Michael WALKER

A native of Dublin, Michael Walker was twenty-five and a full-back with the successful Old Saint Mary’s amateur football team before he took up competitive cycling. When his football club folded he turned his attention to two wheel competition and two years later won the Irish Olympic trial race to qualify for the Stockholm Olympics.The 1912 Games were unique in that the United Kingdom entered three teams; one each for Ireland, England and Scotland, for the road race and Walker was the best of the Irish contingent in 67th place individually. In 1913 he was Irish champion at 50 miles and set national records at both 12 and 24 hours.

Walker also used his cycling skills for another purpose, he became a courier for the Irish Republican Army (IRA) during the struggles that led to the formation of the Irish Free State.