Building the Tullamore Harriers

Another old Super 8 movie taken at the building of the Tullamore Harriers in 1970.
One can not help but be impressed by the facilities on offer when one enters the grounds of Tullamore Harriers. A guided tour would impress you even more, for not only is there the Olympic standard tartan track, the fully equipped gym, magnificent changing facilities complete with saunas and showers etc., but there are also grass and tarmacadam running tracks, a press box, boardroom and much much more. Then, of course, there is the beautiful Social Centre/Niteclub which provides the vital source of income needed by the Tullamore Harriers Athletic Club which costs a substantial amount of money each year to run. It is no wonder that everybody in Tullamore regards "the Harriers" as the most ambitious, enterprising and successful club in the town.

A meeting of nine young men held under a street light in the main street in Tullamore resulted in the founding of Tullamore Harriers. The nine young men then adjourned to Clarke's Barber Shop where the first committee was elected. But even the most far-sighted of the nine men who came together on that night of 13th November, 1953 as founder members of the club could scarcely be credited with foresight sufficient to envisage the growth that was to ensue over the following four decades. The first Chairman was John Dowling who later went on to become President of the G.A.A. The other founding members were Paddy Larkin (RIP), Noel Gowran, Brendan O' Shea, Mick McDermott (RIP), Brendan McDermott, Noel Houlihan (RIP), Andrew Lowbridge, Billy Dowling and Larry Fox.

The club's first headquarters was a dilapidated building which was leased in 1955. The move towards the present site came some years later with the purchase of 8 acres of land considered suitable for development. There followed several years of disappointment and frustration before planning permission to develop this site was eventually obtained in 1969. This immediately boosted the confidence of the committee, and the following year an additional 9 acres of land adjacent to their original holding was purchased.

Wisely, in view of the need to generate finance for their ultimate objective, the Harriers then concentrated their efforts on building and equiping a modern Social Centre and this was officially opened in 1972. Now assured of a regular source of income, the committee enbarked on their long term objective and had plans drawn up for the laying of a running track of full international standard, and this was duly developed and commissioned in 1978. (When the English company were contacted about laying the tartan track and they found out that the venture was being undertaken by a private athletic club in Ireland, they took some persuading that this was not an Irish joke.

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Entertainment

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• old super 8 footage
• old
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• tullamore
• harriers
• 1970
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• running
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• Olympics
• tartan track

[MrSuperDouper]

nice dancing never knew people could dance so well in Tullamore it must have taken a long time to build.

[joepyke]

little did they know the crack that would go on there years later

[JetBike624]

Ireland in the rare ould times. Thanks for sharing

[biffo46]

I remember fundraising for that building !!