27/08/2026
— Knock’s Tug-of-War Champions! 🏆🪢💪
Here’s a fantastic piece of Knock history for this week’s Throwback Thursday — the victorious Knock Tug-of-War Team of 1940! 📸✨
This wonderful photograph was kindly given to us by John and Rita Flatley 🙏— a huge thank you to them for bringing these special pieces of Knock history home from London and allowing us to share them with the community ❤️☺️
👀 Do you recognise any of these faces or names?
📸 L-R: Martin Curry, Jack Burke, Paddy Kilduff, Brian Egan (Captain), Jim Flatley, Hugh Carney, James Sloyan, John Flatley and Paddy O’Brian.
The team competed at the Ballyhaunis Augustinian Pattern Revival in September 1940. An estimated 6,000 people travelled to the town by foot, bicycle and car 🚶♂️🚲🚗 for a fantastic day of sport, music, singing and dancing 🎶🎤💃🕺
And the tug-of-war was described by the Connaught Telegraph as one of the highlights of the day! 🪢🔥
💪 Ten teams entered the competition, including two teams from Knock.
🥇 Knock No. 1 — the team pictured here — first overcame Knock No. 2, before defeating Granlahan. Then came the final against Coolnafarna… and Knock pulled out the win! 🏆🎉🙌
Captain Brian Egan was presented with the cup 🏆 and each member received a medal 🥇 Not a bad day’s work at all! 👏😄
We’re delighted to be able to preserve these memories at Carty's Bar & Lounge - Knock ❤️📚, and this fantastic photograph will be going up on the wall soon 🖼️
We’ve got a number of new pictures waiting to be displayed, so keep an eye out! 👀📸 And there’s another photograph from John’s collection coming in a future throwback post… 🕰️✨
💭 Do you remember the Patterns or other local festivals?
🎪 What did you most look forward to?
🏆 Did you ever win a trophy, medal or competition?
📸 Do you have any old photographs or memories you’d like to share?
Tell us below — we’d love to hear your stories! 👇❤️
