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Road closures for this weekend’s Rally of the Lakes

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By Sean Moriarty

There will be several road closures in the Killarney area to facilitate this weekend's running of the Rally of the Lakes.

The 42nd rally will bring a much needed early season boost to the locality.

With close to 200 competitors, from as far afield as Australia set to take part in the event, the town will busy all weekend.

The Lewis Road car park is already closed to the public since last night (Thursday) to allow overnight parking for the 200 rally cars taking part in the event. This car park will remain out of bounds until late on Sunday evening.

The ceremonial start takes place on Main Street tonight (Friday). As a result there will be traffic disruptions in the town centre from 6pm until 9pm.

The ceremonial start is a family friendly event and presents an ideal opportunity to meet the star drivers ahead of their two days of competition.

The ramp celebration is being organised by Mike Moriarty. He has arranged extra entertainment including music and dancing to set the tone for tonight's event.

“People can expect plenty of surprises and some of our local drivers will be celebrated too,” he said.

The rally itself takes place tomorrow (Saturday) and Sunday.

The Molls’ Gap road will close from 7am to 11.15am tomorrow morning. However, the rally moves into the Beara Peninsula and the Castletownbear area for the remainder of the day and the rally will not affect local traffic.

Sunday’s action includes repeats of Moll’s Gap and visits to Ballaghbeama. Moll’s Gap will close from 6.30am until 1.15pm while Ballaghbeama will be out of bounds from 7.30 to 2pm.

The Sunday pitstop for the rally is at the Liebherr Container Crane Factory in Fossa so approach roads to and from the village will be busy all day and motorists are advised to plan their journeys accordingly.

The afternoon action switches to East Kerry with Rathmore, Barraduff and Gneeveguilla all set to be much busier than usual.

The Gortnagane road will close from 12.15pm to 6.05pm while the Knockrower East area will be closed from 12.45pm to 6.45pm.

Full details of the route and additional information are available in the official programme which is on sale in a host of outlets locally.

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Fassbender ready for second Le Mans appearance

Local Hollywood A-lister Michael Fassbender is in the final preparation stages for his second appearance at the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. The iconic endurance race is celebrating its […]

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Local Hollywood A-lister Michael Fassbender is in the final preparation stages for his second appearance at the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The iconic endurance race is celebrating its 100th edition next weekend.

The Fossa star has already arrived in the famous French twon where he is involved in a week-long series of engagements including drivers’ parades, autograph sessions and more serious appointments like car safety checks, practice and qualifying.

Like last year, when he finished 16th in the LMGTE Am class, Fassbender has been entered in to the event by the German Proton Competition team with Estonian Martin Rump and the Austrian Richard Lietz.

Fassbender dreams of following the trajectory of fellow Hollywood actors Patrick Dempsey who was second in LMGTE Am class in 2016 and Paul Newman who finished second overall in 1979.

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Ireland’s oldest citizen has Killarney connections

Ireland’s oldest woman met with President Michael D. Higgins at Áras an Uachtaráin this week. Máirín Hughes, who turned 109 on May 22 has strong Killarney connections. The previous record […]

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Ireland’s oldest woman met with President Michael D. Higgins at Áras an Uachtaráin this week.

Máirín Hughes, who turned 109 on May 22 has strong Killarney connections.

The previous record was held by 107-year-old Nancy Stewart who died on September 10 2021.

Although born in Belfast, Máirín went to school in the Mercy Convent. Her father was a customs and excise officer and the family moved around a lot eventually coming to Killarney after spells in County Down and Dublin.

Her mother came from the Rathmore area and her father was from Newmarket in County Cork.

She attended the Mercy Convent and has, in previous interviews, recalled growing up on the shores of Lough Lein.

“Neighbours who had three children were given the job of taking me to school,” she said. “They were annoyed because the children were going to school for two or three years but I was put in to the same class as them – my mother had taught me.”

In 2021 she featured in the book ‘Independence Memories: A People’s Portrait of the Early Days of the Irish Nation’, sharing stories of being kept in school in Killarney during an attack on the RIC barracks down the road.

In 1924 she started a degree in science and a diploma in education at University College Cork, before working in the pathology lab in University College Cork’s Department of Medicine for 16 years.

last year she recalled her story on the podcast: ‘Living History – Irish Life and Lore’.

During the broadcast she talked about her parents’ membership of the Gaelic League in 1910; the Spanish Flu in Ireland in 1918; The Black and Tans in Killarney in 1921; the early days of the new Free State; Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in 1932, visiting the Basket Islands in 1929; and working in the UCC medical laboratory from 1932 until 1948.

This week President Michael D. Higgins hosted an afternoon tea event to celebrate the important role that a variety of people have and can play in different communities and Máirín was among the guests of honour.

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