Motor racing legend Henry Morrogh remembered

MOTOR racing legend Henry Morrogh (91), who lived his early years in Clonakilty, passed away in Italy recently and will be laid to rest in Darrara cemetery following his requiem mass in Darrara.

He raced locally, in cars (often the family car) and motorcycles and later around Europe including competing in a works Alpine at Le Mans, he is famous for setting up his world acclaimed racing school – Henry Morrogh Racing Driving School (HMRDS) – which launched the careers of Formula 1 drivers including Elio de Angelis, Eddie Cheever, Andrea de Cesaris, Piercarlo Ghinzani, Emanuele Pirro and 1977 world champion Jacques Villeneuve.

In 1996 Henry, who lived in Western Road and later (apparently) in Emmet Square, was in Clonakilty at the launch of a proposed motor racing circuit at what is now the Clonakilty GAA complex in Ahamilla. That night also celebrated Michael Keohane’s Irish Karting Championship success.

The racing track was the brainchild of locals Paddy Keohane and Pat Hennessy, sadly, now both deceased. The evening at the Kilty Stone, then being run by Martin Kingston, witnessed the unveiling of plans for the circuit. The attendance included rally aces Billy Coleman, Frank O’Mahony, Donal O’Donovan and members of the Grandon family from Glanmire.

Michael Keohane had travelled to Henry’s racing school in Magione in Italy in 1995. He told The Southern Star: ‘I had just begun karting and went out to the school in the summertime to learn how to drive.

‘I was out there on three occasions altogether. He was a great tutor and very well respected in Ferrari, he trained most of their drivers. He also showed me the ropes in Formula Ford, he taught me all the racing craft and racing lines, he was meticulous.

‘He had a video camera on every corner and would analyse how I would negotiate each one. He would play it back to me and explain everything, he also drove at the track himself, he was in his 60s at the time. He was an unbelievable man to set up a car, mechanically, he had a massive understanding of cars.

‘I have great memories of him and indeed with my Dad [Paddy] at his racing school. Then of course with the proposed track in Clonakilty, he actually designed the track and was at the launch in the Kilty Stone. The last time that I met him with Dad was when I was doing the European Championship in Mugello in Italy in 2000. He was a lovely man.’