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Cronin joins Moonraker field in pre-grist rehearsal

Current British Rally Championship (BRC) leader, Keith Cronin, has placed an entry for the Moonraker Rally, which is set to take place in his home county of Cork on Saturday, July 2.
The Munster Car Club organised event will be based in the village of Ballyvourney and is to be a counting round of the Motorsport Ireland National Forestry Rally Championship.
Cronin and co-driver, Mikie Galvin from Agahdoe, previously won the Moonraker in 2017, and then as now, are using the outing to gain additional gravel running in aid of a BRC campaign. The duo went on to take the British title that year, and presently head the 2022 points standings following a victory on the Jim Clark Rally last month in their Volkswagen Polo GTi R5.
With the BRC due to resume the following weekend on the Nicky Grist Rally in Wales, the Moonraker is ideally placed to provide the required warm-up.
“The first two BRC rounds were on tarmac, and we’re now heading into two gravel rounds," Cronin explained.
"We haven’t done a forest rally since the Cambrian last October, and that was in the Fiesta rather than the Polo, plus we’re on Pirelli tyres now, so there’s some learning to be done. The Moonraker suits in every way, it’s only a week before the Nicky Grist and it’s only about 40 minutes from home. It’s possible that it will be our only outing in Ireland this year.”
The entry list for the Moonraker features most of the National Forestry Championship frontrunners, including Jordan Hone and Keith Power in Ford Fiestas, Conor McCourt in a Skoda Fabia, and local driver, Gerard Lucey, in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8. The field will also include Motorsport Ireland National Junior Rally Series competitors, divided into 14-18 and 19-25 age groups.
The Moonraker Rally will consist of eight stages, a loop of four repeated twice. It will get underway from Coláiste Ghobnatan at 9am, with the first stage scheduled to start at 9.37am. The National Forestry Rally Championship regulations require that two wheel drive cars run first, in reverse seeding order, with four wheel drives after in normal order. Service will be at the Údarás na Gaeltachta complex after stages two, four and six, and the Finish celebrations will take place at the Abbey Hotel in Ballyvourney, which serves as Rally Headquarters, at around 5.45pm.
The Volkswagen Polo of Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin is prepared by Tom Gahan Motorsport and supported by M O’Brien Group of Companies, Keohane Seafoods, Inver Energy, Cremin Coaches, Cronin’s HomeValue Hardware, Cronin’s Centra and Pirelli Tyres.
News
New local date for Hozier this summer
With over 22 billion global streams Hozier, whose other shows are completly sold out, has announced a new date in Killarney this summer. Not only will the Grammy-nominated, award-winning multi-platinum […]

With over 22 billion global streams Hozier, whose other shows are completly sold out, has announced a new date in Killarney this summer.
Not only will the Grammy-nominated, award-winning multi-platinum singer and songwriter, perform in Malahide Castle and The Academy, but he has announced a gig at the Gleneagle INEC Arena on June 27.
Driven by the thought-provoking quintuple-platinum anthem, ‘Take Me To Church’, ranked the 30th most listened to song on Spotify, the track is the 103rd song to ever achieve the rare milestone of Diamond certification and the highest certified solo Alternative single in RIAA history.
‘Take Me To Church’ has surpassed 2 billion streams, the only Irish artist to achieve this feat.
Hozier’s success hasn’t been confined to the UK and US with the album also achieving Multi-Platinum status in Belgium, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, Italy, Denmark, Ireland, Russia, Sweden, Poland, Switzerland, Austria and the Netherlands.
Major TV appearances have helped spread the gospel including stand-out appearances on Later with Jools, Jimmy Fallon , David Letterman, Saturday Night Live, Ellen, Jimmy Kimmel, and Graham Norton. Following a year of sold out shows and festival appearances across the US, Canada, Europe and Australia, VH1 crowned Hozier ‘Artist of the Year’ and he received the honours ‘Top Rock Artist’ and ‘Top Rock Songs’ at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards.
In addition, he scored nominations for ‘Song of the Year’ at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards at which he performed alongside Annie Lennox and ‘Favourite Artist – Alternative Rock’ at the American Music Awards.
He won BBC ‘Song of the Year’ and the coveted Ivor Novello award for ‘Song of The Year’.
As Hozier prepares to release his third album ‘Unreal Unearth’ in 2023, his 3-track EP ‘Eat Your Young’ was released on March 17 in honour of his birthday and St. Patrick’s Day.
Tickets for Hozier go on sale this Thursday at 9am.
News
First born Kerry Calf of the year is a girl!
The first born Kerry Calf of 2023 was born at Muckross National Park this week. Both mother and calf are doing very well. The rare and native bred is distinguished […]

The first born Kerry Calf of 2023 was born at Muckross National Park this week.
Both mother and calf are doing very well. The rare and native bred is distinguished by its black colour, grazing outdoors in all seasons and is extremely hardy. The newborn calf can expect a long and peaceful life grazing in the National Park – the half moon close to Torc Waterfall is a popular grazing field.
Kerry cattle are a rare breed of dairy cattle – native to Kerry, descended from the Celtic Shorthorn, brought to Ireland as early as 2000BC. They are considered one of the oldest breeds in Europe, known for their milk quality and gentle nature.
Killarney National Park recognises the importance of conserving the historic Muckross herd. Former owners of Muckross Estate, Arthur Rose Vincent, were passionate about the Kerry Calf. Today, the rare bred are cared and managed by Chief Herdsman, Mike Fleming, particularity for preservation and agricultural heritage.
Another prolific breed is the ‘Cahernane Kerry’ owned and bred by dairy farmer, Ms Hilliard of Cahernane, Killarney. Ms Hilliard is one of the strongest advocators in the preservation and conservation of the bred. She is life-long secretary of the Kerry Cattle Society.
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