Rosemary Smith in town for Gordon Bennett Run

When Irish rally legend Rosemary Smith motored into town today in the Gordon Bennett Classic Car Run 2019, she met up with Garda Jon Brien who had earlier been patrolling on the new garda bicycle which the town acquired a week or so ago, writes Brian Byrne.

A bit of a contrast between Rosemary's recent gig in a Formula 1 Renault ... "'but the bicycle is great for patrolling The Valley," Jon grinned. Which is a message to anyone thinking of misconducting in the park.

Rosemary was driving a Sunbeam Tiger, one of among some ten of the cars which were part of the Run, V8 powered and with a lovely engine note, though operating in the convoy well below the capabilities of either car or driver.

With up to 150 pre-1988 cars parked around town for about three hours, there was lots to see, and many owners happy to talk to anyone who came along. And lots did.

Beautiful machinery, including a few very old ones like the famous and extremely valuable Rolls Royce 'Titanic Ghost' that was the event flagship.

I mentioned to someone that I preferred those cars on display that I could remember, to be told that I'd 'probably remember most of them, then'. True, nearly.

Well done to the Kilcullen 700 team for snagging the long stay in Kilcullen, for which the sun shone too.

All the Diary's pictures of the afternoon are here. Make a cup of tea, there are quite a lot. (Meantime, there's a small selection below.)

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