Killarney Cycling Club Kits 1983-2023
Club kits from 1983 to 2020 (thanks to Denis O Shea and Brendan Cassidy). Additional kits were produced for individual team events from time to time.
The Killarney club kit has gone through a variety of changes over 42 years.
The first club jersey in 1983 was red and white but none of these have survived.
John Mangan in Rancilio kit
The origin of the club’s predominant green and pink colours dates from 1985 and has a continental connection. In 1984 John Crowley, then an U-16 rider, was hosted for the summer racing season in France by John Mangan from Beaufort. Mangan had won the Rás Tailteann in 1972 and subsequently went on to a very successful career in France, amassing 156 wins. Crowley brought home one of Mangan’s Rancilio club jerseys and the Rancilio green and pink colours became the basis of the Killarney kit from then on.
The kit was therefore largely green in the early years but more pink was introduced from the early 1990s.
An ‘arch’ design pattern was introduced in the early noughties and black was also incorporated as a border between colours. These kits had a Spanish influence as Denis O Shea was racing there and got the kits produced by local Spanish companies.
A new Club Committee made a drive to increase sponsorship in 2005 and brought out a fresh design with a strong element of black, while largely retaining the previous ‘arch’ pattern. The current club logo was used for the first time.
A largely black kit was introduced in 2014 and the ‘arch’pattern was dropped after a long period of use.
There was a return to the stronger use of the green and pink colours in 2017, partly to bring in more visibility for safety reasons. A more angular design pattern was adopted.
1985-86 Kit.
Killarney Cycling Club introduced the green and pink colours based on John Mangan’s French team.
1987-88 Kit.
The Gleneagle Hotel sponsorship and the colours were more subdued.
1988-90s Kit.
More ‘punky’ colours were reintroduced in 1989 with Castelli branding on the shoulders.
1990s Kit.
There was no sponsor on the kit in the early 1990s and pink became more prominent.
2003 Kit.
Around 2003 the ‘arch’ pattern was used. There was yet more pink and black was introduced in the border and neck.
2004 Kit.
The same kit was produced by the Medina and TAL with a Spanish connection. This had a more pronounced black border.
Camo Kit.
The ‘Camo’ kit (camoflauge) was used briefly in 2005 when there was a large influx of MTB down-hillers and kit was needed quickly. It was purchased and printed locally.
2005-07 Kit.
The 2005 design was influenced by the need to draw in more sponsorship. It introduced more black, along with a white element, and the ‘arch’ pattern was largely retained. The club logo appears for the first time. The sponsorship was led by The Ross Hotel and Galvin Developments.
2008-10 Kit.
Killarney Glass and MG Electrical appeared as sponsors in 2008.
2011-12 Kit.
Kingdom Autopoint was the lead sponsor for 2011-12
2013 Kit.
Killarney Waste Disposal (KWD) appears as a sponsor in 2013.
2014-16 Kit.
A largely black kit was introduced in 2014 and used by a club team in the Rás Tailteann after a long absence. The use of the club logo was discontinued.
2017-19 Kit.
More of the brighter green and pink were used again in 2017, partly to help increase visibility. A more angular pattern was adopted instead of the traditional ‘arch’ design. KWD became the lead sponsor.
2021-23 Kit.
The club’s kit was re-designed
for 2021-23 to coincide with the new sponsorship arrangement in place for that period. The design used a predominantly single colour and plainer style, which was then more fashionable than the multi-coloured approach of the previous decade.
In a way, this design was also a kick-back to the first team kit of the early 1980s, which was mainly green with some pink trimmings. The chequered side panels of that kit were not included in this design, but the same detail was included in the inside of the collar as a kind of homage or respect to the early design and club members, especially as this was the style to be in use for the club’s 40th anniversary in 2022.