Local Heroes Gerry O’Rourke Stephen Bennett
@stebenn15
In a new series, The Saint celebrates the local heroes who have made an indelible mark on the national and international sporting scene down through the decades. These men and women - all born in the environs of Richmond Park - have excelled in their chosen sport and are remembered fondly both here in Ireland and further afield. Our third Local Hero is Gerry O'Rourke - the Irish and World wheelchair champion who was born in the CIE Estate in Inchicore and turned tragedy into triumph following a horror accident that destroyed his dream of becoming a professional footballer - but failed to halt a remarkable career... If events had transpired differently, Gerry O’Rourke would be dusting off some green velvet caps from a long, successful football career. The dream was to play at the highest level, and more importantly, for Ireland. His abilities certainly matched the youthful ambition. It was the path in which the sports-mad teenager was heading down and also the journey he had set his heart on growing up in the Dublin townland of Inchicore in the late 1970s. English club scouts had him on their radar and there was big interest in the young centre-back, who played for Emmett Rangers and then the St Patrick's Athletic youth teams. Gerry fitted the bill. At 15 years of age, O'Rourke cut an impressively strong figure in his favoured position in the heart of defence.
Leinster Senior Cup success in 1978, winning the final at Tolka Park. It wasn't long before an English club made an approach. Coventry City were interested and offered him a trial, through the usual route of talking to the manager. Gerry was aware of the interest but not the trial. Possibly a way of keeping the young player grounded. "I would have loved to get the chance to go away and play in England. There weren't many kids going over there," he recalls. "I had been told by my manager at St Pat's at the time that Coventry were interested in me. "In fairness, I didn't really think too much about it, I was only 16." Then fate dealt him another hand entirely.
"I played with Emmet Rangers up to the age of 13 and then went on to St Pat's from age 14. I was doing very well," he says.
"Some days you think about things and you look at it and say, 'I'd love to have been able to play over there,' and especially for your country. It was just a dream you'd have, but then it was all cut short."
"It was a very good club. We used to play in Brickfields in Drimnagh and the odd time we'd get the chance to play in Richmond Park."
The living nightmare
At school, he captained St James' CBS to their maiden
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Friday, September 14, 1979. Just a normal weekend day in the CIE Estate where Gerry lived with his parents, five
2021 Season • Vol. 33 • No.04 • St Patrick’s Athletic v Longford Town
Inchicorean Gerry O'Rourke saw his dream becoming a professional footballer ended by an accident... but his sporting career was far from over
brothers and four sisters – Gerry being the youngest. The area is located beside CIE Works which lies adjacent to the train tracks that flow into Heuston Station. Gerry's father worked in CIE and Gerry himself had taken a summer job in the Works in 1979. A large stone wall cordons off the estate and the Works. One road and a small doorway known locally as ‘the wicket' are the only points of access. It was through ‘the wicket' that Gerry and his friend Pat Mitchell passed to take the short journey to
the Memorial Park for a kick-about.
his life forever.
Late in that afternoon, Gerry and Pat decided to head for home.
Losing his grip, he fell underneath the train, the locomotive relentlessly milling through the legs that were to achieve his dreams.
Gerry, however, was going to take a short cut. The two friends walked to the other side of the Con Colbert Road where the train tracks lay. The plan was to jump on one of the trains going from Heuston and get off again near to the CIE Estate. Using his upper body strength, Gerry grabbed on to a bar of the slow-moving train. He would then hoist the rest of his body onto the train and wait to jump off further up the tracks. Then, one moment in time would change the course of
2021 Season • Vol. 33 • No.04 • St Patrick’s Athletic v Longford Town
His friend Pat witnessed the horror. Gerry maintained consciousness throughout the ordeal and Pat, despite his state of shock, raised the alarm. The ambulance sped down the train tracks to Heuston where Gerry was transferred to Dr Steevens Hospital, directly across the road. "I remember it as if it was today. I actually still remember, as I was in pain, the lights of the corridor in
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