Irish Rovers set out on 2024 Great Vintage Tractor Tour
Engines were at the ready this week as a group of four men set out from Rathcormac with their vintage tractors to take on the Great Vintage Tractor
Tour.
Rathcormac’s Tom Fitzgerald and Mitchelstown’s Kieran O’Donoghue, along with Ballinhassig’s James Keohane and Ballinascarthy man Paddy Ryan, are set to travel the length and breadth of the UK in a bid to raise funds for CRITICAL.
Setting out on Tuesday, the men loaded their vintage tractors onto the truck, ready to head to Belfast so that they can travel to John o’Groat’s at the tip of the UK, to begin their epic journey.
Tom Fitzgerald, who is undertaking the tour in a 1952 Nuffield DM4, spoke with TheAvondhu last week, ahead of the journey.
“We’re leaving on Tuesday (1st). All the tractors are ready. We're going to load them this Sunday onto the lorry so we should be ready to leave on Tuesday. I suppose it is a relief really, but we still have a lot to do before we leave. We’re dotting the I's and crossing the Ts, so it was pretty hectic now this week.
“We’ll go across on the boat from Belfast on Wednesday and we’re staying in Dundalk on Tuesday night and travel up Wednesday. We’ll go between Glasgow and Perth and it will be about 12 or 1 o’clock Friday before we get to John o’Groats with the truck. We’ll be ready to start with the tractors from John o’Groats first thing Saturday morning,” he said.
DIVINE INTERVENTION
In mid-April, the group, who go by the name ‘ The Irish Rovers’, took a test run to Mount Melleray Abbey where they had their tractors blessed ahead of the trip by Fr Denis Luke.
On Tuesday, the Irish Rovers along with the 1952 Nuffield DM4, 1984 Ford 7610, 1964 Fordson Super Major and a 1978 Leyland 2100, set out for John o’Groats from where they plan to hit a long list of landmarks and beauty spots in the UK as they head towards Land’s End.
Among the highlights of the trip are the shores of Loch Ness, Glenfinnan Viaduct where they hope to catch a glimpse of the Harry Potter steam train, the North Pennines and the Lake District, Haworth where the Bronte sisters grew up, Snake Pass in the Peak District, Ludlow Castle, Stratford-upon-Avon which is Shakespeare’s homeplace, the Cotswolds, Castlecombe, the Royal Crescent, Stonehenge, Yeovil, Polperro, etc.
“We’ll make our way down towards Hereford and we’ll be stopping at Ludlow Castle and we’ll be stopping at Ross-on-Wye then, where my tractor, the Nuffield was originally sold new, 72 years ago," Tom Fitzgerald told
TheAvondhu.
“We’ll come down through the Cotswolds and we’ll be hoping to stop at Jeremy Clarkson’s farm. From there, we’ll come down towards Castlecombe where we’ll stop for two days for the Castlecombe steam rally. Castlecombe would be noted as probably the most picturesque village in England and we’ll stay there for two days as a break”.
An online page is available at iDonate.ie entitled ‘John o’Groats - Land’s End Great Vintage Tractor Tour’ where donations can be made to the CRITICAL fundraiser.
CRITICAL is one of Ireland’s leading emergency medical response charities and is rapidly expanding its network of volunteer responders to towns, villages and cities across Ireland. The charity is entirely funded by donations and has teams of doctors, paramedics, emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and community first responders who volunteer and give up their time to attend serious and life threatening emergencies in their local areas.
Last week, Mr Fitzgerald noted that the fundraising was going well.
“The fundraising is going quite well. We hope that will ramp up another bit once the run is underway. On the Facebook page, there’s been a massive increase in followers over the last few weeks”.
“We’re staying cool. Obviously, there will be some bit of nerves but we’re staying cool," he said.
We wish them safe transit.