96 Old County Road, Drimnagh was the childhood home of Shay Elliott, Ireland's first cycling superstar.
A monument to Shay Elliott was placed on the road between Glenmalure to Laragh, Co. Wicklow in 1971 near the finish of the race now called the Shay Elliott memorial, but in June 2023, the house on this road was recognised by a commemorative plaque in his honour.
Shay Elliott only learned to cycle aged 14, and joined the Dublin Wheelers. He turned professional at age 21, travelling by ferry to Holyhead and then taking trains to Monaco where he joined a top continental team and was a domestique for the likes of Jacques Anquetil and Jean Stablinski.
He became the first English speaker to take the race leader's pink jersey in the Giro d'Italia in 1960, and in1962 was also the first English speaker to lead the Vuelta a Espana, finishing 3rd overall He took the silver medal in the world race championship at Salo in Italy that year.
His most famous result was the following year, 1963 when he won a stage in the Tour de France by 33 seconds, enough to give him the race lead and the famous maillot jaune which he kept for three days. This cemented his legacy as the first English speaker to lead all of the three great European tours. It was 20 years before the next Irishman, Sean Kelly led the Tour de France, so Elliott was the trailblazer for all of the greats that followed.
Sadly, Shay subsequently fell on hard times: his marriage broke up, and there was also the failure of a Brittany hotel he invested in. Two weeks after his father died, Shay wss found dead from a gunshot wound in the living quarters above the family panel beating business in South Princes Street and he is buried with his father in Kilmacanogue, Co. Wicklow.
The famous first yellow jersey that Shay Elliott won is shown in the pictures above include a black and white image and it was modelled by S in full colour some years back. It is now showcased in the excellent collection of cycling memorabilia housed in Quay Cycles, Drogheda, Co. Louth.