St Patrick's Day cycle races set to take place near south Kilkenny border

The traditional St. Patrick’s Day bicycle race in Carrick on Suir is fast approaching.

This is a race which has been run since 1955 with great success and is a nationally renowned day on the Irish cycling calendar. It started out as the Kiely Cup and is now fittingly named after Carrick's very own Bobby Power, who passed away in 2018. The event is run by Panduit Carrick Wheelers Cycling Club.

The race has moved around over the years and used different circuits from the Carrick-on-Suir town centre finish, the Ballyneale circuit and the current race home in Clonea. All provided different tests and spectacles but no matter where it has been based, the race has endured! 

This year’s event promises to be another great event on the tough roads of Clonea and Kelly’s Gates along by the Curraghmore Estate walls back to Crehana. This stretch of road is quite often where the race takes shape with the long drag from Kelly’s Gates back to Crehana separating the best from the rest. 

There is a lot of local interest in the race with a good crop of club riders competing on the day. In the main event, the A1/A2 Bobby Power Memorial,  Patrick O’Loughlin who will be hoping he can get the win and go one better than his 4th place as an A2, claiming the inaugural A2 Past Members Memorial Cup in last year’s edition.

Arminas Meskauskas will be hoping to keep the A2 Cup, which will be raced for in memory of Mick Dunne this year, in the club and certainly has the grit and determination to pull it off! Mick was a stalwart of our club from its early days in the 1950s and played a massive role in the club over many decades. He became Club Chairman in 1996 having spent time living in London and Dublin and gave back hugely to his beloved Carrick Wheelers during his tenure as Chairman. 

In the A3 Tommy Sheehan Memorial, Martin O’Loughlin, Seamus Babington and Zach Power will be hoping to land some silverware in a race that will be hotly contested with some of the finest Women and Junior (Under 18) riders in the country on show in this race too. The lads won’t have it easy but there’s no shortage of fight in a Carrick Wheeler! 

Our other Cup up for grabs on the day is the Landy Cup for the A4 race which is somewhat a beginner racers category. This cup is kindly sponsored by the Landy family. 

Panduit Carrick Wheelers Cycling Club hope to see some new faces out on the roads of Clonea to cheer on all the riders!