Over €4k raised from tractor run

Three groups to benefit from Borrisoleigh event

Recently, Borrisoleigh held their annual tractor run, which resulted in them raising over €4,000 for their three chosen beneficiaries of the event.

“It’s a fundraiser that we are doing every year. This year we decided to donate the funds to the Dillon Quirke foundation, Embrace Farm and the resurfacing of the car park here in Borrisoleigh GAA Club,” explained chairman of Borrisoleigh Tractor Run, Alan Ryan.

Three worthy beneficiaries

Particpants of this event use it as an opportunity to give back to their community every year by raising some much-needed funds for their beneficiaries:.

Mr Ryan added: “We always try to support local charities where we can. With the tractor run, the vast majority of us here today are involved in agriculture. [Embrace Farm] do great work for people who are injured or involved in farm related accidents.

“The Dillon Quirke Foundation, they are doing great work for young people with the monitoring of heart conditions. We get great support here as well from Rossmore vintage society and they would be closely linked up there with the Dillon Quirke foundation.

“The carpark here [at Borrisoleigh GAA club], there’s a lot of potholes here around the place. We are hoping to resurface the car park here,” explained Alan Ryan as to why the group chose those three beneficiaries in particular.”

Community Support

Borrisoleigh Tractor Run receive great support from their community every year.

Mr Ryan commented: “A lot of times its reliant on people who attend with their tractors to make donations. Especially here in Borrisoleigh, there has been a lot of fundraising activity recently; but you can still very much rely on the local community to put their hands in their pockets and donate whatever they want to or to enter the raffle.

“We had a huge amount of people line the streets here, they came in around the park looking at the machines and donated. We are really grateful to the local community here in Borrisoleigh for the donations that they made to us here today.”

Participation in the Tractor Run

Roughly 60 vehicles took part in this year’s tractor run. Mr Ryan pointed out that this event is a great opportunity for those involved in the tractor run to remember those from their community. “We started off this iteration of the tractor run in 2017, there was a fundraiser done for an uncle of mine, whose father Matt Ryan has died since, he was based in Brazil.

“We went through a couple of years with Covid and everything else where we didn’t do any, then we got it going again. We did one three years ago and it was probably our biggest ever. That was the first anniversary of one of our founding members here,” explained Alan, referring fondly to Rory O’ Dwyer, who passed away three years ago.

“This [event] marks his third anniversary now. He was a big character in tractor runs locally and would have been the main man in terms of organising tractor runs.”

“A lot of why we are all here today is probably in his memory as well; to continue the good work that he started. A lot of people who come here would remember Rory quiet fondly from not only the Borris tractor run but all the tractor runs he attended around the place,” he expressed.