Tipperary is basking in the Olympic glory of Daire Lynch

The Kickham Plaza was filled with pride as the people of  Clonmel and Tipperary cheered on one of their own on the global stage.

There was great excitement at Kickham Plaza as huge crowds gathered to support Daire Lynch in his bid for Olympic glory last Thursday morning.

Daire, and his double sculls partner Philip Doyle, won a bronze medal for Ireland, as the local boy enhanced a strong Olympic tradition in the area.

 The Olympic gold won by Thomas F Kiely from Ballyneale in 1904 in St Louis in the All Round event that is now the modern day decathalon is on display at the Tipperary Museum, a stones throw away from where thousands gathered to support Daire Lynch.

Dr Pat O’Callaghan won Olympic gold in 1928 and 1932 and now Daire Lynch has brought further Olympic glory to Clonmel.

Everybody associated with Clonmel Rowing Club, where Daire is a member, is overjoyed by his incredible a chievement.

 “The rowing club was established in Clonmel in 1869  and up to now the closest we came to having somebody in the Olympics was Hugh O’Callaghan, a son of Dr Pat. Hugh was a great rower and we thought he would make it to the Olympics and now Daire has come along and we finally have somebody form the club competing in the Olympics. We are all incredibly proud of Daire and what he has achieved. Our club is booming now. This is fantastic  for the town,” he said.

“Daire has got out of it what he put into it. He always had attitude, application and ability and we just gave him a  start,” said Jimmy Fennessy.

Jimmy Fennessy said it was incredible to think that Daire, from a small town, has gone on to make such an impact on the global stage.

“He now has a bronze Olympic medal. You think of the millions that the UK puts into rowing and the tradition that country has but they had nobody on that podium collecting a medal like Daire,” he said.

ENDURANCE SPORTS

“You don’t get anything soft in rowing. Daire was a smart guy and he could see what was needed. He could have gone and done other sports but rowing appealed to him. I remember in the very early days when he took up the sport he went off to study sports people from other endurance sports and their training programmes. Daire is up there now at the very top. We are all so proud of what he has achieved in his rowing career,” said Paul Nugent, PRO Clonmel Rowing Club.