'If we can help people, we will': Limerick motorcycle group doing good in community

ON A CHILLY Friday night in the city centre scores of leather-clad bikers are gathered together.

Once a month, Little Catherine Street is home to dozens of motorbike enthusiasts, many featuring more ink than your average tattoo parlour.

Happy Days cafe (formerly Melt) is the venue where members of Celtic Souls Motorcycle Club gather and talk about life, the universe, and, of course, biking.

Limerick Live joined the group at its most recent meet, and discovered there is far more to the group than the need for speed.

Over the years, they have raised tens of thousands of euro for good causes across Limerick – and also provided many with a new social outlet.

It was for this reason Cappamore man and club president Chris Mockett founded it in late 2018.

“I started it as a way to bring families together. Everyone in the club – we’d know their partners, their kids’ birthdays, their partners’ birthdays. It is like an extended family,” he says.

There are at least 30 people at this meet-up, with Yamaha, Suzuki and many other types of motorbikes, parked side-by-side on the street.

“This would be a quiet night, because it’s October. The weather changes,” said Chris.

Over the years, the group has done motorbike runs for many local good causes, including Limerick Suicide Prevention Patrol and autism support charity ASD Ireland.

The latter charity – and the fundraiser his group did – is one that’s particularly important for Chris, given he has family members impacted by autism.

Last year, a charity run took place to raise funds for the family of former club member Jeff Daly. The Dromcollogher man died in a road accident on the Limerick to Cork motorway earlier this year, leaving a huge void for his partner Chelsea White and their two children Lexi, 17 and Max, 6.

Celtic Souls members decide democratically which charities they wish to support each year, at regular committee meetings, separate to its Friday evening gatherings.

Chris explains: "We vote. I might say I want to do something for autism. Three or four other lads might say the same. Seven to 10 other lads might want to support another cause. So we would do one event for one cause, and a further event would support whoever came in second. It's all about keeping a balance, so everyone in the club has an opportunity.”

Chris has been on his bike since he was 16-years-old - and into bikes since he was between eight and 10.

Now, his son CJ is 16, and he’s following in his dad’s footsteps, with his first bike, a Kawasaki ZX7, which the pair work on together.

Another father-and-son team are Gary Donnellan and his 12-year-old boy, Calvin.

The youngster proudly sports the badges of the meets his father has attended on his leather jacket. There's 14 so far this year, and young Calvin’s coat is running out of space. He is not allowed to get in the saddle until he’s aged 16, but his father has given his son a vespa. "It will get him ready for when he comes of age to learn his balance,” the Garryowen man smiles.

Safety is key for everyone in the club, he adds, saying: “The key is, always have yourself protected with your fear. Whatever about anything else, always keep a helmet in your head.”

Gary has only been part of Celtic Souls for 11 months, but he said joining was “the best thing I’ve ever done”.

"I’ll tell you, I’ve been involved in clubs before. I was a president of three of them. This is the best club I’ve joined in my life. My life has gotten better, my family are even happier. And the best thing about this club is they treat my family as I treat them,” he added. “There's no bickering, no politics, nothing. We are just one big massive family.”

We are all taught in life not to judge a book by its cover, but president Chris says being part of a biker club can invite some prejudice.

"All the time, all the time” he says without hesitation when I ask if sometimes motorcycle groups are misunderstood.

The way to tackle that? “Just by being ourselves”.

"If you see me in the street covered in tattoos, you'd go ‘no, not talking to him'. But after 10 minutes talking to me at a bike do, you’d think, actually he’s a nice fella. That’s how it works. It’s the perception people are given about the biking community, that ‘I cannot approach them, they are bikers’, when, in reality, we are really nice people who like to give back, who like to help. If there is something that needs doing, we are often the first to stand up.”

Gary puts it more succinctly, when he says: “It shows we are not just big, hairy bikers and when people see us, they run away. We are friends, and if we can help people, we will help them.”

Something Chris says stays with this reporter: “When you’re part of a motorcycle club, you’re never alone".

Expanding on that point, he adds: “We would have our own group chats, where we’d meet up for coffee. There are 30-plus members in the club and you say you’re going for a coffee in Happy Days. Five, six, seven, 10 lads could come up and have a coffee with you. It’s that network within the club that makes it a family.”

What is it about motorcycling that appeals then?

"As cliche and as corny as it sounds, it’s the sense of freedom. You don’t have to deal with traffic, and can go where you want, when you want,” Chris concludes.

Celtic Souls Motorcycle Club members meet again at 7pm at Happy Days Cafe in Little Catherine Street on Friday, November 13. Pop in and say hi!