Eddie Kelliher

Edward J Kelliher (8 March 1920 - 1 June 2017) He maintained a membership with the Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire for over 62 years, and became the first Olympian to be associated with the club. He participated in the 1964 Summer Olympics which took place in Tokyo, Japan, the first time an Olympic tournament took place in Asia. Alongside a career in sailing, he also became chairman in the O’Connell street branch of the well-known Irish bookstore, Easons, as well as becoming the president of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce.

From an early age Kelliher was surrounded by an entrepreneurial atmosphere, as the Kelliher family were known as general merchants and millers since 1859. Following the completion of his studies at Castleknock, Kelliher did a year long apprenticeship within the family business. Kelliher would later become a chairman in Eason's as well as the president of Dublin Chamber of Commerce in 1978. an addition that was laid out by the Kelliher family. They resided there from the early 1920s until the 1950s when the family moved to Listowel soon after Maurice stepped down from the family firm. Prior to the family moving to Listowel, Eddie met Doreen (née O’Sullivan), a Valentia native, in 1940, whom he would eventually marry five years later on 16 August 1945. The couple had three sons, Desmond, Malcolm and St John; and six daughters; Christine, Laura, Brenda, Judith, Felicity and Genevieve. Two of Kelliher's daughters, Christine and Laura, have died. However, as of his memoriam, it is noted that he is survived by his twelve grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. After moving to Dublin in 1952, Kelliher joined the Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire as a member in 1954. He was a member in the Royal Irish for over 62 years. He spent most of his sailing career here.

In 1961 Kelliher competed in the Edinburgh Cup Competition on the Firth of Clyde. Kelliher's boat was the sole boat from Dun Laoghaire at the event. The boat suffered many breakages at this event, including a broken kicker strap and parted spinnaker halyard, however Kelliher's results prior to this aided his selection to go to the Olympics.

In the lead up to the Olympics, Kelliher continued to sail as a member in the Royal Irish Yacht Club. In preparation, he competed in their 1963 End Of Season race in his own Dragon keelboat named 'ysolde' . He finished first place in this event with a time of 6 hours 55 minutes and 2 seconds. 'Saphire of osyth ' in 2nd position and 'verve''' in 3rd.

In 1964, Kelliher was nominated by the then Irish Yachting Association, now the Irish Sailing Association to compete in the Tokyo Summer Olympics 1964 for sailing. He was helmsman in the mixed three person dragon keelboat category with Harry Maguire and Robert Dalton. They chartered the boat named 'Akatombo','' where they finished in 20th place out of a total of 23 boats. Kelliher and his two crew mates had a total of 1'331 points in the event.

In 1965 a year after his Olympics debut, Kelliher competed in the first Dragon keel boat World Championships in Sweden with his wife Doreen Kelliher (née O'Sullivan) as his crew.