The “Granby” name is well known in Dublin for it’s connection to Granby Sausages, located on Granby Place just off Parnell Square.
The Granby factory was opened by my great-grandfather in 1933 and has stayed in the family to this day. After working in the family business for a number of years, my car fanatical father, John Kavanagh, left and started Granby Motors Ltd in 1982 at 9 Granby Lane – the same workshop used by Michael Leonard between 1972-1978 under the name Granby Motors. My father ran the garage during the week, and at the weekend enjoyed a successful run in Karting – winning a host of trophies.
His career in the motor trade, and indeed motorsport, was short lived however when he sold Granby Motors, along with his kart and racing gear, when I was born in 1985.
His passion for cars and motorsport never faded though, and I spent most of my weekends as a child at Mondello Circuit watching all sorts of racing. Despite plans to go back racing later in life, he never made it far past his 40th birthday.
Granby Motors Ltd kept going over the years (moving off Granby Lane to a bigger premises), but unfortunately closed for good in 2006.
The influence all those weekends at Mondello had on me meant I built my first racing car in 2006, with a second due for completion in early 2013.
In 2012, I bought the Granby Motors name to use in my own motorsport activities, and keep the name alive in my father’s memory.
by Neil Kavanagh
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