Kerry Lane (Hāwera)

Kerry Lane sits on the outskirts of Hāwera, running off State Highway 3 (also known as Waihi Road) near the racecourse. The short road appears on survey maps as far back as 1900 and was eventually formed and named Little Waihi Road. Closer to town another road surveyed at a similar time was named Lower Little Waihi Road.

It remained like this until the late 1970s when a boxthorn hedge caught fire. South Taranaki District Council staff recall that emergency services were delayed attending the incident due to confusion over the exact location – which Waihi Road?  The fire was put out, but it was decided that in order to avoid a similar situation in future, road name changes were needed.

Lower Little Waihi Road became Fitzgerald Lane and Little Waihi Road was renamed Kerry Lane. Living at the end of Little Waihi Road at the time was Ned Mahony, described by Hāwera historian, the late Arthur Fryer, as a “colourful Irish stock dealer”. Ned Mahony was born in Castleisland, County Kerry, Ireland in 1915. It was this Irish heritage that led to a suggestion from local residents to rename the road Kerry Lane.

Ned had left Ireland for New Zealand in 1937 and seven years later married Hāwera-born Catherine Kavanagh. A prosperous farmer and stockman, later in life Ned turned his hand to breeding horses. One of his most successful was a mare called Kerry Lane, a choice celebrating the newly renamed road.

In 1986 Kerry Lane was a surprise winner of the prestigious D.B. Auckland Cup. In front of a crowd of more than 30,000, Kerry Lane raced away in the straight to win by two lengths, netting $75,000 for the ecstatic owners. Remarkably, Barry and Dierdre Neville-White, along with friends Peter and Sharon Walker, had only bought the thoroughbred days before the surprise win. Despite this famous victory and eight previous wins, little more than a month later the mare was retired from racing on the advice of her Hāwera trainer, Don Couchman.

A large industrial subdivision presently under development at the end of Kerry Lane will undoubtedly change the character of the area, however the lane will continue to celebrate a well-known local and a champion racehorse. 

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.

Related items:

Noted bloodstock breeder dies (Daily News 21 June 1983)

New owner's quick return (The Press 2 January1986)

Cup winner 'bargain buy' (The Press 2 January 1986)

Kerry Lane retired (The Press 18 February 1986)