Peter McDermott continues the series: For starters, let’s look at some statistics – track statistics.
2:03.61 : the seventh fastest time for 800m. by an Irish female athlete in 2024.
2:03.40 : the Clonliffe Women’s record for 800m.
O.K. So what’s the big deal ? The Clonliffe record is not significantly faster than the seventh fastest
time last year. Ah yes, but that Clonliffe record was set all of fifty four years ago . It was set in the
European Championship semi-final in Helsinki in 1971 by a remarkable athlete, an athlete who was
decades ahead of her time in Ireland, an athlete whose personal bests are still comparable to the
best in the country.
Welcome to the world of Claire Walsh, Olympian, trail blazer and holder of multiple Irish records.
Born Claire Dowling in 1942, in the lovely, tranquil suburb of Terenure, or Tír an Iúir ( Land of the Yew Tree ) she
was the eldest in a family of five children, all girls. Her father was a doctor and a pharmacist. Her mother an Honours graduate in Mathematics from U.C.D.
Claire attended Our Lady’s School Terenure where she excelled in lacrosse. She also showed such a keen interest in show jumping that her father bought her a pony. She rode with the South Dublin Hunt and competed in many gymkhanas, reaching such a high level that she qualified to compete in the Dublin Horse Show in the R.D.S. On certain mornings of the week she would school her pony before going to class. She would arrive there still clad in jodhpurs to be greeted by disapproving glances from the good Sisters who considered such apparel to be very un- lady like and who quickly ushered her into her demure school uniform.
Hers was a happy childhood. Her younger sister Jean fondly remembers the five sisters playing several different types of games in their back garden on sun-soaked summer days . The sisters enjoyed swimming and their holidays involved trips to Butlins in Mosney and to the exotic climes of swinging Skerries. And, of course, the Swinging Sixties it certainly was: one of Claire’s most memorable experiences as a young woman was attending the Beatles’ concert in the Adelphi when the Fab Four played there in 1963. The screaming of thousands of girls, both inside and outside the venue, is said to have registered 5.2 on the Richter Scale ! (Slightly over 2000 youngsters crammed into the cinema for each of the two concerts which they gave that evening.) Claire was also a member of the Girl Guides with all the adventures and activities which that entailed. She was adept at many different things, for instance she made many of her own clothes .
After obtaining her Leaving Cert. in 1959, Claire worked for some time in Dublin Corporation before
getting a job in Guinness’s – an absolutely plum position in those days. In 1963, she heard that a
“ Ladies’ Section” was being formed in Clonliffe Harriers and she promptly joined up. It is well
documented by now that she won the first ever women’s race in the Club: a 600 yard race covering
about one-third of Santry Avenue. And let the record show that she was clad in a full track suit .
Equally well known by now is that her prize for this feat was a pair of candle-sticks. The media
sensed something newsworthy in all this and did a short feature on “ Morton’s Marvels” which
actually praised “these young ladies who are not prepared to sit at home knitting”. Some weeks later
they ran their first cross-country race and again the media gave it coverage in somewhat dubious
laudatory terms . The report appeared under the headline “ The Distaff Side of Clonliffe Harriers”.
The reporter was glad to inform his readers that “all the girls finished the course as fresh and as
pretty as daisies”. Claire won the race and was described as “a flier” while one astute observer with
admirable perspicacity told this intrepid newsman “ You’ll be hearing more about her.”
An accompanying photo shows eight of the fifteen competitors clad in long sleeved t-shirts and
tracksuit trousers .
She was coached in the early days by Club Captain , Harry Cooney, and Noel O’Rourke. Later,she was
guided by the expertise of Des de Loughrey. With all of the typical enthusiasm of youth, Claire
wanted to try every event – and did . In the early days she seemed destined to be a sprinter, with
outstanding performances and very respectable times over 100,200 and 400m. All set on the grass
tracks of College Park or the Iveagh Grounds – or the “ultra modern” cinder track in Santry . A cinder
track which could either be quite sticky or concrete hard depending on the weather . All the time
she was developing her speed which would benefit her enormously later on when she moved up in
distance.
As we know, women in sport were still frowned upon by Official Ireland at that time. Maeve Kyle’s
participation three times in the Olympic Games drew a torrent of Letters to various Editors
castigating her for leaving her husband to look after her children while she “gallivanted” off to
Melbourne, Rome and Tokyo. Thank goodness that social media did not exist back then or it would
have gone into melt down ! Morton’s Marvels also encountered prejudice and resistance at various
levels . They all experienced the same problems as outlined by Frances Mansfield in a previous
article .But enthusiasm and resourcefulness make up for a multitude of handicaps. Claire was a
member of an extraordinary group of determined and talented young women . Her younger sister
Jean was a fine athlete in her own right as was Pádraigín Dwyer and , of course , Ann O’Brien . But
handicaps ? Yes, there were a few .Even track suits were difficult to find. Shorts for women ? Almost
non-existent, and frowned on in this country . Camogie and female hockey players wore rather
strange garments somewhat similar to what have now become known as skorts – an odd hybrid
lurking between skirts and shorts. But did any of this deter Morton’s Marvels ? “Yes, as the
sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion” as a certain poet might say. From wearing men’s shorts, to
making their own, to buying them from an outlet in the UK ( which they saw advertised in Athletics
Weekly ) these intrepid young women carried on .
But other obstacles- or potential ones –did arise : the “obstacle” of true love . Shortly after joining
Clonliffe Claire met her future husband, Brian, at a tennis match and they were married in 1965 .
That same year, she became the first Irish woman to beat Maeve Kyle over 400m. Women married
young in those days : Claire was only 23; her husband the same age. Their first child, Patricia, was
born the following year and their second daughter, Niamh, arrived a year later. Furthermore, Brian’s
job as an accountant necessitated the family moving to County Sligo for a number of years.
For two and a half years after her marriage, Claire did no running at all. She helped out in Calry A.C.
as a coach but, at this stage, had no interest in competing at international level – or any other level .
Then, one weekend at a sports in Dublin, she decided to enter the 100yards and came second.That
encouraged her to take things a little more seriously again and a few weeks later she won the 100
yards, the 880 yards and the Long Jump in the Connacht Championships, held in Ballinamore, County
Leitrim. (Ballinamore was a sort of Mecca for athletics at that time due to the influence of the
extraordinary Pádraig Griffin who was already coaching and mentoring such amazing young talents
as P.J. and Eddie Leddy as well as the precocious Patricia Quinn ). Shortly afterwards she travelled to
Santry and, despite training only one day per week, won the 100 and 220 yards in the National
Championships. A year later she won the 100, 200 and 400m. at the Nationals. In August of that year
she set a PB.in the 800m. and, right then, wisely decided to concentrate on that event .
Brian was now working for G.W.I. in Colloney and Claire had to be very resourceful in finding a
training venue.
And so was born the legend of Claire training on a footpath – a dirt footpath- just outside her house on a stretch of road between Ballisodare and Collooney.A legend indeed, but absolutely true. This
was of sufficient novelty value that, some years later when Claire was training for the Munich
Olympics, it captured the headlines in one of the national daily broadsheets . Claire informed the
amazed reporter that this, indeed, was where she had prepared for the European Championships
and where she was now training for the Olympics.“ When the footpath gets too rough, I go out with
my brush and sweep it” she informed the almost incredulous reporter.She also told our goggle-eyed
friend that she would place her two little girls in their prams. on her front lawn where they could
see her and she could keep an eye on them as she did her training. At the end of each rep. she would
jog back and utter reassuring words and noises to her two little fans. It seems almost incredible now
that she reached such a high level with such modest facilities. No warm weather training, no trips to
altitude, no team of medical personnel, physios., physical therapists, sport psychologists –none of
the backup team now deemed essential for international athletes.
In spite of her very limited facilities ( non-existent facilities ?) Claire won no fewer than sixteen
National Senior Championships in five different events while living in Sligo: she won four
100yards/100m. titles, six 220 yards /200m. titles, four 400m. titles , one 800m. title and one
pentathlon title.
Despite living in her rural retreat, Claire stayed very much in touch with her Clonliffe team mates
and was a key member of that pioneering squad. She ran for the Club in cross country, road and
track relays and in track team competitions such as the Louis Vandendries Trophy, probably the
most prestigious team competition in Ireland at the time . ( This was held in conjunction with the
George V. Ryan Trophy for men ). Ann O’Brien made the trip to London in 1969 to compete in the
British AAAs 3000m. and won it at her first attempt. When she came back she told the other
Clonliffe girls about the 800m. “ They went through the first lap in 60 seconds – and kept going”.
The others in this talented “stable” were in awe – but not intimidated.They examined the splits for
the 400m. and a seed was sown . They looked at each other and, in the true spirit of the Sixties , said
“ Some see things as they are and say ‘Why ?’; (We) see things that never were and say ‘Why not? ”.
And so, the following year,in June 1970, Claire entered the AAAs 800m. and finished second to Sheila
Carey* in 2:04.9 with the late Lillian Board in 3 rd . ( Ms. Board had won Silver in the 400m. in the
Mexico Olympics in 1968 and two Golds at the European Championships in 1969). Sadly Ms. Board
died the following year from cancer at the tragically young age of 22. A week later , the quartet
named earlier, headed for Crystal Palace . All, except Claire and Anne had never seen tartan before.
They were also in awe of the Complex as a whole : modern stands, large buildings with lots of glass,
fabulous dressing rooms with clean showers, car parking and landscaping. A world away from the
Nissen Hut in Santry ! But fabulous facilities do not always the athlete make.This gallant band of
young women,true blue Dubs., were not daunted. Pádraigín led off , handed over to Jean who
passed over in the lead to Ann ( the distance runner ! ) . Claire ran a brilliant 53.7 last lap,anchoring
the team to 2 nd .just behind the defending champions, Edinburgh Southern, who ran 3:44.1, 2.5
seconds faster than the previous year.The girls were delighted with their AAA Silvers.
Clonliffe had pushed Edinburgh to new heights and the Irish girls had also ran under the previous
year’s record with a fine 3:45.8. The splits, respectively, were 56.4, 57.1, 58.6, 53.7. It was an Irish
National record and a Clonliffe record which lasted 18 years .
- ( Carey had finished 4 th . in the 800 in Mexico and would go on to finish 5 th . in the 1500 in Munich.
She had PBs of 2:02.9 and 4:04.81).
The following year they entered for both the 4 X 400 and the 4 X 800 in the AAA Championships.
First up was the 4 X 800 in Birmingham University in early July. 16 year old Jean Appleby ran
the first leg here in 2:16.7 handing over in second place to Claire’s sister Jean ( now married
to Brian O’Neill ).The latter ran 2:14.3 giving Ann the lead. She ran 2:12.9 and, in a smart
move, slowed down approaching the change over thereby manoeuvring the pre-race
favourites, Barnet A.C., into the lead. Always better to be the hunter rather than the
hunted. Claire was now able to draft off Margaret Beacham, the World Indoor 1500m.record
holder. Going into the last bend Beacham looked in control and the Barnet girls were
celebrating but, with 200m. to go, Claire unleashed a blistering kick and passed Beacham
just 10m. from the finish. Clonliffe won in 8:48.8 from Barnet’s 8:49.8. Claire ran the final
leg in 2:04.9, equalling her then PB . Three weeks later, Clonliffe were back on British soil,
this time for the AAA 4 X 400m. Championship in Solihull. Jean’s young husband Brian was
the team manager but ,at Birmingham airport, he was called aside by the police .This ,of
course, was at the height ( or the depths ) of “ The Troubles “ in Northern Ireland and many
Irish people were treated as suspect terrorists on arrival in the UK. The four ladies decided
that they could not wait while this mistake was sorted out and they headed for the track.
( Brian was eventually released after two hours of questioning.) Pádraigín o’Dwyer regained
her place for the shorter distance and the team were convincing winners in 3:49.1 from Bury
and Radcliff’s 3:50.2 .
All this was ideal preparation for Claire who, of course, was targeting the European
Championships in Helsinki at the end of August. As a warm up for these Games, she finished
3 rd . in her heat of the 800m. at the European Indoor Championships in Sofia in March of that
year. She also set a new Irish record of 53.7 over 400m. at a Meet in Barcelona in June of the
same year.
And so to the European Championships in August .The Olympiastadion in Helsinki, with its
statue of Paavo Nurmi* outside the arena, is a Mecca for true followers of athletics.
*(Nurmi had won 9 Golds and 3 Silver Olympic medals and had set 22 World Records during
the course of his career ) The people here love their track and field and it would be difficult
to find a more athletically educated crowd anywhere in the world. The Games served up
one of the richest feasts of athletics in the history of the Sport. An epic 10000m. final set the
scene for what was to follow . The home favourite , Juha Vaatinen outsprinted the defending
champion Jurgen Haase ( East Germany )with a 53 second last lap as six men went under the
28 minute barrier. Vaatinen added the 5000m. title a few days later ( One Laase Viren,
largely unknown at that stage , finished down the field ). The sprints and field events
especially the Women’s) were dominated by the state sponsored East Germans (GDR) many
of whom later admitted to being on drugs . And many,indeed, later paid a terrible price in
terms of medical consequences.
But all that was none of Claire’s concern . She outdid her own targets by making the final of
the 800m.She had finished 2nd . in her heat behind joint favourite Gunhild Hoffmeister ( East
Germany/GDR ) in 2:06.06.and just ahead of the British girl Patricia Lowe. She lined up for
the semi-final not really expecting to progress any further. This was probably a good mental
state to be in as she felt no pressure at allShe was drawn against Hoffmeister again and the
other joint favourite, Hildegard Falck of West Germany( FRG), the World Record holder at
1:58.3. No love lost between the GDR and the FRG in those Cold War days ! The race was
won by Hoffmeister from Falck in 2:03.1.
Claire ran an absolute blinder to finish 4 th . in a new Irish record of 2:03.4.
And so to the final. Most pundits agreed that it would be fought out between Falck and
Hoffmeister. Some favoured Vera Nikolic of Yugoslavia who, as a completely unknown 17
year old, had won this title in 1966. A front runner with a PB of 2:00.5, she had the potential
to run the legs off them all but had not been in great form since the Mexico Olympics.
It is generally acknowledged that the 800m. is probably the most physical of all track races
( “ physical” being a nice euphemism for “dog-fight”, a battle which is not for the faint
hearted.“ Filthy” is how the great Mary Treacy/Purcell once described it. )
And so it proved . With each of the two Germans determined to outgun the other (and remember
this was viewed in many quarters as a showdown between Democratic West facing
Communist East) the inevitable collision occurred just after they broke from lanes . Neither
was prepared to yield an inch and, in the ensuing collision, both ended up on the track .
Claire, who was immediately behind them, had to jump over them to avoid crashing herself .
She was understandably stunned by this development and,while she recovered her
composure and gallantly gave chase, it was all over for the brave Irish woman.She eventually
finished sixth in 2:08. Neither German woman completed the race. It was indeed won by
Nikolic in 2.00.0 with Patricia Lowe 2 nd . and Rosemary Stirling ( GB) 3 rd . What might have
been we will never know…
The Games were dominated by the Soviet Union ( URS ) and the East Germans with fine
performances also by the other Communist Bloc countries such as Bulgaria and Romania .
Valery Borzov (URS) took the 100 and 200 sending a message to the Americans that their
dominance of these events was at an end while Yevgeniy Arzhanov ( also URS )looked
imperious in winning the 800m in 1:45.62. ( Arzhanov was described by the Athletics Weekly
report as “ looking as smooth as toothpaste oozing out of a tube “. He would have an epic
showdown with Dave Wottle in Munich a year later .) The only event not dominated by
Communist bloc countries was the marathon which was won by Belgium’s Karel Lismont
with Britain having three in the first four.
Danny McDaid did Clonliffe proud ,finishing 11 th . in 2:19.08. Clonliffe’s third representative in these Championships was Frank Murphy (“ Big Frank” ) who finished 6 th . in his heat of the heat of the 1500m. in 3:44.00.
It wasn’t a great championship for the Irish : apart from Claire’s Irish record in the 800 and
Donie Walsh’s Irish record in the 10000m. ( 28:52.60 ) there was not much to cheer the Irish
supporters . Incidentally, Donie Walsh finished just 19 seconds behind Lasse Viren and all of
72 seconds ahead of a certain Carlos Lopes . ( LA ‘84 was a long way off and John Treacy was
still only 14 years old ! ) The late Fanahan McSweeney, generally considered to be one of the
most naturally gifted Irish athletes of all time, was a disappointing 7 th . in his 400m. semi-
final. Almost immediately afterwards,Fanahan announced that he was moving up to the
800m. Fanahan had a PB of 46.0 and had broken the European Indoor 400m. record with
46.3 but felt that his future lay in the longer distance. Unfortunately, injury prevented him
from doing the type of training necessary for the 800 and he was back running the 400 in the
Munich Olympic Games a year later .
On arriving back in Dublin Airport, Team Manager, Dermot McDermott, had no hesitation in naming
Claire Walsh as the “ Irish heroine of the Games “.And, in December of that year, at the
Texaco Sports Awards ( now the Sport Star of the Year Awards ), Claire won the award for Athletics, being the only female winner on that occasion. But she now faced a new challenge at home : the arrival on the scene of one Mary Treacy-Purcell , a wonderful 21 year old talent who, after just two years in the sport, was pushing Claire over 800m. and had ran a new Irish record of 4:08 over 1500m.
Claire welcomed this “ new kid on the block”, recognising that she required competition in order to
improve. In an interview early in 1972, she admitted that she would “ need to knock up to 3 seconds
off her PB “ if she wanted to even make the Olympic final . She continued her training on the
pathway in Sligo. The county council still had not fulfilled their promise to lay tarmac on it but Claire
didn’t waste any energy in complaining about it; she just got on with her training with her two little
girls now big enough to sit on the adjoining wall and cheer her on .
Apart from slow moving county councils, another irritant was the fact that,in 1971, the IAAF had
decided to introduce sex tests for female athletes before competition. Claire experienced this in
Sofia where doctors took scrapings from inside the mouths of the competitors. The IOC now decided
to follow suit but they claimed they could determine a person’s sex by examining a single hair .
A rather prurient reporter interviewed Claire about this . Claire gave a very down to earth answer
( laced with a tinge of humour ) “ Well, I have no problem with it. I’m a mother; I’ve given birth to
two children . So, I must be a woman. But they won’t take a girl’s word for it.” Claire showed that
her preparations for the Games were going well when she beat Falck in an indoor 800m. in Berlin in
the Autumn or early Winter of ’71.
Ignoring the irritants, athletes all over the world began the build up for the biggest sporting event in
the world : the Olympic Games. Back in Germany for the first time since “The Hitler Games” in Berlin
in 1936. Was it tempting Fate to give the Games to the city where the National Socialist German
Workers’ Party, better known as Nazism, was founded in 1929 ? The IOC were confident that the
Germans,with their well deserved reputation for efficiency, would put on the greatest sporting show
in the history of the Games. The Olympic stadium was, indeed, an impressive sight . The futuristic
looking structure, with its “tent“ roof resembled some type of gigantic space ship straight out of
Close Encounters . Others thought the roof looked like a ginormous spider’s web. The architects
claimed that they modelled it on a circus tent. And,of course, Munich was –and is- a beautiful city.
In many respects they were magnificent Games- or at least the early days were . An epic men’s
10000m.saw Lasse Viren get tripped on the 12 th . lap, pick himself up and go on to win the race in a
new World Record of 27:38.35 . The 5000m. was equally, if not even more, dramatic. Steve
Prefontaine of the U.S.A. had boasted for quite some time that nobody could endure pain for as long
as he could and, therefore, was a certainty for the Gold medal: “ A lot of people run a race to see
who is fastest. I run a race to see who has the most guts”. But going into the last lap he still had not
shaken of the defending champion, Mohmmed Gammoudi from Tunisia, the Commonwealth and
former European champion Ian Stewart (GB)and the ominous figure of Viren . Prefontaine won many
fans for his bravery, front running the last mile at sub 4 minute pace but he could not cope with the
kicking ability of those three. Viren won his second Gold from Gammoudi with Stewart pipping Pre
on the line for the Bronze. Finland completed the middle distance treble with Pekka Vasala winning
the 1500m. from defending champion, the great Kip Keino. ( Keino would later win the Steeplechase
– even though he had never ran it before the Olympic heats ! )
The Women’s events were dominated by athletes from the Soviet Bloc, the USSR itself but more
particularly East Germany ( GDR ). The 100m. and 200m. were won by Renate Stecher in 11.07 and
22.40. Both World Records. She would go on to become the first woman to run the 100m. in under
11 seconds. The 400 was won by Monika Zehrt, also of the GDR, in 51.08. The 4 X 400 was won again
by the East German team in 3:22.95, another World Record. Eyebrows were raised by many of these
performances and, indeed, by the physiques of the women concerned.
There may have been mutterings of discontent, but many were willing to suspend their disbelief and just enjoy the feast of athletics. So many epic contests, so much joy, camaraderie and fellowship as
the finest athletes in the world vied for the honour and glory of their countries.
Irish and British fans rejoiced together in the victory of Mary Peters in the Pentathlon . Mary was
universally regarded as one of the nicest people in the sport and the “ Girl from Belfast” did her
adopted city proud at a very dark time in that city’s history. ( She was born in Liverpool )
Meanwhile, Claire’s preparations had gone well : she had ran a 100m. PB of 11.9 in a warm-up Meet
shortly before the Games. But she found the going tough in the very first round. Drawn in the
second heat on August 31, she was not ready for the searing pace of Olympic competition. This was
a step up again from Helsinki. Claire believed that the field would come back to her after a
murderous first lap of 56 seconds. She said she was feeling good until about 250m. to go. But then
she tired as two Eastern bloc athletes, Zlateva of Bulgaria and Nikolic of Yugoslavia, fought it out
with Zlateva getting the win in a new Olympic record of 1:58.9. An Olympic record – in a Heat ?
Welcome to the Olympics , where you must be prepared to expect the unexpected. In the final, won
by the hometown favourite Hildegard Falck, five women went under 2 minutes while the other three
all clocked 2:00 point. Yes, there may have been heart break and tears of disappointment, but still
this was a global celebration of all that is great in youthful competition, and a time when peace and
international harmony reign.
Or was it ? On the fateful morning of September 5 th, darkness and evil suddenly descended on the
Olympic Village. Eight members of the militant Palestinian group, Black September, broke into the
Israeli athletes’ quarters and held them hostage for 24 hours.
The Irish quarter in the Village was right beside the Israeli section. In spite of this, most were
unaware of what was happening except for the sketchy coverage they got on television. One Irish
athlete, however, who came very close to the terrorists was the great Fanahan McSweeney .
Described by Eamon Coghlan as “one of the greatest Irish athletes of all time” and described in the
McNeese College Hall of Fame as “The fastest of the Fast,” he had just failed to qualify for the semi-
finals by 1/100 of a second. He was plagued by chronic hip injuries and back pain and could only
compete with the assistance of cortisone and pain killers. Nevertheless, he was so disappointed at
not advancing to the semis, that he decided not to hang around the Olympic Village . He rose early
on the morning of September 5 to return to McNeese State University where he was on athletic
scholarship. On the way out, he spotted a figure in a balaclava with what appeared like a gun on one
of the balconies of the Village . He dismissed it as drunken revelry by athletes returning after a very
late night. But at the main gate he was confronted by a mass of reporters and camera crews.
“ Amid the babble of foreign accents” he recalled later, “ one American voice caught my attention :
‘Anything sinister happening in the Olympic Village ?’.“Everyone is fast asleep” replied Fanahan.
“Sure today is the athletes’ rest day.” “It’s very strange” said the American . “ All
telecommunications into the Village were severed at 2.30 this morning”. “My blood ran cold“
remembered Fanahan later, “I related what I had seen less than 30 minutes earlier. Unknowingly I
was giving the world its first inkling of what would become a bloody massacre”. And sadly,
appallingly, bloody massacre it was . We all know now that it ended late that evening at Munich
airport in a shoot-out between German police and the terrorists. And when the smoke cleared, all 11
Israeli athletes, 5 Palestinians and one West German police officer lay dead. The world was shocked
. The Games were postponed for one day . Despite calls for their disbandment, the President of the
IOC, Avery Brundage , was adamant that they should continue. “ Closing down the Games would
mean that the terrorists had won” he said. And so, after a memorial service in the Olympic Stadium
the next day, the Games went on. Perhaps Brundage was right : he was,no doubt,mindful of Baron
de Coubertin’s words back in 1896 : “ There is no higher ideal for the human race than promoting
international peace and understanding through sport”.
- A number of excellent films have been made about this tragic event . Two of the best are Steven
Spielberg’s 2005 film “ Munich” and the recent “ September 5 “ directed by Tim Felhbaum.
It would be understandable after this horrific incident if many athletes became disillusioned. Many
questioned the relevance of sport in such a dark world. The Vietnam War continued to rage.
Northern Ireland experienced its most bloody year of the conflict. The Yom Kippur war would erupt a
year later. What was the point of sport in a world torn apart by war and terrorism ? Others argued
that never was sport more relevant or more necessary. Sport continued to show the best qualities
of humankind: the idealism and the joy of youth, the gallant endeavour, the sportsmanship and the
camaraderie between athletes from every nation on earth.
When she came home, Claire decided , after consulting with her husband, that she would give it one
more season. She posted some notable times and managed some memorable performances in 1973.
She celebrated her 31 st . birthday in May by setting a new Irish record of 24.1 at the Vandendries Cup
Meet in Santry . At the Coco-Cola meet in Crystal Palace in September, she finished second to
Verona Bernard, the European Indoor 400m record holder. Claire clocked 53.8, just 0.1 outside her
Irish record. In her wake were British champion Janet Roscoe and World record holder, Marilyn
Neufville. Less than 24 hours later in Belfast she registered a Northern Ireland All Comers record of
24.1( again ) in the 200m.
And suddenly it was 1974 – and the European Championships in Rome beckoned. Claire’s husband
was transferred back to Dublin and, as a result of this, she decided to give it one more year. She had
less travelling now to do to get to Meets and this was a major factor in her decision. She decided to
drop back to the 400m. She felt the qualifying standard of 54.00 was much easier than the standard
in the 800: in fact she already had the qualifying mark in the shorter event with her 53.8 in that
Coca-Cola Meet the previous September. But the moving of house, home and family back to Dublin
also curtailed the amount of time she had for training so this, too, was a factor in her decision to opt
for the shorter event.
And so, she headed for the Eternal City for one last spin on the International athletics roundabout .
The heat and humidity of Rome in August/early September are notorious . Most Romans get out of
their city at this time of year if they can . Even the Pope gets out and goes to Castel Gandolfo for the
cooler mountain breezes !
Claire faced a first round heat on September 2 nd . in stifling humidity. Her swan song was not a happy
occasion, finishing 6 th . and last in her First Round heat in 54.15 . (Incidentally , that same afternoon,
a young Irish lad also finished last in his heat of the 5000m. in 14:29.6. An Irish journalist wrote at the
time that this young man’s performance was a “ disgrace to the Irish vest and he should never be
selected for Ireland again”. The young man’s name ? Eamonn Coghlan ) .
And so Claire’s glittering athletics career came to an end. She gave birth to her son Niall in 1975 but
she continued to compete for Clonliffe in the National Track League for another three years . At one
point she held Irish records in no fewer than FOUR events: 100 yards: 10.9 ; 200m.: 24.1 ; 400m.:
53.7 ; 800m. : 2:03.4.
Claire had many words of wisdom for athletes , especially for young ,developing ones. In a very
comprehensive interview with Brother John Dooley in the magazine “ Our Boys”, in late 1973,she
outlined many of her beliefs and training principles. She believed that young athletes should have a
go at all events and not specialise until they have tried them all. She also recommended that they
train in groups and should only compete against athletes in their own age group. She advised them
to be patient “Don’t expect success straight away. Set yourself an attainable target each year and
then strive to attain it.” Furthermore, she cautioned young athletes against overtraining : “NEVER
OVERTRAIN ! Athletics should be fun and enjoyable – not a way of life.”
She advised against competing too often “as this can lead to staleness and a loss of appetite for the sport”. A young person’s target should be “to become a GOOD SENIOR ATHLETE , not just a good under age one”.
She also had a very practical attitude to injury “ When I get injured, I stop training immediately and
rest for a few days. If it has not healed by then I seek professional advice. I tell myself that the rest
from training and competition will only do me good and that I’ll come back better than ever”. She
said she had no special diet “ but I have a well balanced one and include liver and green vegetables
daily.” She admitted to getting nervous before races “but the nerves always disappeared when the
gun went”.
Claire continued to have a keen interest in athletics all her life. She had the joy of seeing her
daughter,Patricia, become an International athlete.Indeed it was Patricia who eventually erased her
mother’s mark from the record books with an excellent 53.06, missing out on the Olympic qualifying
standard in 1988 by the heart breaking margin of six hundredths of a second. Claire always attended
the National T&F Championships and the Morton Games . Everybody who met her was struck by her
gentle manner and lady like demeanour.
Sadly , Claire passed away on June 23 rd . 2023 after a long illness . Ironically, she died just a few
months before Clonliffe celebrated the 60th anniversary of the foundation of the Ladies’ Section in
the Club. The All Time Performance list for Clonliffe women indicates just how far she was ahead of
her time. She is still ranked 2 nd . in the 100m.( 11.9); 1 st . in the 200m. (24.10); 2 nd . in the 400m.
( 53.70) and 1 st . in the 800m.(2:03.40). ( Incidentally she is also ranked highly in a further three
events, even though she only did them a few times just to help her Club win points in the T.&F.
League : 5 th in the High Jump with 1.53m., 7 th . in the Long Jump with 5.43m., and 10 th .in the
100m.Hurdles with 17.04).
Shall we ever see her likes again ? In an age when the term “ legend” is bandied about far too easily
and casually, one hesitates now to term her such . But Claire Walsh will surely live on in the annals of
Clonliffe and of Irish Athletics as one of the True All Time Greats.
*I wish to thank Claire’s sister , Jean , for most of the information contained in this article.
(Peter McDermott)