Reynolds, Richard Henry (‘Harry’) (1874–1940), cyclist, was born 14 December 1874 in Balbriggan, Co. Dublin, son of Robert Reynolds, hosier, and Julia Reynolds. Both of his parents died while he was young and he was raised by relatives. He developed an interest in cycling while still young and joined the Wanderers Cycling Club when aged 18. He became known locally as ‘the Balbriggan Flyer’ and would race the train from Skerries to Balbriggan when practising. By 1906 he had won over 200 prizes in cycling competitions around the country. In 1894 he won several races, including the ten-mile (16 km) championship of Ireland in the Cork races.
In the following year (1895) he won the 5 x 50 mile Irish championship and then entered, and won, the Surrey 100 Guineas Cup, which was held at the Kennington Oval, London. In May 1896 he won three events at the Waterford sports, following this up by winning the Ulster ICA (Irish Cycling Ass0ciation) ten-mile race. He applied to enter the Surrey 100 Guineas Cup again in 1896 but was refused entry, without explanation. In August 1896 the ICA decided to send him to compete in the world amateur cycling championships in Copenhagen where he won the amateur world one-mile championship. On his return he was greeted by a large crowd, estimated at over 250,000, at Kingstown (Dún Laoghaire) and was presented with a gold commemorative medal by the Balbriggan Cycling Club at a reception in the Royal Marine Hotel. A further reception was held at the ICA headquarters in D'Olier St., and this was followed by a banquet in his honour in the Metropole Hotel.
He turned professional later in the year and toured Australia, competing in races and also working as a representative of the Enfield Cycle Co., but returned to Ireland in May 1898 after suffering from a bout of fever and also sustaining injuries in an accident. In January 1899 he sued the Enfield Cycle Co. for damages of £1,730 and also for breach of contract. During the course of the trial it transpired that he had previously accepted £200 from the Dunlop Tyre Co., thus breaching the terms of his contract with Enfield. He was awarded just over £180 as a settlement. In February 1899 the committee of the ICA, angered by the fact that he had accepted money from Dunlop while still competing as an amateur, announced that they intended to sue him for £100 to meet the expenses that the ICA had incurred in sending him to Copenhagen. They ultimately did not proceed with this case.
In December 1899 Reynolds was presented with an illuminated testimonial by the Royal Humane Society for his efforts to save a swimmer in difficulties near the Black Rocks at Balbriggan. He opened a cycle shop in Dublin in 1900 and returned to competitive cycling in 1906. Readmitted as an amateur in 1907, he took part in several competitions in Ireland and in America, but in 1910 his cycle-shop business failed.
He married (January 1900) Elizabeth Farrington of Church St., Dublin. His friend Oliver St John Gogarty (qv) was best man at the wedding. They had three sons and one daughter. The marriage failed in 1910 and he returned to Balbriggan, where he lived with his brother. He died 16 July 1940 and was buried locally in Balrothery cemetery. A memorial plaque was placed outside his birthplace in Hampton St., Balbriggan. The local cycling club holds a series of races, the Harry Reynolds Memorial Races, in his memory every year.