Irish made Bicycles

[bikejunk]

So no badges on the pierce bicycles ? did they originally have transfers on the head-stocks ? thank you for posting this

 

[shoe3]

So interesting and cool research thanks so much.

 

[I miss that R string]

The second brand of Irish made bicycles is that of the Lucania bicycle.

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Lucania bicycles were made at the South King Street building by John O'Neill's workers, pictured above. They were built at a small engineering premises in the 1890s and were thought to be of superior quality, though their production in Dublin was not vast in numbers. In 1913 a bicycle would have cost about £12.

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Workshop Dept's at O'Neil's
Most of this information has been obtained DIRECTLY from historyireland,com and Wikipedia.

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The Lucania bicycle works in South King Street, Dublin. (Michael Walker Jnr)

Lucania bicycles were manufactured by John O’Neill at the Lucania works in South King Street, Dublin. An advertisement for the Lucania in a 1911 edition of Sinn Féin carried the information also that the company had won a contract to supply the Post Office with 400 delivery bicycles. Following the Stockholm race, Sinn Féin quoted a letter from one of the Irish participants, detailing the very difficult conditions with which the cyclists (and bicycles) had dealt and reinforcing the ‘buy Irish’ message quite forcefully. At no point did the issue of where the cyclists had been placed in the race come into the equation:

‘None of us had the slightest trouble with our machines, although we had several bad falls, and I can tell you that numerous of our competitors’ machines broke in two and forks, etc., gave way during the course of the race, and as we were the only team who had no spare machines, our machines had to bear very close scrutiny from the other competitors, both native and foreign, who seemed surprised at the confidence we expressed in the ability of our machines to get through without any trouble. The result justified our confidence.’


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Michael Walker, the top finisher of the six-man cycling team who represented ‘Ireland’ at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, posing with his Lucania bicycle and the commemorative certificate presented for finishing the race, this one to his brother, John. (Michael Walker Jnr)

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The Irish cycling team relaxing on board the Saga, crossing the North Sea en route to Stockholm in 1912 (Michael Walker is second from left)

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on their return proudly wearing their ICA jerseys with giant shamrock emblems. (Michael Walker Jnr)

In 1912, two young Irish lads were getting ready to give their all for Ireland at the Olympic Games which were being held in Sweden. They were the Walker brothers, Michael and John.

Not only did these two brothers represent Ireland at the Olympics, they also put their lives on the line four years after the Olympics, when they once again took to their bikes, riding dispatch around Dublin during the Rising of 1916.

Michael and John had to overcome many obstacles in order to get ready for the games which were being held in Stockholm. Most Irish Olympians were either representatives of adopted homelands, like the USA or the Commonwealth dominions.

Since its foundation in 1906, the British Olympic Association only accepted membership or pro-British political views, and as a rule, the BOA did everything it could to prevent Irish people from representing ‘Ireland’ at any Olympic Games. They preferred instead that they would form part of a ‘Great Britain and Ireland’ team.

In 1911, the Irish Amateur Athletic Association sought separate representation at the Olympic Games, and in 1912, a very rare exception occurred, when the BOA allowed separate cycling teams from Ireland and Scotland take part in Stockholm. The reason for this was believed to be that cycling teams from these countries were unlikely threats to ‘Great Britain’ either in sporting or political terms.

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Three Irish sports bodies affiliated to the BOA

The three Irish sports bodies that were affiliated to the BOA were the Irish Amateur Athletic Association (IAAA), the Irish Cyclists Association (ICA) and the Irish Amateur Swimming Association. No Welsh organisations were included but both the Scottish Amateur Athletic Association and the Scottish Cyclists’ Union were listed. Of the nations within the then United Kingdom, even these moderately political Irish sporting bodies were invariably the ones who most sought separate representation at the Olympic Games. The BOA minutes record, for example, on 25 April 1911, receipt of a letter from the Irish Amateur Athletic Association:

‘That the time has now come when the BOA as at present formed should be dissolved, and that the British representatives on the International Olympic Committee should endeavour to obtain separate representation for England, Scotland and Ireland on the committee’.
The BOA rejected the efforts of the IAAA to achieve this or any other form of separate Olympic identity in athletics, not least because the Irish athletes were at that time among the very best weight-throwers and jumpers in the world, not just likely to be on a possible Great Britain and Ireland team for the Stockholm Olympics. A very rare exception to this position occurred in 1912, when an Irish Cyclists Association team of six represented ‘Ireland’ at the Stockholm Games. That the BOA did, ultimately, accede to the push for separate Irish and Scottish cycling teams in Stockholm was mainly because separate cycling teams from these countries were unlikely threats to ‘Great Britain’, either in sporting or in political terms.

Separate Irish cycling team for Stockholm allowed

In the end, the BOA minutes show that a separate Irish cycling team for the Stockholm Games was allowed and was supported financially too. A meeting of the BOA on 28 November 1911 reported that:
‘. . . it had been intimated that the Irish Cyclists Association would probably desire to enter a team, and Mr Blair explained that the regulations permitted the entry of teams from England, Scotland and Ireland’.
Some months later, the committee had a further application before it from the Scottish Cyclists’ Union and recommended that the BOA defray the expenses of four Scottish and four Irish competitors, leaving the cycling associations of these countries to provide for any further competitors that they wished to send. The minutes of 16 April 1912 made it clear that the ICA had made an application for such support prior to this, even asking whether the money would be conditional on the ICA’s finding additional funds to make up a full squad of six cyclists, i.e. funding two from their own resources:
‘It was agreed that the grant should be unconditional, but that it should be suggested to the ICA that if at the eliminating trials the team were found to be not likely to do so well as the ICA had expected, it might be well to send only two or three competitors to take part in the individual competition’.

Swedish organisers taken by surprise

There is no further explanation in the BOA minutes concerning the association’s decision to support separate English, Irish and Scottish cycling teams for Stockholm. In the end, six ICA cyclists did compete in Stockholm, with the BOA apparently absorbing some of the additional costs. They travelled on a ferry across the North Sea and the remarkable photographic records of one of the six, Michael Walker, show the team relaxing on deck and, in a photo on their return, proudly wearing giant shamrock emblems. More remarkably, the Swedish organisers were taken completely by surprise, it appears, by the arrival of three separate cycling teams when in every other event, as per the BOA’s own regulations, Great Britain had only one recognised team. Quite clearly, the BOA’s interpretation of the rules allowing three different cycling teams from the United Kingdom to participate in the games was not shared by other countries. On the day before the cycling road race, France lodged an objection to what it, and many other nations, regarded as a clear breach of the rules on national representation. The cycling committee noted in the Official Olympic Report for 1912 that they
‘. . . regretted that this concession had been made, but declared at the same time that, as the teams from the countries in question had come to Sweden to take part in the event, the Swedish Cycling Committee did not wish to prevent them from doing so, and that the Swedish Cycling Association intended to take the responsibility for their so doing on its own shoulders, should any steps be taken in the matter by the Union Cycliste Internationale’.

Race an endurance test

The cyclists started individually at two-minute intervals, from 2am onwards, and the first Irish cyclist home took over twelve and a half hours to finish. The Irish were unfortunate in that the first Irish cyclist did not start until the 41st time-slot on the schedule, at 3.20am, by which time the weather had turned very much for the worse, with a strong westerly wind blowing directly into the faces of the later starters. The eventual winner, Rudolph Lewis of South Africa, had been the second rider off and clearly benefited from the better conditions early on.The highest-placed Irish cyclist was Michael Walker, in 67th place, with the other five team members occupying places in the last twenty of a total of 91 finishers. Following Walker were Francis Guy (71st), Ralph Mecredy (80th), John Walker (81st), Matthew Walsh (82nd) and Bernard Doyle (85th). This left Ireland with a team position, based on the first four riders home, of eleventh. (Mecredy, by the way, is widely credited with being the inventor of ‘bicycle polo’, and was on the Irish team that beat Germany 3–1 in an exhibition game at the London Olympics in 1908.)The Stockholm race was an endurance test beyond belief. In addition to the 29 who dropped out, 28 riders did not even start the race, at least some of them baulking at the conditions and hardship of the terrain, while only the first three home did so in less than eleven hours. The Irish achievement here was considerable. Their level of support could not have been anywhere near that of other teams, as subsequent correspondence shows that they did not even have spare bicycles if and when anything went wrong en route. All six Irish cyclists finished the race, which is put in perspective by the fact that four of the twelve Swedes failed to finish, even though Sweden won gold, and two of the second-placed England team did not finish either. Only one of the ten Russian competitors in the race actually finished at all, and Ireland’s scoring cyclists meant that our placing was above Hungary, Bohemia, Norway and Russia. So this was no mean achievement, especially for a group of cyclists who, politically, had had to overcome difficulties both within the BOA and in Sweden to be even allowed to participate. After the race, the organisers decided to award special diplomas of merit to the cyclists who had finished within 25% of the winner’s time, resulting in the first four Irish cyclists receiving this additional recognition.

Focus on the bicycles rather than the cyclists

The decline in the fortunes of Irish athletics, even in the four years since London, is mirrored in the decreased coverage of the Stockholm Olympics by the Irish media. The nationalist newspaper Sinn Féin was reduced to a few short paragraphs bemoaning the fact that Irishmen continued to be victorious but only as representatives of foreign states. In fact, the main focus of editor Arthur Griffith’s attention on Stockholm was the opportunity, in its 20 July 1912 edition, to reinforce one of the Sinn Féin party’s central tenets, its buy-Irish campaign, using the aforementioned cyclists:
‘One remarkable record comes to Ireland. In the long distance (team) cycle race, the only team all of whose members finished was the Irish team. Two thirds of its members were mounted on Lucania bicycles—bicycles completely manufactured in Dublin. The riders of the Lucania raced on them for twelve hours in competition with the world . . . In the case of every other team most of the riders had to change bicycles during the progress of the race. The Irish Lucania bicycle had thus made a world’s record. And still in the city in which it is manufactured twenty foreign and inferior machines are purchased to every one of the Irish machines, which beat the world at Stockholm. What slaves and what fools to our own interests we continue to be.’
This marvellous vote of confidence in Irish manufacture, of course, disguised the fact that the Irish cyclists had not been able to bring spare bikes or parts with them in the first place, thus necessitating the repair of their own machines as difficulties arose. It was an interesting final political twist to this particular Irish/Viking saga, but nothing should obscure the magnificent efforts of these intrepid men on two wheels to represent Ireland at a time when Ireland was not recognised in either British, Olympic or world sport.

Kevin McCarthy holds a Ph.D in history from University College Cork.

Some Interesting facts about the Swedish 1912 cycling race.

Only one cycling race was held at the 1912 Olympics. The Swedish Olympic Committee actually attempted to eliminate cycling altogether. No track races were planned, although at the 11th IOC Session in Luxembourg (11-13 June 1910), the British protested this decision but no change was made. The track races were eliminated because the only velodrome in Stockholm was being destroyed to make room for the new Olympic Stadium, and there were no plans to build a new one, even with the advent of the Olympic Games.

At the 12th Session (Budapest, 23-27 May 1911), the Swedes noted that they wanted to eliminate the road race as well. Britain's [Robert de Courcy Laffan] insisted that a competition of at least 100 km. should be held. Sweden's [Viktor Gustaf Balck] noted that, )our roads are so bad that it is impossible to organise such a race.) But eventually the Swedish Olympic Committee capitulated, and elected to hold it on the course for the Mälaren Rundt (Tour of Lake Mälaren), the most popular road race in Sweden. The Mälaren Rundt was first held in 1892 and 1893, and then again yearly after 1901.

The race was a very long (315.385 km. [196.0 miles]) time trial on the roads around Lake Mälaren. Lake Mälaren is a huge lake formed by a former inlet of the Baltic Sea. Stockholm was originally built on several islands in the outlet of Lake Mälaren into the Baltic Sea, in order to guard the Lake from foreign naval invasion. An individual and team competition was decided based on this single race. The event also holds the distinction of starting at the earliest time of any Olympic event ever - 2 AM (0200).

The cycling road race was noteworthy because England, Scotland, and Ireland were allowed to enter teams of riders as individual nations, rather than as one combined team representing Great Britain. It is uncertain why this decision was made. However, on the day before the event, 6 July, France protested this ruling. The ruling was discussed all day, and that evening, the Committee for Cycling announced that the three nations would be allowed to compete separately. The Cycling Committee noted that they "... regretted that this concession had been made, but declared at the same time that, as the teams from the countries in question had come to Sweden to take part in the event, the Swedish Cycling Committee did not wish to prevent them from doing so, and that the Swedish Cycling Association intended to take the responsibility for their so doing on its own shoulders, should any steps be taken in the matter by the Union Cycliste Internationale."

In addition to the Olympic medals, several cities along the route of the road course donated special prizes. The cycling awards ceremony was separate from the events in the stadium and took place on Monday, 9 July, at Restaurant Hasslebacken, where the awards were distributed by the President of the Cycling Committee, Gösta Drake af Hagelsrum. The special awards given were as follows: Memorial Cup of Eskilstuna - winner of the race - [Rudolph Lewis] (RSA); Memorial Cup of Västerås - top Swedish cyclist - [Erik Friborg]; Memorial Cup of Enköping - best rider between Enköping and the Olympic Stadium - [Leon Meredith] (GBR); Memorial Cup of Mariefred - given to cyclist who ride well but did not win a medal - [Frank Brown] (CAN); Silver Cup of Sundsvalls Velocipedklubb - winner of the team race - Sweden; and Memorial Cup of Köping - team with most participants finishing - Germany.

New to this, been searchin net now for enfo on johno'neils lucania, as own a lucania, it great you are covering these michines, hope you find great info on the lucania, need a few parts,ps the wheel hubs are stamped, made in Irealnd in irish.

 

[I miss that R string]

Some pics

 

[dnc1]

Some picsView attachment 749586 View attachment 749587 View attachment 749588 View attachment 749589

Really nice detail!
Any chance of some photos of the whole machine?

 

[I miss that R string]

Really nice detail!
Any chance of some photos of the whole machine?

Thats only photos on my phone, its a in the-- out, and dark, but of course i will,give me a few days, it needs TLC, some missing parts, bike is a gents, has a nice crank, love it.

 

[dnc1]

Thats only photos on my phone, its a in the-- out, and dark, but of course i will,give me a few days, it needs TLC, some missing parts, bike is a gents, has a nice crank, love it.

That's cool, no rush!
Have you seen any other survivors?

 

[I miss that R string]

That's cool, no rush!
Have you seen any other survivors?

No, and its not for the lack in trying, hope to find some here. Some good photos would help.

 

[filmonger]

Very Interesting R string... I will keep the research going as it interests me very much. Thank you for the pictures and contribution. I'll keep an eye out here in the Republic as I am sure you will do the same in N Ireland.

To answer Bikejunk - I can only assume that the head badge is the Pierce marking on the headset along with the Pierce bracket. Though, This is only an assumption.

 

[I miss that R string]

Very Interesting R string... I will keep the research going as it interests me very much. Thank you for the pictures and contribution. I'll keep an eye out here in the Republic as I am sure you will do the same in N Ireland.

To answer Bikejunk - I can only assume that the head badge is the Pierce marking on the headset along with the Pierce bracket. Though, This is only an assumption.[/QUOT

Very Interesting R string... I will keep the research going as it interests me very much. Thank you for the pictures and contribution. I'll keep an eye out here in the Republic as I am sure you will do the same in N Ireland.

To answer Bikejunk - I can only assume that the head badge is the Pierce marking on the headset along with the Pierce bracket. Though, This is only an assumption.