Rev up to raise funds! Kilkenny tractor run in aid of local churches

A tractor run to raise funds in aid of Castlecomer's Union of Parishes will be held on Sunday, April 27.

Registration opens at 11am on the day, with the run departing at 1pm from Joseph Coogan Auctioneers in Castlecomer. The entry fee is €20 per vehicle; vintage cars are also welcome to join. There will also be a raffle and refreshments on the day. Proceeds of the run will be put towards work on Castlecomer's St Mary's Church and the Colliery Church.

Auctioneer Joseph Coogan will be lending his yard as a space for the vehicles to park up in, as well as his auction room as a space for refreshments: tea, coffee, sandwiches and desserts.

The run will depart from the yard, making its way through the town and out over the Dublin Road bridge. It will then head on for Kane’s Bridge, out towards Castlewarren, and then back down for the Castlecomer-Kilkenny road, looping its way back around to the yard.

Castlecomer local and event organiser Noel Condell has been working on tractors for the last thirty years. He decided to hold a tractor run to raise funds for the parish last year.

“I’d been at hundreds of them myself in Dublin over the years, and we got a massive turnout,” he said. The response to last year's run prompted a repeat event this year.

Local gardai will be on duty to oversee the event, and ensure that road safety procedures are being followed.