Ernie Lyons “The Kildare Demon” 1946 Winner Manx Grand Prix | Season 4 – Episode 63
Wheels Aug 23, 2024
The 1940s was a time when every serious motorcycle racer had to have a serious nickname and Ernest William Lyons from Kill in County Kildare was no exception and was bestowed by Irish satirist and author Myles na gCopaleen with the title; “The Kildare Demon” in recognition of his riding prowess and movie-star good looks.
Ernie Lyons (1914 – 2024) is best known for his victory in the 1946 Manx Grand Prix, more of that later. After school young Ernie worked with his two brothers in the family sand and gravel business, later joining Clondalkin Concrete in 1947 and retiring as chairman of the company in 1977.
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Ernie’s eldest brother, Alan, was the first in the family to catch the motorcycle bug, purchasing a 1912 499cc TT Triumph with a single gear, no clutch, belt drive, and an adjustable engine pulley.
In 1932, Ernie took off on Alan’s Triumph to drive 7 miles (12 kms) to the nearby town of Straffan for the ‘Straffan 60’ road race, but the motorcycle broke down shortly after leaving home. As Ernie recalled, “By the time I reached the circuit, everyone was already heading home! However he did manage to enter the next race and without mechanical breakdowns managed a respectful lap time of 47½ mph.
Encouraged by his racing success, Ernie modified another of Alan’s motorcycles, a 1927 TT replica ‘Big-Port’ AJS 350, to reach speeds over 90 mph (144 km/h). He used this motorbike in road races, trials, grass tracks, and scrambles across Ireland for the next two years, showcasing his engineering skills by never suffering a single mechanical failure.
In 1936, he achieved his first major racing success by winning the Belfast and District Club’s 100 Mile race. That same year, he also secured third place in the Leinster “200” handicap. The following year, he once again finished third in the Leinster race and clinched the Motor Cycle Union of Ireland (Southern Centre) Hillclimb Championship riding Alan’s 350 cc A.J.S., maintaining speeds exceeding 83 mph (133 km/h).
In 1939, the Kildare Demon was on the verge of establishing his reputation following his first victory in an international road race in the 500cc Class at the North West 200. In the other races of that same year, he went on to showcase his growing skills with impressive results, quickly earning a spot at the front of the grid in every race. However with the outbreak of World War 2 his racing career had to be put on hold.
Having raced in the final Manx Grand Prix before World War II Ernie made a comeback in September 1946 in the first ‘Manx’ held after the war ended and was entered in the Senior Manx Grand Prix. He rode a lightweight prototype 493cc Triumph Twin featuring lightweight aluminium components sourced from Triumph stationary engines used in World War II Halifax bombers.
Riding wearing number 12 on the only Triumph in the race, in blinding wind and rain and in front of what was believed to be the largest crowd in the history of either the TT or Manx Grand Prix, The Kildare Demon raced the 38 mile track (61 kms) and went on to win the Senior Manx Grand Prix averaging a speed of 76.74 mph and became the first rider to guide a twin-engine motorcycle to victory.
After his Manx victory in 1946, Ernie worked closely with Triumph Chief Designer Edward Turner and his Experimental Department on the next series of prototypes that would become the legendary Triumph Grand Prix factory racers from 1948.
Returning to the track in 1946, he competed in the Junior Manx on a Velocette and finished in sixth place. Just two days later, riding a Triumph, he again claimed victory in the prestigious Senior Race.
In 1947, Ernie competed in the Isle of Man TT (Tourist Trophy) Races but recorded a DNF (Did Not Finish) in the Junior TT while riding a Norton. The next year, in 1948, he secured eighth place in the Junior TT on an AJS, but experienced another DNF in the Senior TT, this time riding a Moto Guzzi. Ernie Lyons was a determined rider, as recounted by Alan Walsh. During a race at Tallaght, Lyons managed to keep racing with one hand on the fuel tank after the cap came loose.
By the time Ernie Lyons retired from road racing in 1950, he had raced in Holland, Belgium, and Switzerland on Works Triumph, Norton, AJS, Velocette and Moto Guzzi machines. We have heard at the time he publicly stated that he couldn’t get motorcycling out of his system and so he took up grass-track racing, motocross, and trials, enjoying continued success until he finally retired from competitive racing in the early 1970s.
In a motorcycle racing career spanning from the 1930s to the ‘70s what is most remarkable about The Kildare Demon is not only his famous 1946 win at the Senior Manx Grand Prix but that he raced over this entire time without any serious injury!
In his later years, he stayed engaged with motorcycles by restoring several vintage models, including a rare Edwardian Tredagh built in Drogheda, Co. Louth, in 1902. He also served as president of the Irish Veteran and Vintage Motorcycle Club, the Dublin and District MCC, and the Manx GP and TT Riders Association.
In the 1980s, Eric Turner dedicated four years to creating a remarkable replica of the Triumph GP prototype that Ernie Lyons rode to victory in the 1946 Manx Grand Prix.
In 1996, on the 50th anniversary of his famous Max win, Ernie Lyons took the Triumph replica for a spin and pronounced it “perfect in every detail”.
The Kildare Demon, Ernest William Lyons died on 7th February 2014 in his 100th year and is buried in Rathmore Graveyard, County Kildare.
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Sources of information and photo credits:
Classic Bike Hub UK
Classic Motorcycle UK
I Museum
Irish Times
Kildare Local History
Leinster Motor Club – Facebook page
Manx Grand Prix Site
Morton’s Archiv100
Movietone – AP
Old Bike Mart
T Website – Malcom
Triumph Motorcycle History
Triumph Motorcycles
TT Race Pics
Velobanjogent Blog
Wartime NI
Yesterday’s Antique Motorcycles
