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27-664: Rás Tailteann ( pronounced [ˌɾˠaːsˠ ˈt̪ˠal̠ʲtʲən̪ˠ] ; "Tailteann Race"), often shortened to the Rás , is an annual international cycling stage race, held in Ireland. Traditionally held in May, the race returned after a hiatus in 2022 as 5 day event held in June. By naming the race Rás Tailteann the original organisers, members of the National Cycling Association (NCA), were associating

54-618: A background of St Patrick's Blue . However, the proposal foundered when an NACA general meeting insisted that the flag used at international events be the Irish tricolour rather than the IAAU flag. The IAAF decided in 1932 not to intervene in the Northern jurisdiction dispute. In 1934, the IAAF amended its constitution to require member associations to be delimited by international political boundaries. After

81-612: A division which would reinforce the reality of partition. The GAA after 1923 thus restricted itself to Gaelic games , ceding athletics and cycling to NACA, with which it remained on friendly terms. John J. Keane , previously Chairman of the GAA Athletic Council, became first NACA President. Whereas the GAA had a ban on members of the RUC and British Army , the NACA narrowly voted not to introduce such

108-645: A measure. The NACA affiliated to the IAAF on 11 January 1924, and sent teams to the Olympics of 1924 , 1928 , and 1932 . It also sent five athletes to the 1930 British Empire Games in Canada. In each case, the team was claimed to represent "Ireland" rather than the Irish Free State. In 1937, the National Cycling Association (NCA) was formed as a NACA subsidiary for cycling clubs, and affiliated to

135-575: A third and final championships in 1902. He also won three Leinster medals. As a track athlete, Keane won the Irish 120 yards hurdles in 1900 before becoming one of the most effective sports administrators of the early part of the 20th century. He was chairman of the Athletic Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association from 1901 until 1922, when he became founding president of its successor,

162-458: A week-long event. It ran every year, uninterrupted, until 2018. Following Cumann Rás Tailteann's failure to find a new principal sponsor for the race, it was announced in February 2019 that there would be no Rás that year. The race was a UCI 2.2 event . The race returned in 2022. The official name of the race has been changed many times over the years, usually named after sponsors. An Post were

189-448: A year's delay, the NACA council voted 24 to 27 to reject the IAAF decision and was suspended the following month. There was no Irish team at the 1936 Olympics , other Irish sports boycotting in solidarity with the NACA exclusion. In 1937, some clubs in the Irish Free State left NACA and formed an Irish Amateur Athletic Union (IAAU, the same name as the abortive 1932 proposal) whose remit excluded Northern Ireland. The IAAU applied to join

216-530: The 1956 1500 m was not mentioned at the next NACA executive meeting. In 1959, Tom O'Riordan's scholarship with the Idaho State Bengals was jeopardised when he ran for his local NACA club while visiting home in Tralee . The AAUE, whose Secretary Louis Vandendries was on holiday, reported him to the IAAF, which suspended him; upon Vandendries' return he defused the controversy by informing the IAAF that O'Riordan

243-553: The Geraldines club in 1896. As well as being a founder-member he also became a regular member of the senior team and won back-to-back county football championship medals in 1898 and 1899. Keane made his inter-county debut during the 1898 championship when he was selected for the Dublin senior team. Over the course of the next five seasons, he won three All-Ireland medals, beginning with back-to-back triumphs in 1898 and 1899, followed by

270-690: The National Athletic and Cycling Association (NACA). He also founded the Irish Olympic Council , becoming its first President and Ireland's first member of the International Olympic Committee . As NACA president he was appointed to the board of the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF). He was heavily involved in the organisation of the three Tailteann Games , becoming overall director of

297-554: The CRÉ together with NICF began unification talks in the late 1960s and early 1970s. As a result, a CRÉ team which included Pat McQuaid , Kieron McQuaid , Peter Morton and Peter Doyle was able to enter the race in 1974. Doyle won the race and the McQuaids won two stages each. The first Rás open to the two associations CRÉ and the NICF was in 1979 and enabled Stephen Roche to compete the event as part of

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324-715: The IAAA but not by NACA. Since the meeting was to raise funds for Belfast Celtic F.C. , with an Irish nationalist fanbase, the NACA alienated nationalists as well as unionists in Belfast. The NIAAA affiliated to the English AAA in 1930, with its unionist president Thomas Moles encouraging links within the UK, and Dawson Bates , the NI Home Affairs minister , lobbying the AAA. In 1931, Eoin O'Duffy

351-491: The IAAF, but due to British objections to the name "Ireland" was required to rename itself the Amateur Athletic Union of Éire (AAUE). AAUE affiliation in 1938 meant the NACA was definitively expelled from the IAAF. Most Irish athletics clubs remained in NACA, and it was NACA that was affiliated to the Irish Olympic Council , though it was AAUE athletes who competed at the Olympics. Ronnie Delany 's gold medal in

378-544: The Ireland team. Roche won the event. The race developed into a much sought after event by professional and amateur teams from many parts of the world. As part of the elite international calendar it was eligible to award qualifying points that are required for participation in Olympic Games and the UCI Road World Championships . The first edition was held in 1953 as a two-day event but quickly developed into

405-650: The NACA, and its ban on members playing British sports was extended to ban those competing in athletics and cycling events not authorised by the NACA. The NACA retained some international links, through the International Labour Sports Federation (CSIT). Joe Christle , NCA official and organiser of the Rás Tailteann, was both a socialist and physical force republican . In 1979, the Irish Cycling Tripartite Committee (ICTC)

432-492: The Rás Tailteann competed in the Rás Tailteann. During this time the NCA cyclists achieved prominence in the Rás with Gene Mangan , Sé O'Hanlon and Paddy Flanagan being several legends of the race. Mangan won only one Rás but featured in the race throughout the 1960s and early-1970s winning a total of 12 stages while O'Hanlon won the race four times and won 24 stages. Flanagan won the Rás three times and had 11 stage wins. The NCA and

459-604: The UCI. The Rás Tailteann was its headline event, an 8-day stage race whose name reflected the Tailteann Games . Already by 1925 there was a split, with the Northern Ireland Amateur Athletic, Cycling and Cross Country Association (NIAAA) formed over a dispute concerning an Easter Monday sports meeting in Belfast, which as well as athletics featured greyhound racing and associated betting, which had been allowed by

486-506: The cycle race with the Tailteann Games , a Gaelic festival in early medieval Ireland. The event was founded by Joe Christle in 1953 and was organised under the rules of the National Cycling Association (NCA). At that time competitive cycling in Ireland was deeply divided between three cycling organisations, the NCA, Cumann Rothaiochta na hÉireann (CRÉ) and the Northern Ireland Cycling Federation (NICF). The Rás Tailteann

513-681: The last title sponsors, although this sponsorship ended after the 2017 event. National Cycling Association The NACA was formed on 19 July 1922, from a merger of the Irish Amateur Athletic Association or IAAA (including its subsidiary the Cross Country Association of Ireland), the Irish Cycling Association (ICA) and the Athletics Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). The GAA

540-603: The rump NACA reached agreement with BLÉ allowing joint international representation. The GAA officially tolerated BLÉ, but some county boards refused to co-operate with it, and the rule favouring the NACA was not repealed. In 2000, both bodies were dissolved into the Athletics Association of Ireland, which forms Athletics Ireland together with the NIAAA. The presidents of the NACA were: John J. Keane (Olympics) John James Keane (14 April 1871 – 1 April 1956)

567-604: The same year and linked to the British Cycling Federation . The CRE and NICF co-operated and organised the Tour of Ireland , which attracted fewer Irish cyclists than the NCA's Rás Tailteann but more from abroad. A joint CRE–NICF Ireland team competed in international events, from which the NCA was excluded. Rogue NCA teams joined the 1955 amateur world road race championship and the 1972 Olympics road race in protest at their exclusion. The GAA had always co-operated with

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594-521: Was Irish nationalist and mainly rural, while the IAAA and ICA members were mainly unionists , universities, and the urban middle class. The IAAA was linked to the Amateur Athletic Association of England (AAA). The unionist-dominated Northern Ireland and the nationalist Irish Free State had recently been separated politically, and the GAA was prepared to surrender its authority to ensure national unity in athletics and cycling and avoid

621-520: Was an Irish Gaelic footballer , track athlete and sports administrator. His championship career at senior level with the Dublin county team spanned five seasons from 1898 until 1902. Born in Anglesboro , County Limerick , Keane was born to John and Ellen Keane (née Cook). He was educated locally before moving to Dublin where he worked as a corn merchant. After moving to Dublin, Keane helped establish

648-608: Was formed to link the NCA, NICF, and ICF (Irish Cycling Federation, the successor to the CRE). In 1987 all three merged into the Federation of Irish Cyclists (FIC), now operating as Cycling Ireland . After many failed attempts at unification, Bord Luthchleas na hÉireann (BLÉ) was formed in 1967 by the merger of the AAUE and most clubs of the NACA. However, some NACA clubs refused to join BLÉ, though in 1987

675-478: Was now in good standing with the AAUE. The UCI emulated the IAAF in 1947 by requiring the NCA to disclaim Northern Ireland, expelling it when it refused. In 1949, several clubs broke away from the NCA to form Cumann Rothaíochta na hÉireann (CRE), which would restrict its area of jurisdiction to the Republic of Ireland . The CRE was recognised by the UCI, as was the Northern Ireland Cycling Federation (NICF), formed

702-467: Was president of the NACA, and raised at the IAAF the dispute with the British AAA over jurisdiction over Northern Ireland. The IAAF deferred a decision till its conference at the 1932 Olympics . In the meantime O'Duffy tried to resolve the matter by proposing an Irish Amateur Athletic Union (IAAU) in negotiations between NACA and the NIAAA, to have an agreed flag containing the arms of the four provinces on

729-399: Was the biggest race that the NCA organised each year. As a result of a Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) motion, the NCA was banned from international races and all teams affiliated with the UCI were banned from competing in races organised by the NCA. Therefore, only teams that were not affiliated with the UCI or who were willing to take the chance of serving a suspension for competing in

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