Excitement revs up ahead of Kells Road Races return

The 2026 CC's Unlimited Kells Road Races were officially launched in the Headfort Arms Hotel on 21st May, as excitement builds ahead of the event which returns later this month (19th-21st June) after a three-year absence.

It was also an extremely poignant occasion for club members having lost their dear friend 'Toto' Tony Lynch a founding member of the club, just over a month ago. Tributes were paid to Toto with a wonderful slide show of memories put together by Adrian Crawley photography playing in the background on the big screen throughout the evening and members heard about plans to name part of the circuit after Toto and to hold their charity classic run in his name.

The launch was very successful with a full house in attendance. Assistant Chairman Dave McCabe said: “We had an absolutely fantastic turnout on the night with almost every seat in the room full bar one at the top table - and that seat belonged to our dear friend Toto (Tony Lynch) who was our President and one of the founding members of our club, who we recently lost just over a month ago.

“Our chairman Mark Hewitt kicked things off by thanking all of our stakeholders, from local residents to main sponsors and everyone in between. Following this, past chairman Johnny Farrelly spoke about the club’s recent loss in Tony Lynch and how the club intends on honouring his memory by naming part of the circuit after him and also by holding the annual charity classic run in his name with all proceeds going to the Irish Kidney Association.”

There were several guest speakers from road racers such as Andy Farrell, Sean Henry and Pat Murray to name a few, to the president of the Motorcycle Union of Ireland, Alex Sinclair, who were all expertly interviewed on the night by none other than Jack Corry, Road Racing Commentator/Photographer/Journalist.

Local representatives Cllr Sean Drew and Deputy Darren O’Rourke spoke about the positive impacts and benefits that the event brings to not only Kells and Crossakiel but to the greater North Meath area.

Kells Road Races are currently in full production mode with meetings being held at least weekly at this point ahead of race weekend on 19th-21st June.

“The mammoth task of circuit setup is beginning. We have started to prep our equipment and organise it in such a way that everything is ready to move into position on the circuit. We are also actively training club members with the necessary skills required,” said Dave.

“Key members of our track set up team gave up their Saturday morning last week to receive telehandler training and we are in the process of organising manual handling for all club members who require it for track setup. Health and safety is a priority for us so training like this is essential to ensure our team have the necessary skills and competency to complete the task safely.”

He expressed massive thanks to Club Safety Officer Mick Delaney and his company Woodview Safety for providing the training and also to Clarke Machinery for the use of both their facilities and their impressive Weidemann Telehandler.

“Our event is only a matter of weeks away now and the excitement is certainly building within the club. Its an extremely busy yet enjoyable time for us all,” said Dave.