Relatives gather to celebrate winning 1916 Grand National at Fairyhouse

It has often been said of the Easter Rising that the British were slow to react because most of their army officers were at the races in Fairyhouse on Easter Monday 1916.

The Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse was one of the great days out in Ireland, uniting all classes and creeds. Some 25,000 people gathered on April 24th, 1916, at the racetrack for the biggest day of the Irish national hunt calendar.

Most, including the horses, arrived by train to Dunboyne; the rest came as a "continuous stream of ponies and traps, jaunting cars, bicycles and even pedestrians from early morning", one eyewitness observed.

Commandeered

They all had to leave on foot. When news of the Rising arrived by dispatch rider, the soldiers commandeered every mode of transport at the course.

They also shut down the railways, leaving all those present stranded, including the horses. One trainer had to ride his horse all the way back to Clare, a journey that took five days.

The Grand National that day was won by All Sorts, a 5/1 shot who finished 12 lengths ahead of runner-up Punch, with a horse named Civil War fourth.

In advance of the centenary of the Rising, relatives of the jockey, trainer and owner of All Sorts were united for the first time at the same racecourse.

The horse was ridden by Jackie Lynn, a tenacious warrior- like jockey from Longford who "never stopped trying", according to his obituary. His son Johnny (89) was 10 when his father died of cancer in 1938 at the age of 52. Johnny was one of seven children, the youngest of whom was just two months old when their father died.

“I’m glad to be alive to see this day,” said Johnny, who promised his mother he would not become a jockey.

Instead he emigrated to England and was London football captain when they won a Junior All-Ireland title in 1956.

Tragedy dogged the family. Johnny's brother Mickey was killed in a fall at Sandown Park in 1955. His uncle Willie died in a fall at Gowran Park and Willie's son, also called Johnny, was killed at Southwell Park in England in 1955, while riding for broadcaster Clare Balding's grandfather.

Johnny, speaking at an event in Fairyhouse yesterday, recalled his father was away from home all the time.

All Sorts was trained by Richard "Dick" Cleary, the Willie Mullins of his day. Cleary was an adventurous type who had trained camels in the desert and was a former parliamentary candidate for the Irish Parliamentary Party.

His granddaughter Connie Cleary said her grandfather would later incur the wrath of the IRA, who attempted to assassinate him on two occasions.

Walked to Westmeath

With no transport to take him home after the 1916 Grand National, All Sorts had to be walked back to his stables in the grounds of Bishopstown House in Co Westmeath, a distance of more than 100 kilometres.

All Sorts was owned by James Kiernan of Dysart, Co Westmeath. His grandson Frank is still involved in racing. "We're in the game still. It's like a disease. We can't get rid of it."

The local Ward Union Hunt will recreate the 1916 Irish Grand National when the 2016 incarnation of the race is held at Fairyhouse this Easter Monday.