Patsy Brady Cycling Museum: The history of our world, the history of our neighbourhood, the history of our families, the history of any development are all extremely important for future generations. Many of us realise, when it is too late, the wealth of knowledge and information we have allowed to die with our parents, our grandparents and elderly neighbours. Our previous article on Cycling is a small snippet from a greater history of cycling in North Monaghan and indeed the whole of Ireland. One person who is doing more than his share of recording the past is Patsy Brady and he has researched many topics and has made the results of his research available and recorded for posterity. One project that he has been working on for almost a lifetime is that of the sport of Cycling. He gained an interest in the sport at a very early age and has been taking cuttings from papers and putting them ‘’under his mattress’ and saving them for later use. Some years ago he began to build a gallery of bric-a-brac, posters, curios, paraphernalia, jerseys, photographs, magazines, programmes, books, signage, - indeed anything to do with cycling. Not only has he stored these and now has them on display but he has also stored the knowledge, which goes with them, in his mind and can discuss any cycling topic. Cycling Interests in Ireland and other countries would be amazed and astounded to see the Brady Cycling Museum and we congratulate Patsy and his family for the massive contribution he has made to record the history of cycling. Two men have played an exceptional role in the history of cycling in Ireland and Patsy decided to recognise both of these men at an event held in his museum last week. Unfortunately one of them, Gabriel ‘Gaybo’ Howard, died in February 2018 as a result of an unfortunate tragic farm accident but he was represented by his loving wife, Kay, and their son, Seamus. The other recipient was another man who has played a massive role in the development of the sport of cycling, not only in Ireland but worldwide and he is Jack Watson, from Bangor and he was accompanied by his son, Paul, who has followed in his father’s footsteps and is now regarded very highly in International cycling circles and has been appointed as a leading Commissaire (the cycling term for referee) for the Tokyo Olympics. Indeed over the past few months he has been a Commissaire at major events all around the globe. We spoke to Jack and you can listen to his interview by clicking on his image below. You can also hear an interview with Kay by clicking on her image. Prior to their arrival Patsy showed me a selection of jerseys which had been given to him last year by Joe Duffy, Lakeside Wheelers, Mullingar. Joe is very involved with Race the Rás and Pink Ribbon Tour, which has raised a very large amount for National Breast Cancer Research. Patsy displays one of the jerseys in an image below. When Jack arrived he had a present for Patsy, which was a jersey worn by Irish Teams abroad back in the 80’s and Patsy has a poster showing both Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche wearing the jersey and now he has one on display. Neither Jack nor Kay were aware that the other would be present and were unaware of the real reason for the get-together. Patsy had prepared a wall poster to commemorate Gabriel Howard, which was being unveiled on Saturday. Jack and Kay unveiled the poster and Kay was overwhelmed. Jack and Patsy spoke of the huge loss to Cycling at the death of ‘Gaybo’. He was such an inspiration, friend, and advisor to everyone in the cycling world. He gave his life to the sport and to the people in it and it mattered not what club you came from, Gaybo was there to help when needed from 1961 until his death in 2018. His banter and entertainment as MC was enjoyed by participants and spectators alike and his knowledge of the sport was incredible. He worked tirelessly for his club, Stamullen RC, and was in great demand by clubs all over the country and he never refused a request from anyone. He loved his family of wife, Kay, daughters Siobhan and Sinead, son Seamus and his grandchildren. It was beautiful to hear Kay tell me of the loving and lovely life she and he had together, complementing each other and enjoying each other’s company. Patsy presented her with a framed pencil drawing of herself and Gabriel, which had been created by Artist Andrea McCrudden Askin. Kay was thrilled with the beautiful gift and thanked Patsy and Andrea. Meanwhile Jack was also presented with a drawing by Andrea, depicting him as Commissaire in a race and again this personal gift was very much appreciated by Jack. A special bottle of wine was also presented to Jack and Paul. The wine is named 'Tom and The Peleton' 'Ventoux Rouge', brewed in France. A donation from each sale is made to the Simpson Family and is used for the maintenance of the Tom Simpson Memorial on ' Mount Ventoux '. To describe the life of Jack Watson would take a full book but in short the fact that he has been honoured by so many speaks volumes for the asset he has been to worldwide cycling sport. He received an MBE and a lifetime award from the UCI as well as an Honorary Life President of Cycling Ireland. His role in the unification of the three cycling representative bodies in Ireland demanded great strength and courage from him and his family but he knew he was doing the right thing and his leadership was instrumental in changing minds and standpoints. His love of the sport is unquestionable and absolute and when he, Kay, Seamus, Paul, Patsy and Patsy’s son, Paul, sat down for a cuppa and tart I was spell bound as I listened to stories from the cycling world, what is happening in its further development, the efforts to keep the sport drug-free, the increasing number of members of Cycling Ireland and the friendships made and continue among the cycling fraternity. A huge congratulations to Patsy and family for a marvellous occasion and a fantastic tribute to two very worth recipients, which was enjoyed by all.

Click on images above to hear the interviews.