Aim to revive Gordon Bennett route as tourist attraction
This was suggested at last night's meeting of Kilcullen Community Action, which heard correspondence about the meeting to be held in the Athy Heritage Centre on April 11 to establish an interim committee for the re-launch.
"The purpose of the meeting is to inform interested people along the route, of the opportunity it offers to bring visitors and spenders to their particular area," wrote Sean Cleary of Timolin, a former resident of Kilcullen, "if they are enthusiastic and buy into its importance in attracting tourists off the motorways and back to the real Kildare." The Loops are the only part of the Wicklow Kildare Touring Route that is fully signposted already, he added.
Kilcullen was a key point in the 1903 race, both marking the turning point in the Kildare Loops and being where a number of participants stayed in Bardons Hotel.
The meeting starts at 11am. KCA decided that they would send a representative.
Nessa Dunlea is pictured above at an Exhibition of Memorabilia in Kilcullen Heritage Centre in 2003, marking the Centenary of the original Gordon Bennett Race in Ireland.
