Killumney/Ovens and District Vintage Run a huge success in honour of sports-mad Mick O'Leary

The second Killumney/Ovens and District Vintage Run was held on Friday, December 27 last in honour of the late Mick O'Leary, who was a sports fanatic.  

This event was organised by John O’Connor and John O'Riordan and took place at the Killumney Inn car park. It proved to be a huge success with in excess of 60 cars from all over the world registering on the day, including a 1971 Jensen Interceptor MK II from England and a 1997 Ferrari California from Italy. 

However, it was the 1955 Chevy Pickup Truck which was purchased in Virginia by Rylane man Kieran Terry which came up trumps on the day and claimed the ultimate prize, the Mick O'Leary Perpetual Cup.

Local man Donal O'Callaghan won the oldest car category with his 1924 Singer 10, which was bought by his father in 1956 for £17. 

Stephen O'Donovan won the best 4X4 All-terrain vehicle on the day with his 1987 3.9 V8 Petrol Land Rover Defender which he fully restored from scratch himself. Best sports car on show was won by Paul Sweeney Electrical with his light blue 1979 Ford Escort Mark 2.

A new hotly contested prize was introduced to the 2024 run for the youngest navigator. After beating off stiff competition, Damien Kelleher from Ovens claimed the prize after doing a fantastic job navigating a 1964 Toyota Celica throughout the course.

The award for the best custom-built car went to Adam Dennehy for the brilliant job he did on the full restoration of his Lexus IS 200.

The fleet of cars were led out by a V8 Toyota Amazon which acted as a safety vehicle and was accompanied by three large motorcycles which acted as traffic controllers along the route. 

The route taken was one of historic significance, navigating through the hinterland of West Cork which included a stop at the Béal na Bláth ambush site of Michael Collins and then continued on to Bandon for a pit stop where the service team were on hand to carry out repairs on a Rover which had difficulty finishing the route. 

The run continued on through to the ambush site at Crossbarry and finished back in The Killumney Inn where there was live music and a mega raffle with over 21 prizes to be won which were generously donated by the public. 

Over €5,200 was raised on the day for local charity Marymount Hospice. There was great community spirit shown with a huge turnout of locals helping out with traffic management, vehicle registration, stewarding and many other activities which helped make the event a huge success.

One noticeable absentee from last year's run, was the Grand Marshall, Mick O’Leary, who passed away in April 2024, with the organisers naming the event after him. Mick will never be forgotten by the people who knew him on Leeside through his sporting love of GAA, rugby and golf in particular. 

This December's event could well be the biggest yet.