Castleisland District Heritage holds a handwritten letter written by the late D A Jones together with a family photograph donated during National Heritage Week 2015.[1] Denis A Jones, better known as Denny Jones, is still recalled locally as being a champion cyclist in the early part of the twentieth century.
Denny was born at Cordal on 2 April 1886, son of Michael Jones and Bridget Leary.[2] In his working life, Denny was employed in the water supply to the town:
Oh, to sit beside the fountain in the
sweltering summer’s day.
With a beaker of the crystal that
is splashing on the stones:
’Tis deep I’d drink its nectar draught
and fill again and say,
Slainte, slainte! Good Sean Ban
and honest Denny Jones![3]
In 1930, Denny and John Hussey were credited with ‘wizardry’ as far as the fountain in Castleisland was concerned:
The good old fountain is now a veritable treasure to the people of the town with its copious and continuous gush of delicious spring water where erst there was but a trickle. Denny Jones and John Hussey are wizards in the matter of supplying good water. [4]
A few years later, there were problems with the water supply to the fountain:
The fountain is one of Castleisland’s distinctive institutions. A veritable little monument of massive limestone, cut and carved in semi-Ionic style, it has stood there in the middle of the wide street for ages, giving forth a steady, if not copious gush of spring water, so cool and fresh and pure and sweet that it might rival the ‘Castaleen water’ that ‘refreshed the beautiful Nina.’ Now as if to emulate the ‘Lake of the Eye’ it has, without warning, run dry.[5]
The trouble, it was found, was with the pipework:
Mr Denny Jones, who might now be called our waterworks specialist, was deputed with Mr Gallagher to examine the system and they found that almost the entire length of the couple of hundred yards or so of three inch iron piping between the fountain and its source of supply had become almost choked by an incrustation of red oxide and mineral deposit. This line of piping has been functioning for sixty-five years, and the authorities are now asked to replace it by a set of new pipes. The cost will not be enormous. The fountain is of great importance to the town, the water being in general requisition for kettle purposes.[6]
Mr Denny Jones, one of the most efficient ’Island men in matters of sewerage, waterworks, and such like[7]
Denny was clearly ahead of his time when it came to private enterprise:
As an example of commendable private enterprise, one may instance a little scheme recently carried out by Mr J D Walsh, Cordal, by which a regular supply is conducted, regardless of levels, from a stream of good water some distance away into the fine farmstead, into the house. Considering the importance and extent of the work, the cost, I believe, was inconsiderable. Just a line of piping and a little hydraulic secret of Mr Denny Jones, and there you are. Much useful work of this kind will doubtless be carried out by our public Boards when financial reform happens along.[8]
Denny was an active member of the community, and when he assisted Sergt Thomas O’Leary in February 1937 with work on Weights and Measures at the Carnegie, it was remarked that he was ‘a man of many activities.’[9]
Champion Cyclist[10]
However, it is for cycling that Denny is particularly remembered. Local lore has it he cycled to Dublin to win a national title, and cycled home again.[11] Certainly in the early years of the twentieth century his name appeared in the local press with news reports of his continued success in cycle events.[12]
In February 1913, Denny announced that he would open a cycle and motor-repairing depot in Castleisland, and would be agent for ‘all the leading cycle manufacturers both English and Irish’:
I have already secured the extensive premises at rere of Commercial Hotel (Messrs P J Scott’s) and everything is being done to cater for the comfort and accommodation of customers … Signed D A Jones, Castleisland Cycle and Motor Works.[13]
Denny married and raised a family, his residence was 132 Upper Main Street.[14] He continued to take an interest in cycling throughout the rest of his life.
Denny died in the summer of 1957:
Famous Cyclist Passes: Mr D A Jones, Upper Main Street, a native of Cordal, who died recently was, in the early decades of the century, champion cyclist of Ireland. He was unbeaten for years and won hundreds of prizes. Guard T Jones, a well-known Limerick athlete, is a nephew. Mr D A Jones was laid to rest in New Kilbannivane.[15]
Denny’s brother, Thomas Jones, also a successful cyclist, died on 1 January 1963.[16]
Castleisland Athletic and Cycling Club (CACC)
Castleisland, home of the never-to-be-forgotten cyclist Denny Jones, has never been without an active athletics and cycling club[17]
In 1960, at the annual meeting of the Castleisland Athletic and Cycling Club, it was decided to initiate a perpetual cup for a track cycle event to be known as the ‘D A Jones Cup’[18] in memory of ‘one of the greatest if not the greatest cyclist in Ireland early in the century.’[19] In that year, the D A Jones Cup was won by Dan Ahern of Castleisland.[20]
It was won for the following two consecutive years by John Drumm of Tobermaing. Sadly, 22-year-old John Drumm died in an accident in 1965 at which time he held a total of 400 trophies in an all-too-short cycling career.
A memorial cup was also introduced on the first anniversary of his death in his memory.[21]
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[1] Castleisland District Heritage reference: IE CDH 247. [2] The Census of Ireland 1901 records Michael Jones, age 43, Head of Family, with his retired father John Jones, retired farmer, age 99, and children John age 21, Daniel age 20, Mary age 18, Thomas age 16, Denis age 14, Norah age 12, Bridget age 9. [3] News item by SPECS, Kerry Reporter, 14 June 1930. For more on SPECS, follow this link: https://www.odonohoearchive.com/specs-on-a-close-look-at-the-kerryman-calendar-of-1934/ [4] Kerry Reporter, 14 June 1930. The following year it was reported, ‘I hope the newly established cycling club in Tralee will do its part in making a Denny Jones or Billy Lynn out of him’ (Kerry Champion, 25 July 1931). [5] Kerry Champion, 4 November 1933. [6] Kerry Champion, 4 November 1933. [7] Castleisland Items, Kerryman 22 September 1934. ‘The Knocknagoshel sewerage work proceeds apace and our own little supplementary bit of sewerage starts this week. The latter is nothing to make any bones about however, giving employment I believe to only eight or nine men. But we must be grateful even for small favours in these times. The contractor, Mr Joe McMahon, was on the spot on Saturday and has engaged the services of Mr Denny Jones, one of the most efficient ’Island men in matters of sewerage, waterworks, and such like.’ [8] Kerryman, 13 October 1934. The following correspondence has strange echoes of Cordal’s Denny Jones: ‘Sir, I had an old friend who came from Tralee, his name was Denny Jones. He came to work in Wales with a Mr Bateman who came as a groom with Mr Bateman’s string of hunters. He has been dead for over 20 years now. When I was a child, he used to tell me of Tralee, with its springs on the mountains which were the town’s water supply, and the sea where he used to swim and fish. Tralee has always been in my mind. I am now retired and would like to correspond with anyone who can tell me of old Tralee, its history and its people. Any letters will be answered. I hope someone can help me. Sincerely, Patricia G Tutton, 101 Upper George Street, Pontypool, Gwent NP4 6BX UIT Wales’ (Kerryman, 18 March 1994). [9] Kerryman, 20 February 1937. [10] Denny signed himself ‘Champion Cyclist’ in a letter to the editor of the Kerry Evening Star, 10 October 1912, in which he sought to raise the profile of the sport of cycling. [11] The achievement appears to have occurred in about 1920. In an interview with father of fourteen, Thomas Jones, Knockdown, Cordal, Castleisland (Kerryman, 21 May 1960), Thomas said: ‘I’ll be 77 years of age on the 27th of this month and I’ve never given a bob to a doctor in my life … I have no doubt that my life of activity in the open air is responsible for that.’ Tom revealed that as a young man he competed at sports meetings in counties Kerry and Cork and won many a cycle race. ‘A cousin of mine, Denny Jones, of Cordal, won an All-Ireland cycling championship forty years ago.’ [12] An example of some of his wins in 1912: Kilflynn Sports One Mile Cycle Race, 1st place; Three mile cycle open, 1st place; Milltown Sports Three Miles Cycle 1st place; Banteer Sports five-mile Cycling Championship of Munster first place; O’Dorney Three Mile Cycle 1st place; It was much the same in the ensuing years. [13] Kerry Evening Star, 17 February 1913. Another letter in the collection suggests that Denny was associated with a business run by the Wren family: ‘T W Wren had been the most prolific photographer in Kerry. He also had a bicycle shop and owned the penny-farthing bicycle which his assistant Dinny Jones cycled in my childhood.’ [14] The letter from Denny in the collection of Castleisland District Heritage is addressed to his daughter Hanna, in which he urges her to take care of her children who were suffering from the measles. It is dated 17 February 1957 and mentions his recent poor health but that his daughter Susie ‘won’t leave me hungry.’ The death of Susie Jones occurred on 13 December 2004 age 88 unmarried. The death of her brother occurred in 1989: ‘News has been received of the death in England of Mikie Jones, late of Upper Main Street, where his sister Susie still resides. He was son of that noted cyclist of another era, the great Denny Jones. Burial took place in England’ (Kerryman, 20 October 1989). [15] Kerryman, 6 July 1957. ‘Sympathy to the Jones family of Cordal on death of their brother Denny Jones’ (Kerryman, 13 July 1957). [16] The following was reported in the Kerryman, 3 September 1960: ‘Over 100 entries have already been received for Castleisland ACC annual sports on Sunday week, September 11. The meeting was originally fixed for Sunday next. Feature event should be the cycle race for the coveted D A Jones Memorial Cup, a trophy which perpetuates the memory of a great cyclist. Denny Jones, as he was known locally, won numerous titles including an Irish Championship in Tralee in 1911. At the same meeting his brother Tom won the only Munster title at stake. Tom, from Cordal, is father of Detective Garda Maurice Jones (Limerick), another outstanding athlete. Maurice has won many county and provincial titles and in 1954 captured an Irish title in the Goulding hammer event. Another highlight of the meeting will be the pole vault, in which event P J Nolan and Liam Gleeson will renew old rivalry. The Murphy Perpetual Cup for the best all-round athlete is wide open.’ [17] Kerryman, 9 June 1989. [18] A report of the Castleisland Cycling and Athletic Sports event in 1899 which included a ladies cycle race stated that ‘the prizes were well worth competing for. They were displayed in the windows of the Crown Hotel for some days previous and were the object of general admiration. The courteous proprietor, Mr Murphy, very kindly afforded every facility to competitors for dressing etc during the day and was himself here, there and everywhere, attending to their requirements’ (Kerry Weekly Reporter, 1 July 1899. See IE CDH 170). The Castleisland Cycle Club was founded at a meeting held in the premises of T W Wren in Castleisland in 1898, present Messrs R E Shanahan, T W Wren, M M Harnett, T Rosney, P Flynn, E McSweeney, P Brosnan, D Murphy, M O’Gready, W Prendiville, R Ferris, J O’Brien, J Reidy, etc. Mr T W Wren explained that the object of the meeting was to form a local club to be styled the ‘Castleisland Cycling Club’ and to make arrangements for a trip for the following Sunday.’ See Kerry News, 10 June 1898. The Athletics and Cycle events seem to have subsequently become synonymous. [19] Kerryman, 6 February 1960. [20] Second place was Mick Murphy and third place John Smith. Dan Ahern won it again in 1963. [21] Obituary and photograph of John Drumm in the Kerryman, 11 September 1965.
