The Clonliffe Legends is an occasional series of articles by Peter McDermott that will feature on this website over the coming weeks and months that will bring alive to club members, new and old, the stories of the men and women of yesterday who enriched the history of Clonliffe Harriers. There could not be a better leadoff than today’s legend….Laro Byrne.
Whenever and wherever the older members of Clonliffe Harriers gather, and the former
greats of the Club are remembered, the first name that is usually mentioned is that of Laro
Byrne. In fact , there is no need to use his surname : so legendary a figure was he that
“ Laro” is quite sufficient.
Born Laurence Byrne in the picturesque village of Aughavannagh , County Wicklow , in 1929,
he grew up in hard times . The world was in deep recession after the Wall Street crash of
that same year, Ireland’s economic woes were exacerbated by the economic war with
Britain and then came “The Emergency”, the name given by neutral “Éire” to World War 2.
It was only when he came to Dublin that he began to be called “Laro” , a victim ( or a
beneficiary ?) of the Dubs.’ penchant for abbreviating names ( Jayo , Fogo, Harko,
Stevo,Keano, etc.) . People assumed he was descended from the famous O’Byrne clan of
Wicklow and Laro never disabused them of the romantic notion that he was descended
from the rebel hero , famed in song and story, Fiach MacHugh O’Byrne .
Like thousands of other young Irish men and women, Laro emigrated to England in the early
1950s to seek work . Ravaged by the war , Britain was a grim place with food shortages and
rationing still in vogue. But work was plentiful as the country sought to rebuild its
infrastructure after the devastation of the Luftwaffe’s bombing campaign. Laro was never
afraid of hard ,physical work ( “ Only toughened me up “) and he also discovered running , a
sport and an avocation which became a life long love. It was also a sport which was
undergoing a rejuvenation over there and when Roger Bannister broke the 4 minute mile
barrier for the first time in 1954, running briefly became the most popular sport in the UK.
With World Record holders and Olympic champions such as Bannister, Chris Brasher, Derek
Ibbotson , Chris Chataway, Gordon Pirie and many others , crowds flocked in their
thousands to the White City Stadium in London to see those near mythical figures in action.
The young Laro was hooked and he discovered he had a talent and a passion for long
distance running. He couldn’t get enough of it, with the result that even the standard
marathon distance did not satisfy him but instead opted for the ultra distances. His longest
race was the 54 mile long London to Brighton which he ran and finished on three occasions .
But Ireland was calling him back and when a position arose in the Guinness Brewery Laro
snapped it up. Back then, a job with Guinness was probably considered to be the finest a
person could wish to get. With its excellent pay structure , its generous pension scheme and
many fringe benefits ,it was a company truly ahead of its time. Laro stayed there all his life,
and he now had the three pillars which he lived his life by and which he often enunciated in
the form of a rhyme to many of his young protégés years later : “ A little running to keep
you from going mad; a little drinking to keep you from going bad ; and a little lovin’ to keep
you from going sad”.
Laro bought a charming cottage on Blackhorse Avenue , just outside the walls of the Phoenix
Park which he named “ Tír na n-ÓG”. An ideal location for a runner and a short jog from
James’s Gate. Why ,or how, he didn’t join Donore Harriers ,a stone’s throw away in Hospital
Lane , Islandbridge remains a mystery. One theory ( and it’s a very suspect theory) is that
Laro did actually go to join Donore but when he got there he found the little club house all
locked up . So , he rambled into the nearest pub which was located 50 yards away , at the
entrance to Hospital Lane . And what was this pub called ? Believe it or not , it was “ The
Black and Amber”. Serendipity? Fate ? Call it what you will, but the record will show that
Laro ( miffed perhaps by being greeted by locked doors ?) made his way due north to the
wilds of Santry where he joined the Club whose nickname was The Black and Amber , the club
to which he devoted his life , his beloved Clonliffe Harriers. Incidentally an amusing myth grew up
about “ Tír na n-Óg “ . Apparently Laro imposed a rule that only Sub 4 minute milers could enter by
his front door; everybody else had to enter by the trades man’s entrance ! Whether this was really
true or not remains shrouded in mystery but the legend inspired many of young athletes to strive to
enter by the hallowed, narrow entrance for the chosen few.
Laro continued competing until well into his forties ( and continued running or at least jogging for all
his life ) but it was in coaching that he discovered his real forte. Dubbed “ The Matt Busby of
Clonliffe Harriers “ by Pádraig Keane, Laro did indeed have a somewhat similar effect on Clonliffe as
Busby had on Manchester United, particularly in the area of fostering and coaching young talent.
He devoured every book on running that he could lay his hands on . Lydiard was his bible but
coaches such as Percy Cerutty , Franz Stampfl and Gosta Holmer were also influences. He frequently
travelled over to Loughborough for coaching courses in that famous academy and was one of the
first people in Ireland to achieve a certified senior coaching badge from the British AAA. His first
major protégé was Frank Murphy ( “Big Frank” ) . By 1965 Laro had coached the young lad from
O’Connell’s Schools to an athletics scholarship in Villanova where he came under the tutelage of the
legendary Jumbo Elliott. Three years later, guided by Jumbo and Laro , Frank ran the 1500m. in his
first Olympics in Mexico City . Like many others, he suffered in the punishing altitude of 10,000 feet.(
just over 3000m. ) But he bounced back better than ever and the following year he won a thrilling
AAA 1500m. title in the White City. Taking the lead all of 500m. from home , Frank’s bravery paid off
and he finished a stride ahead of Britain’s John Whetton. Needless to say , Laro was utterly
delighted and he certainly “brought a pound for porter” that night as he toasted his young
champion’s success in The Hole in the Wall. Unfortunately, just a month later , Whetton got his
revenge when pipping Frank for the Gold in the European 1500m. final in Athens. Still , a Silver was
no mean feat and indeed Silver was to become the colour of Laro’s life.
Laro’s stable of elite athlete athletes was growing and with the Munich Games looming on the
horizon he had no fewer than four possible contenders in his care . Murphy was joined in Villanova
by another one of Laro’s pupils, the young steeplechaser Des McCormack. Furthermore , two young
men with fire in their bellies, had arrived in Santry from Donegal. Danny McDaid and Paddy Marley
had left Cranford to come to Dublin with one burning ambition : to qualify for the Olympics. Joining
Clonliffe, and guided by Laro ,they started making rapid progress . Paddy got his first Irish vest in
1969 when he represented Ireland in the 1500m. in a Triangular match against Spain and
Switzerland . And where did he make his International debut ? In his beloved Santry on those famous red cinders.
Paddy tells how he and Danny ,who shared a flat for some time , would carry out Laro’s
instructions to the letter. Concerned about their nutrition , Laro brought them a supply of bottled
Guinness . ( Connoisseurs of the Liffey Water will swear that nothing compares to the Pint Bottle )
Conscious of the beneficial properties of the drink ,rich in brewer’s yeast and Vitamin B , Laro
instructed them to drink one -and no more than one- bottle each every night . “ And that’s exactly
what we did ; we didn’t dare drink any more “ says Paddy. It seemed to pay off in Danny’s case as,
after finishing third in the trial in Athlone , ( behind Donie Walsh and Des McGann ) he proudly won
his place on the Irish team for Munich . He was joined by Murphy but sadly McCormack missed out
by 0.2 seconds, running 8:46.2 which still remains the Clonliffe Steeplechase Record. Still , two out of
four ain’t bad and Laro was rightly proud of his protégés. ( Afraid that the fourth member of the
quartet might start listening to other influences he warned Marley to “ Beware of false prophets “)
Never one to rest on his laurels, Laro served as Captain of Clonliffe on two separate occasions. He
never achieved his ambition of “ knocking Donore off their perch “ ( that fabled Donore squad was
virtually unbeatable for fifteen years ) but his hunger for helping young athletes achieve their
potential was insatiable. He had assembled a powerful squad of young, schoolboy tyros ( “ cheeky
young bucks”) who would go on to become the backbone of Clonliffe Senior teams for many years.
In this respect he was aided enormously by forming an alliance with Brother Tim Clarke who taught
in St. Aidan’s C.B.S. just a stone’s throw down the road on Collins ‘ Avenue. Brother Clarke had
already established athletics- particularly cross-country running –in the School and both he and Laro
were canny enough to realise that such a co-operative alliance between school and club would be
enormously beneficial to both. Mick ( The Prince ) Byrne , Philp ( Sheelagh ) Campbell, the twins
John and Martin ( Bambi ) Greene all came from this nursery and they were joined by Derek
Carroll,Gerry Finnegan ( called “ Fiddler” by his team mates but always called “ Sir Gerald” by Laro
himself .), Gerry Brady and David Ball. This squad won just about everything at under age level . But
then , just to keep them grounded , a young lad from Ballinlough arrived in their ranks. Pádraig
Keane ( for it was he ) showed them that , good and all as they were , there were lads from quiet
little rural villages who could even be better . Clonliffe realised that they had discovered a rare jewel
when , in his first year in the club, Keane won the National Junior Cross Country title leaving even
one Eamonn Coghlan floundering in his wake. How Pádraig ended up in Clonliffe was also due to
Laro ( and Fate , perhaps ). One version of how this happened is that the young lad from
Roscommon was sitting on the side of the North Circular Road waiting for one Frank Greally to bring
him to Donore. ( “I’m still waiting for that lift “ said a deadpan Keane many years later) when a man
“with a large ruddy face” came along in his car and asked what was the matter . On hearing the sad
tale that this young man appeared to have been “ stood up “ he invited him to a race in Santry
demesne . Pádraig simply wanted to run and so he jumped at the opportunity. It was just a club
cross country race in Clonliffe but Pádraig found himself lining up against two Olympians and an
assorted number of Irish Internationals ( those were the days when even Olympians ran in Club
races) Thirty minutes later , the assembled aficionados were looking at each other in near disbelief
as this young stranger had beaten everybody except McDaid. Laro had a big grin on his face . He
brought Pádraig back to his humble abode , informing him that if he would like to join the Black and
Amver he was very welcome but, if he wished to join Donore, that was perfectly okay too. But
Pádraig felt he owed this genial , jovial man something and declared that he would join Clonliffe .
And , as they say , the rest is history . Laro had pulled off a coup ( or a stroke ? )
Laro continued to have riches fall into his lap . The following year , a young fella with a tangled mop
of unruly hair arrived in Dublin from the seat of story telling in the Kingdom of Kerry. One Jeremiah
Kiernan had arrived in town . Ostensibly his goal was to study in St. Pat’s ,Drumcondra , with a view
to qualifying as a Primary school teacher. He later claimed that his main reason in coming to Dublin
was to run, but he also admitted that in his college years he was very much a party animal and
would have been a coach’s nightmare , such was his lack of dedication .Of course St. Pat’s was also
located much too close to the famous hostelry known as The Cat and Cage . In those days Laro
viewed Jerry as a bit of a dilettante and neither was he impressed by Jerry’s luxuriant, unruly locks.
On one occasion he told him “ Mr. Kiernan , you look like one of them ould Hezbollahs – get a hair
cut ”. From that day on , he always called Jerry “ Hairy Lugs “ and engaged in many a verbal joust
with him. There was always a little frisson between the pair . This , perhaps, was due to the fact that
for a brief period Laro regarded Jerry as a mere domestique to young Frank Murphy. He considered
“Young Frank” to be the most naturally gifted athlete he had ever coached but, for various reasons,
Frank did not develop the talent with which he had been endowed. But this “slight”, whether real or
imaginary, was a driving factor in Jerry’s single minded quest for success.
Still, Laro had quite a squad . He often compared young athletes to acorns : “ From tiny acorns
mighty oak trees grow”. And indeed he loved helping those young acorns to grow into mighty oaks.
He didn’t, however, have much time for veteran ( or “ Master”) athletes . On one occasion he was
heard to remark that “ all veteran races should be started on the edge of a steep cliff “ thereby,
presumably, allowing the competitors plunge to their doom ! But he cared for his young fledglings
in every way . He would even supply them with white cotton gloves which he got in Guinness’s to be
worn on cold , Winter nights when going for a long road run. Every week a new training schedule ,
written in his small, neat handwriting would appear on the notice board giving guidance to his crop
of rising stars. He quoted poetry to inspire them and , indeed, had an enlarged copy of Kipling’s
famous poem “IF” posted up on the dressing room wall.
A plethora of National Junior Cross country champions came from this extremely talented group :
Keane in ’70, Frank Murphy ( “Young Frank “ ) in ’72, Kiernan in ’73 all won , while Finnegan finished
second in ’74 – runner up to one John Treacy, a man who would also feature prominently in Laro’s
career. He gave unstintingly of his time and expertise. He delighted in going to Gormanston during
the Easter school holidays for, first The Bears Course and later, the B.L.E organised Young Athletes’
Course. He made an indelible impression on all the young athletes he met there and he certainly met
some good ones. People like Ray Flynn, Marcus O’Sullivan,Frank O’Mara,John Treacy and Eamonn
Coghlan all remember Laro with affection and gratitude for the advice and help he gave them.
They, and all the young athletes he coached in Clonliffe, remember so many of his aphorisms :
“ Sweat is the elixir of good health”. ( Long before the benefit of exercise was espoused by the
general public and even the health professionals ) “ A camel is a horse designed by a committee “
( on the need to keep things simple and avoid over complication) He inspired his young charges with
inspirational comments such as “ May the mountains of today become the foothills of tomorrow.”
He was broad minded as regards methods of training : “ There are many routes to the one summit “
or “ There are many roads to heaven but we can all get there in the end” was his homespun way of
saying what Peter Coe said many years later “ There is no one single template for success”. He also
encouraged them to “ Aim for the stars and you will at least reach the moon”. He advised young
athletes that diet was very important ; encouraging them to eat good , natural ,wholesome food;
he would say “ You don’t put cheap fuel into a Ferrari” and ,sometimes , keeping it simple , he’d say
to those who lived at home “ Eat what your mother puts in front of you and you’ll be fine . He was
very conscious of his responsibility in dealing with young people . He used to say to other coaches
“Youth can be dangerous as it is so impressionable”, thereby indicating that young athletes should
be protected from various types of exploitation by ruthless , Svengali type coaches. He firmly
believed in pretty high mileage : he believed that putting in the miles in Autumn and Winter training
was like filling a pool or a well with water from which you could draw later- or like putting deposits
in the bank from which you could withdraw money when the need arose .
He was never happier than when conducting a training session with his talented squad . Laro alone
supplied the commentary – woe betide the man who dared to talk while training : “ Save your
oxygen young man “ was his usual reprimand for the loquacious ones. He could be complimentary or
scathing . He observed Killian Lonergan training and commented “ When I see that young man
running I know the way that God intended people to run “. But he looked at another individual ( who
must remain nameless and who wasn’t quite as smooth as Killian shall we say ) and sighed “ And
when I look at him I know the kind of people that God doesn’t even want to run.”
He didn’t like to see athletes training in their club vests. “ The Black and Amber should only be worn
in competition”. But that was nothing compared to the attack he would launch on some poor
unfortunate who showed up wearing an Irish vest. The newly capped young man would proudly
appear wearing his recently won International singlet . Laro would hone in on him like a laser guided
missile. “ Do not besmirch that Irish vest young man !” was the first salvo launched across his bows.
This was followed by a lecture on the precious nature of an Irish International vest and how it was
not to be demeaned by wearing it as if it were a common t-shirt . References to martyred patriots ,
respect for the Flag and the responsibility to uphold the value and dignity of the emblem were all
showered on the offending miscreant. Suitably chastened, the young offender cowered away and
changed into something more appropriate , such as a string vest ( very popular in the 70s).
He had little tolerance for athletes who were always vowing that they would buckle down and train
consistently – but never did . “ The road to hell is paved with good intentions “ was his pithy
dismissal of those lacking in dedication.He was nearly driven to distraction by a happy go lucky
young man who “ couda been a contendah” if his dedication had only matched his great talent. But
the bright lights proved too much of an attraction for him and he never realised his potential. This
led Laro to dismiss the entire area from where the young lad came “ Don’t mention Swords to me :
it’s the graveyard of Irish athletics”. He could be given to such sweeping generalisations at times !
And he was also convinced that the young people in his charge would not change in character or
habit when they grew older . “ People don’t change : they just grow old” was his definite assertion.
And it was statements like these which led to animated arguments between himself and his learned
friends , P. Keane and The Great Hairy One ( Pádraig’s nickname for his great friend and team
mate,Jerry ) in the old Clonliffe Sheebeen . One could easily think they were fighting tooth and nail
– until one saw them continuing to buy pints for each other. He would finish every training session
with the same four phrases : “ Fait accompli “, “ Par excellence”, “ Merci”, “ Arrivederci”, thereby
giving the impression that he was multi-lingual.
Laro’s greatest successes came between 1978 and 1984. He was the Irish Team coach in Glasgow in
March ’78 when John Treacy won Gold in the World Cross in Bellahouston Park. Later that year he
was the coach to the small Irish team which competed in the European Track and Field
Championships in Prague and had the great thrill of seeing Eamonn Coghlan take Silver in the
1500m. Sadly, Treacy was pipped for Bronze in the 5000m. In the Autumn Laro and the great Tom
O’Riordan were appointed by B.L.E. to coach and prepare the Irish teams for the next World Cross
which was due to be held in Limerick Racecourse in March 1979. Both men worked extremely hard
to ensure that the Irish teams would be thoroughly and professionally prepared . And on that
unforgettable day , March 25 , in pouring rain and on an absolute quagmire of a course, Laro had the
great thrill of seeing Treacy successfully defend his title . Furthermore , he had the immense
satisfaction of watching his former protégé and now Captain of the Team , Danny McDaid , finish in a
magnificent 11 th . place and lead the Irish team to the Silver medals.
Laro was the hot favourite to secure the position of Head Coach for the Moscow Olympics but,
inexplicably , was overlooked. Four years later, however , justice was done and Laro achieved his
life’s ambition of becoming Head Coach to the Irish Olympic team for Los Angeles. And this was to be
another very proud moment for the man from Aughavannagh. He seemed to bring John Treacy luck
as he was present as team coach on every one of John’s greatest successes. And this was no
exception as Treacy , running his first ever marathon , took the Silver medal in a then Irish record of
2:09:56. And finishing in an amazing 9 th . place was Laro’s former wonderkind, Jerry , “Hairy Lugs”
himself . Days before the race, Jerry had almost been ruled unfit to compete on a technicality by a
member of the Irish back up staff. But Laro , never a lover of the “Blazer Brigade” , went to bat – or
rather to battle – for Jerry. And at that moment , when he descended on the objecting official like an
avenging Fury , one could easily believe that Laro was indeed descended from Fiach McHugh
himself! The Blazer backed down . And Jerry repaid Laro with that extraordinary run . Jerry always
said afterwards that no matter what difference of opinion he and Laro had , they would remain
friends for life because of the way Laro had fought for him .
Laro continued to coach for another five years. He no longer coached large groups but did advise
and guide one more excellent athlete, the man from Kilkerrin , County Galway, Richard Mulligan.
Richard was one of the top three Irish distance runners for almost ten years. He came very close to
beating Noel Harvey in the 1986 National which, of course , was held in Santry on our Centenary
year. Richard was still a member of Kilkerrin at that stage and came very close to spoiling the
Clonliffe party. But he then joined The Black and Amber ( “ he married into Clonliffe “ was the way
Laro put it when Richard married the beautiful Mags, the sister of Young Frank Murphy) and was
successfully guided by Laro for many years.
Laro was a believer in the KISS method of coaching ( Keep it Simple , Stupid .) He had no time for an
overly analytical approach . He used to tell the fable of the centipede . The centipede was managing
quite merrily on his hundred legs without ever analysing how he actually did it . Until one day , an
expert in Something or Other came along and asked the centipede could he explain how he
managed to synchronise the movement of all hundred legs . The insect tried to explain. “ Well, the
front right leg moves first and it is followed by the front left ; then the second leg on the left ……”
The poor old centipede became so befuddled , perplexed and confused in trying to figure out which
leg or legs moved in harmony with which that he eventually couldn’t move at all. “ A perfect
example of paralysis through analysis “ was Laro’s closing comment with an air of QED about it.
He firmly believed that a successful athlete needed to have an element of steel about him or her.
“You need to have a touch of the gurrier in you “ was his inimitable way of expressing this belief.
He told all his athletes “ Be good citizens in everyday life. Be truthful and always do an honest day’s
work. Pay your taxes. Help those less well off than you . Even help old ladies to cross the street .
BUT: when you go to the starting line for a race – then you must become a f***ing animal “ !
He would also encourage us not to be over-awed by any of our more illustrious opponents . His
advice to us , if we knew we would be competing against an athlete with a renowned reputation,
was “ He’s no different from yourselves : he has only two arms , two legs – and two balls”.
He was something of a philosopher too . He believed that exercise was the key to healthy living. “All
that oxygen enriched blood pumping into your body and brain will keep you fit and sane “. When
informed sometime in the ‘70s that American psychiatrists were now taking their patients out for a
jog instead of having them lie on a couch , Laro snorted and said “ I could have told them that long
ago”.
Even after he retired from coaching , Laro continued to help his club in many ways. Prior to a major
cross-country event he was always one of the hard working crew which prepared the course “ out
the back” . And “out the back” ,as Santry Demesne was always called, by club members, required a
lot more preparation back then than it does today . In those days it was a wilderness , a tangled
mass of uncut grass , weeds , nettles and briars. No trace of the manicured lawns of today and, as a
result, it required a monumental effort to get it into shape for a major event . Laro and Seán Callan
led the press gang in their herculean efforts to have it ready for Dublin and National Championships.
Laro could be withering in his disdain for members who didn’t help their club in some way . He
would fix his fierce stare at them and ask “ Are you a Clonliffe Harrier – or do you just belong ?”
Laro was kept well grounded in Clonliffe . He may have been an Olympic coach but there was no fear
of fame going to his head while the Club’s slaggin’ brigade was around. For instance, at one time
Laro invested in a very sophisticated stop watch . It was described by Jerry ( The GHO ) as “ An inter-
galactic , futuristic timing machine “. Laro contemptuously dismissed Captain Christy’s ( Christy
Brady) old watch as a relic from the nineteenth century . But , one year , at the start of the Clonliffe
20 , Laro hit the wrong button and discovered that his marvellous machine wasn’t working at all . So
, there was no option other than to eat humble pie . He approached Christy and sheepishly enquired
“ Did you happen to get the start there Christy ?”. With a big mischievous grin on his face , Christy
replied “ Of course I did Laro; but it could be 19 th . Century time. “ He was rarely if ever stuck for
words but, occasionally , even he was left floundering for a response . On one Bloom’s Day, many
years ago, in the Clonliffe Bar our current Club President, Michael Kearney , an avid Joycean, decided
to make a presentation to Laro. And so, dressed in a Henley Regatta style blazer and sporting a straw
boater, Michael with due ceremony proceeded to present Laro with a beautifully bound copy of
Ulysses. Laro was stumped . He briefly struggled for words and then exclaimed “ Well, Mr. Kearney,
thank you very much but I must say I think James Joyce was the greatest chancer that ever lived” !
Laro passed away in February 2009. On the evening of his funeral snow was falling all over the city.
A group of young athletes had been brought to Dublin that morning from California by life long
Clonliffe member , Gerry Deegan and were hosted by Alan O’Neill and the parents of the St. Aidan’s
cross-country team. . They went for a run from the Club with some of the lads from Clonliffe and St.
Aidan’s that evening. And as they ran, the snow fell more heavily , falling softly on those Californian
boys who had never seen snow before- and they were only delighted . They ran down through
Drumcondra with their heads back and their mouths open ,giving squeals of delight ! And I think
Laro would have enjoyed that : young lads revelling in the sheer joy of youth , health and fitness.
And he would also be gratified to see that the links which he had established between School and
Club were continuing to thrive. The athletes whom he coached have never forgotten him and
remember him with enormous affection. When Wisconsin University won the NCAA Division 1
Cross Country title some years ago, their Head Coach Mick Byrne ( a Laro protégé, known as The
Prince ) simply said “ This one was for Laro and Brother Clarke “. And so, while Laro may not have
lived to see all the “fruits of his mighty sowing”, he can sleep peacefully in the quiet earth secure in
the knowledge that his legacy, his wit , wisdom and reputation will live on . And we will finish with
his most oft quoted motto : Nil Desperandum –Never Despair.
Peter McDermott