Search for 117-year-old Kerry motorsport trophy
MOTORSPORT enthusiasts in Kerry are searching for the first motorsport trophy to be presented in the county.
Back in 1903, Charles Rolls, of Rolls Royce fame won the Ballyfinnane Hillclimb. The event, which was the last event in the Gordon Bennett Races Irish Speed Fortnight, was supported by Kerry County Council.
It is understood the local council had put in a bid to run the main event but the Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland selected a course in county Kildare for the international trophy races. Kerry County Council, however, was given the opportunity to host a consolation event, the Ballyfinnane Hillclimb, and commissioned a trophy for the occasion. It’s believed the County Kerry Cup, presented to Rolls in July 1903, may still exist and motor clubs in the county are hoping it can be found ahead of the 120th anniversary of the event in three years’ time.
If anyone has any leads on the trophy, please contact The Kerryman’s motorsport journalist Seán Moriarty on 087 6771019.
Kerrry motorsport community mourns the passing of Seamus O’Connor
THE Kerry motorsport community was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Seamus O’Connor on Tuesday last week.
Seamus ran the popular Kitty O Se’s restaurant in Killarney and his family-run The Anvil Bar in Boolteens, Keel, the venue for the Moriarty’s Centra Kingdom of Kerry rally championship awards presentation last December.
Seamus was a huge motorsport fan. He was co-driver to Denis Scully from Beaufort in the 1980s. He was also an accomplished Hot Rod driver and brought one of the first National Hot Rod trophies to Kerry in 1991.
When South Coast Hot Rod club hosted major events in the county in the 1980s and 1990s, Seamus was one of the main movers to get the
events off the ground. He acted as event secretary for the famous Inter-County Hot Rod Extravaganza held in Aghadoe on June 4, 1989.
Correction: In last week’s report, it was incorrectly stated that Paul Nagle worked alongside Andreas Mikkelsen with the Volkswagen World Rally Championship team in 2016. It was, of course, the 2013 season that the pair worked together, taking seventh in France and sixth in Australia in a Polo WRC.