Write a commentOver 200 cyclists made the journey from Newry to Dublin yesterday to recreate the journey undertaken by Newry Man Patrick Rankin in 1916 when he cycled from Newry to Dublin to join in the Easter Rising at the GPO.
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Participants included Patrick’s great grandson Liam O’Brien and MLA Conor Murphy as well as Don Harte, dressed in clothing of the period and riding a vintage black bike.
The event was organised by South Armagh 1916 Centenary Commemoration Committee and CASCA along with the Patrick Rankin Cycling Club.
At the GPO in Dublin the proclamation was read out and all who took part received a souvenir commemorative medal, a special souvenir jersey and copy of the proclamation.
Patrick Rankin was the only Newry man to have taken part in the Rising, cycling down on Easter Tuesday 1916.
Born in 1889 he joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood in 1907 and then spent time working in Toronto and Philadelphia before returning home. After the Rising Patrick was taken to Frongoch internment camp in Wales where thousands of men from the Rising were held without trial. He died in 1964.
