The second round of the Triton Showers Motorsport Ireland Rally Championship arrives in Tralee, with Kerry Motor Club organising the Rose Hotel Circuit of Kerry Rally on Sunday.
Nine West Kerry stages, renowned for their challenging nature, await the 150-strong entry, in what is the 50th anniversary of the first running of the club’s flagship event.
Josh Moffett and Keith Moriarty, driving a Citroen C3 Rally2, are the clear favourites.
Their recent victory in Longford, along with their win in Tralee two years ago mean they bring form and additionally Moffett is in pursuit of a record-breaking fifth consecutive championship title.
Desi Henry and Shane Byrne, also piloting a Citroen, occupy second place in the championship, but this is their first visit to the Kingdom are the second seed.
Eddie Doherty and Tom Murphy, in a Skoda Fabia R5 despite their previous Kerry Winter Rally experience, have never contested a Circuit of Kerry before and currently hold third championship position.
Declan Boyle and Patrick Walsh, past champions and previous winners in Kerry start at four in another Skoda.
Sam Moffett has recruited the services of local co-driver Shane Buckley for the 2025 season and they will start in fifth place in a Hyundai i20 Rally2.
Daniel Cronin and Donnchadh Burke another crew in a Citroen will have the benefit of three days rallying – a high-speed test – at the recent West Cork Rally to call upon, Driving a Volkswagen Polo, Michael Boyle and Dermot McCafferty are seeded seventh and are chasing their first National Rally Championship win.
Other frontrunners include the Ford Fiesta mounted Rob Barrable/ Gordon Noble, Gary Kiernan / John McCabe and Jason Dickson/ Martin Brady.
Brendan Cumiskey and Martin Connolly from Monaghan and Aidan Wray/Paddy McCrudden will field Volkswagen Polo R5s and Triton Showers boss Paul Barrett and his co-driver Darragh Kelly compete in another Citroen.
Modified Contenders
Kevin Gallagher and Ryan Moore lead the modified entries in their Darrian GT90 Gtr.
The all-Donegal crew were category winners in Kerry in 2023.
Johno Doogan/ Paul Lennon (Cavan) was the top Ford Escort crew in Longford.
They are on their first visit to, a first visit to the Circuit of Kerry but a podium finish in the Kerry Winter Rally in November will stand to them.
Barry Morris/ Dylan Doonan (Darrian), Chris Armstrong/Darren Curran (Ford Escort) and Michael Carbin/Dean O’Sullivan are among the other fancied frontrunners in the fan-favoured modified category.
Overseas Entries:
The Circuit of Kerry has always attracted a strong overseas entry and the first event in 1975 featured Welsh driver Denis Cardell on its entry list.
Fifty years on and that Welsh tradition is maintained as Steve Wood and Kenny Hul) make a welcome return in their Citroen CR Rally2.
Declan Boyle’s co-driver Patrick Walsh and Daniel Cronin’s navigator Burke travel from North Wales and Glasgow for the event.
Hugh Hunter (Wales) and Andy Marchbank (England) repeat their 2023 visit to the rally when they finished on the podium.
Johnny O’Sullivan is home from America for the event. Co-driven by Karl Egan it is O’Sullivan’s first attempt at the rally.
They will all be competing for the London Irish Motor Club Perpetual Shield.
Motorsport Ireland Junior Rally Series
The Motorsport Ireland Junior Rally Series sees a strong contingent of drivers vying for championship points and, ultimately, a Billy Coleman Award nomination.
Former Billy Coleman award winner Jack Brennan and his co-driver Eoghan Doherty from Kilkenny lead the fray in their Peugeot 208 Rally4.
Jack Harris (whose great grandparents hail from Ballyduff) and co-driver Aaron O’Regan will pilot a Ford Fiesta, aiming to build on their series experience while
Dylan Donoghue and Tommy Moffett are two more drivers in Fiestas as is local ace Mossie Costello.
Dean Murphy (Clare) is another driver in a Peugeot 208 Rally4.
The Junior class itself (class 16) will be headlined by Longford Rally class winners Ronan Dorrian and Mickey Joe Browne in a Honda Civic.
Kerry Entries
Mike Quinn and Kieran Doherty are the leading all-Kerry crew in a Ford Escort.
Glenflesk is well represented by Denis Hickey/ Eoin O’Leary, and Dave Slattery/ Denis Coffey and Bob Moran and his Galway-based co-driver Ivan Hernon in a trio for Ford Escort Mk2s.
John McCarthy (Currow) co-drives for Peter Wilson (Meath) in another Ford Escort Mk2.
Kerry Motor Club crew Tim Enright and Stephen Buckley, also drive a Ford Escort.
Tralee’s Patrick Slattery and Anthony McCarthy, compete in a Subaru Impreza.
Defending County Champions Tommy Mason and Paul McGlinchey are in yet another Escort.
The historic section of the rally includes Killarney-based drivers Alan Ring (Subaru Legacy RS and Paul Ahern (BMW M3) Ahern’s co-driver Kieran Murphy is now based in Kilkenny but is originally from Beaufort.
Other locally based Escort crews include Raymond O’Neill/Jason O’Connor and Sean Enright/Kevin Doherty, Tadgh O’Sullivan and Keith McCarthy have supported the rally as O’Sullivan’s Kingdom Crash Repairs business is the location for mechanical scrutiny on Saturday afternoon.
Waterville’s John Corrigan – sponsor of the RallyTown extravaganza on Saturday afternoon in Tralee competes in his Subaru Impreza.
DJ Ray Stack, the entertainment provider at the RallyTown event will compete in his Escort.
Another fleet of Escorts are in the hands of Brian Hickey/ Noel Murphy and Cyril Wharton/Donal Falvey.
Toyota is represented on the local entry list by Mike Neligan/John Hurley (Corolla), relative newcomers Eugene Buckley and Hugo Wells compete in a Toyota EP91.
David Randles (Killarney) drives a Peugeot 208 Rally 4 with Andrew Cronin as co-driver. Annascaul’s Declan O’Sullivan will be on his home turf in a Volkswagen Golf.
North Kerry is represented by Sean Hartnett/ Timmy Murphy, Ger O’Brien/ John Liston in Escorts while the all-Ballyheuige crew of Gearóid O’Regan and Gene Stack compete in a Honda Civic.
Kilgarvan’s Damien Price is on pace note duty for Jack Fennessy (Tipperary) and in a Ford Fiesta.
Family affairs
The Costello family from Ballybunnion will Kerry Motor Club history in the event.
Grandfather Joe competed on the original Circuit of Kerry in 1975.
He is back again, half a century on and his son Jason and grandson Mossie are also competing in the event.
John Hickey and his daughter Michelle Hickey compete in their home-built Fubaru Escort RS.
The Browne dynasty from Brosna is also out in force Maurice Browne and Chris Browne competing in a Ford Escort Mk2 while Michael Browne co-drives for Colm Browne who is home from his Tyrone base for the weekend in a Ford Escort G3.
Brothers Ken and Ray McKenna, both from Limerick, are Kerry Motor Club members and are driving a Peugeot 205 GTi.
Michelle Quinn, Mick’s daughter and her cousin Caz Somers compete in a Honda Civic.
Oran England (Cavan) and Daragh Mullen (Sligo) are in a Ford Fiesta, with Oran having a special connection to the opening Camp Mountain test as his Grandmother hails from the start of that stage.
Carlow Forestry Rally
Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin took a start-to-finish victory in the Carlow Car Club-organised Wicklow Forestry Rally on Sunday in their Citroen C3 Rally2.
The Cork/Kerry crew were using the opening round of the Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship as a gravel-surface shakedown for the Carlisle Rally – round of the British Rally Championship – on April 12.
They are currently second in the BRC standings.
David Slattery and Ger Somers were tenth in the Junior Rally in their Hyundai i10 while James Spillane and Maurice McElligott were 15th in the same category in their Seat Mii.
