A Thrilling Trip to Tipp to the Cahir Cannonball Festival

Saturday & Sunday September 13^th & 14^th 2014

 On Sunday September 14^th from 1pm, Cahir will be a spectacular sight as 160 of the finest cars on the planet roar into town for Cannonball 2014. Ireland’s glitterati, celebrities celebrities such as Corrie heartthrob Ryan Thomas and co-star Martin Hancock,  Mathew Pritchard from Dirty Sanchez, Shane Lynch and all the crazy ‘Cannonballers’ will be out in force for CANNONBALL, the adrenalin-fuelled action- packed supercar spectacle born in Ireland six years ago.  Over 10,000 people poured into Cashel last year for this event with record crowds and once again people are expected to flock in their thousands to Cahir to soak up the festival atmosphere and get up close and take pictures with top mark cars such as McLaren, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Porsche, Masseratti, Rolls Royce and Bentley.  Cahir will host the two day ‘Gravity’ festival in the Inch field beside the castle in conjunction with Cannonball and in aid of the Make-a-Wish Foundation.  CANNONBALL goes up a gear once again this year with 160 Supercars worth an estimated €25 million, the highest ever number of top mark cars, set to blaze a trail through Dublin, Cavan, Donegal, Sligo, Mayo, Galway and Tipperary with a dramatic finish line in Tullamore, Co Offaly on September 14^th.
On Saturday 13th “Gravity” will host an all day Music Festival with headliners such as Paddy Casey, Bressie, Ham Sandwich and many more.  Tickets are on sale locally at Cahir House Hotel, Eurozone, The Square, O’Donnell’s Texaco Station, Mitchelstown Road & www.tickets.ie.  On Sunday 14th at 1pmthe famous Cannonball Supercars and celebrity drivers roar into town.  This will be a fun-filled day with performances by various local artists, children’s entertainment and traders’ village. In the evening aSoap Box Derby will be held on the main streets of the town with participants competing for the prize pool of €1,000 kindly sponsored by Woodview Service Station. Contact Stephen Kirwan 086-8048833 for Soap Box details and Entry form.  Following this there will be a Ball Drop, an exciting fundraising finale to the weekend, with a grand prize of €2,000 to the lucky winner. Coloured balls will be sold prior to this event for €5 each. All the balls sold will be dropped from a pod at the top of Castle Street where they will make their way down the hill towards the Castle. It will be a fantastic visual event with the balls all vying for the one spot in the glass jar at the end of the funnel. The one ball that makes it to the glass jar will make one lucky person €2,000 richer!

CANNONBALL, sponsored by Manhattan Popcorn, is the most exciting motoring and social event of the year.  Fans can experience the thrill of the chase as the finest cars on the planet are on display in each host town kicking off with a live broadcast from Ryan Tubridy and a host of celebrities.  The gleaming convoy will drive through 850KM of Irish open roads from September 12^th to 14th but this year the spectacular convoy will be more impressive than ever with Festivals all over the country and a quarter of the supercars coming in from the UK, Europe and even Dubai with the highest ever number of top mark cars.  Over 100,000 people will line the streets as CANNONBALL roars through towns and counties in spectacular style with FREE family friendly festivals all over the country.   Each start and finish line at each host town is infused with an electric atmosphere featuring Brazilian dancers, live music, DJs, The Monster Energy JAM Truck, stunt riders, aerobatic displays, local entertainers, confetti cannons, lots of Manhattan popcorn, Cannonball official merchandise and, of course, the unmistakable roar of 160 supercars.  CANNONBALL 6 will raise money for the Make-a-Wish Foundation which is a children’s charity that grants magical wishes to children between the ages of 3 – 17 years with life-threatening medical conditions. The route showcases beautiful villages, towns and famous Irish Landmarks to both Irish and foreign Cannonballers and fans.  The benefit to the Irish economy of this event is estimated at €2,567,000 and most of this is spread evenly throughout the counties and towns visited.

CANNONBALL is the brainchild of Kildare Businessman and AB Signs proprietor, Alan Bannon and is now in its sixth year having already raised over €600,000 for Children’s charities.   Cannonball celebrities include Coronation Street Heart Throb Ryan Thomas (AKA Jason Grimshaw) and co-star Martin Hancock,  Mathew Pritchard from Dirty Sanchez, Shane Lynch, former Miss World Rosanna Davison and husband Wes Quirke whilst celebrity chef Rachel Allen, The Voice Presenter Kathryn Thomas, and RTE’s Miriam O Callaghan and even An Taoiseach Enda Kenny has dropped the famous Cannonball chequered flag.  Models Georgia Salpa, Aisling Quinn, Hazel O Sullivan, Emma Quinlan and Holly Carpenter have been keen Cannonballers over the years as well as Roz Purcell, Nadia Forde, and Rachel Wallace.  Ryan Tubridy, Mick Galway, Gerald Kean and Lisa Murphy also geared up for Cannonball and it never disappoints in the celeb stakes. BRUNO MARS even showed up one year to join Boyzone’s Shane Lynch for a quick pit stop in Cork! 

“Cannonball 6 is set to be one of the most spectacular events of 2014” said Don O Neil of Manhattan Popcorn, main sponsor of Cannonball “ We are very proud to be part of this exhilarating event and to help raise funds for the Make a Wish Foundation.  Popcorn goes with all good movies but we are getting the opportunity to bring this mad cap movie to life and there will be lots of Manhattan popcorn on the route to celebrate our association with Cannonball” he continued. The success of CANNONBALL Ireland led to the dawn of the annual Continental Cannonball event every June and this year CANNONBALL made headlines in Holland, Germany and Switzerland as they roared through in spectacular style leaving their mark with the style, excitement and spectacle that CANNONBALL is now becoming renowned for all over the world. The CANNONBALL tour sponsor for 2014 is Carzone.ie and associated sponsors include Paddy Connolly Specialist Cars, 37 Dawson Street, The Bridge House Hotel Tullamore, BP Mitchell, Autokey.ie, Best Western Montenotti, 4×4 Exports and AB Signs. See www.cannonball.ie for further details, routes and events.