Motorbike riders will be gathering in Belfast for the start of a special rally event that will follow a route first taken 120 years ago, in a race that is widely believed to have been Ireland’s first ever road race — and three great-grandchildren of the race’s winner will be participating in honour of the feat over a century ago.
On July 19, 1904, motorcyclists gathered outside the Belfast Banking Company in Donegall Street to embark on a 200-mile journey to Londonderry, via the coast road, taking in Carrickfergus, Cushendall, Coleraine and Portrush to Guildhall in Derry, which would mark a stopping point for riders before starting on their return route via Maghera and Toome, finishing at Glengormley’s The Crown and Shamrock Inn, a venue that still exists today.
The race took place over a single day, with the first person to complete the race deemed the winner. That person turned out to be Glengormley man John Paul Burney, who chose a Royal Enfield, which had 3.5 horsepower, and beat 16 other riders.
Burney would later relocate to Dublin where he would open a garage servicing Enfields during the First World War.
This weekend, around 35 motorbike fans will set off from the 1904 starting line in Donegal Street and will be waved off by the Belfast Lord Mayor.
Lisburn woman Joan Crawford (81), who is helping to organise the event and who told the Belfast Telegraph that a race was held in 2004 to mark the event’s 100th anniversary, says of the 1904 race: “It was an extraordinary event. It was done in one day and there was a mandatory stop in Guildhall Square.”
John Paul Burney
According to news reporting at the time, the race in 1904 was shrouded in secrecy, as even though the Ulster Centre of the Motor Cycle Union of Ireland was on good terms with the authorities, police would not allow a 200-mile race on public roads. The solution was to operate the race under the guise of road trials (or reliability trials), thereby no police assistance would be required.
The media also reported that, just days before the event, the winner, John Paul Burney, had experienced some bad luck with his vehicle when the crank bracket axle on his Royal Enfield broke, prompting him to abandon any prospect of participating in the race. On his way home, however, he passed a repair shop ran by a man called Bob Freton and together they repaired the axle.
“I got involved in this,” says Joan, “because my husband [David] wrote a book about Stanley Woods [an Irish motorcycle rider who dominated the sport between the two World Wars] and JP Burney’s son was Stanley’s brother-in-law.
“We knew about the event and 20 years ago we thought: ‘Right, we’re doing something for the 100th anniversary.’ We had two of the grandchildren of JP Burney there, and two of the great-grandchildren riding in the race.
“Then last October, his great-granddaughter Julie Horne rang me and said that it was the 120th anniversary and could we do another race. And my reply was ‘I’m 81’, but she coaxed me,” says Joan, laughing.
“JP Burney had done a 100-mile cycle race between Belfast to Dublin in 1903 — the year before the race — which was also a first.
“We still keep bringing his memory back.
“In his day, we think he only rode one [motor] race, because he moved to Dublin and opened a business repairing Royal Enfields and motorcycles.”
The business JP Burney established in Dublin after winning the 1904 road race
Regardless of the secret nature of the 1904 event, it was still considered to be a significant event as the Marquis de Mouzilly presented the trophy to the winner.
More than 100 years on, Joan insists JP Burney’s win is an important milestone, one which helped shape the sport into what it is today.
“Over the weekend, I was talking to classic motorcycle riders and I said to them that if JP Burney hadn’t have won that first race, the motorcycles I was looking at wouldn’t exist — and neither would the seven riders. It’s a very, very, very special event.”
The anniversary event will take place on July 20-21, starting off in Belfast at 9.15am. There will be stops along the route and an overnight stay in Limavady. Participation fee is £15 and all riders are welcome. The event is eligible to all vehicles, but classic models such as Royal Enfield, Raleigh, Excelsior, Rex, Riley, Bat, Humber, FN and Ormond are particularly welcome.
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