The route for the 2023 Cannonball Run, which will see 190 supercars tour around Ireland to raise money for The Jack and Jill Children's Foundation, has been announced.
Weekend of the 15-17 September
The event will take place from the 15th to the 17th of September, and will add to the €1,538,602 which has been raised for Irish charities so far.
There will be a preview evening at Malahide Castle, just outside Dublin, on Thursday the 14th, before the peleton of power sets off in the morning for Cavan and a lunch stop at the Slieve Russell Hotel and Country Club. After lunch, the convoy will head to Ballina, to help celebrate the town's 600th birthday, and will overnight there.
On Saturday the 16th, the Cannonball heads for Galway, taking in lunch at the Salthill Hotel at 1pm, before heading on to Pery Square Limerick City for the second finish line and overnight stay.
Big finish in Kilkenny
On Sunday the 17th, the Cannonball leaves Limerick at 10.30am, heading for the Circle K filling station in Fermoy, Co. Cork - milesPLUS from Circle K is a big sponsor of the event - and then onto Fota Resort for lunch. The big finish for the event will be at 6pm in Kilkenny city.
This year the official charity of Cannonball is The Jack and Jill Children's Foundation - an Irish children's charity that funds and delivers in-home nursing care, respite support and end-of-life care for children from birth to six years of age who have highly complex and life-limiting medical conditions. There are currently over 400 children under the care of Jack and Jill right across the country and the charity's mission is to empower parents to care for their child at home, because there is no care like home care for a Jack and Jill child.
Spider-Man and Batman
As well as the supercars themselves - Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Porsches, Bentleys, Rolls-Royces, Aston Martins, McLarens, you name it - there will be a full festival atmosphere around the event, with Brazilian dancers, giant screens, live DJs, bands and the stars of the big screen appearing in Cosplay form, such as Spider-Man, Catwoman, Wonder Woman, Charlie's Angels, Batman and more. If you fancy attending the event in fancy dress yourself, there will be a prize for the best costume.
Cannonball was founded by Kildare businessman Alan Bannon and the benefit to the host towns for this event is estimated at €2,567,000 per year. Cannonball is fuelled by milesPLUS from Circle K as the main headline Sponsor for 2023 and all official fuel stops on the route where spectators can see the cars will be announced in the coming days. The Tour Sponsor this year is Apache Pizza and Cannonball official partners include Karl Goodwin Motors, AB Signs, HONE Energy and Majestic Ireland Road Trips.