brian Flanagan 9th, Adam O`Brien 19th, Josh Stubbs 35th)
2016: (Sean O`Leary 6th, Cathal Doyle 10th, Adam O`Brien 22nd, Joseph Hession 42nd)
2018: (Sean O’Leary 2nd, Efrem Gidey 8th, Daniel Stone 20th, Ben Guiden 23rd)
2019: (Aaron Cullen 12th, Ben Guiden 15th, Stephen Cashin 21st, Callum Simpson 42nd)
So while today is a sad day, let’s keep looking forward to February when hopefully the 2020 Nationals will once again beat to beautiful sound of spikes splashing through mud. Cross Country we miss you!