Cannonball, the action-packed supercar spectacle, blazed a trail through Cork on September 9th to the delight of ardent spectators on every bridge and crossroads. Cannonball, fuelled by milesPLUS from Circle K, is the largest organised road trip in Europe and this year the event had the highest ever number of car entries including Lamborghini, Ferrari, McLaren , Aston Martin Porsche, Rolls Royce Bentley and Maserati.
Cannonball Organisers are now very proud to announce a total of €315,273 raised for Cork based charity, The HOPE Foundation, for the last two years. HOPE funds and operates over 60 projects including 11 child protection homes, a hospital, an ambulance, counselling, food and nutrition, education, healthcare and the restoration of childhoods to children.
Cannonball has funded over 40 projects over the last two years for HOPE including the provision of counselling, education, food and nutrition, hospital treatment health support, caregivers and medical support to help HOPE to free children from child labour, neglect and poverty. This year Cannonball also funded two buses which will drive around the streets of Kolkata for the next fifteen years. The total amount donated to HOPE in 2021 was €137,000 and in 2022 the total donated is a whopping €178,273.
"The projects funded by Cannonballers last year and this year are truly life changing - from education to basic food and nutrition. Our euro goes so incredibly far in India and the projects we fund keep working for a whole year. We are in awe of the amazing work of the Hope Foundation with the street children of Kolkata and so grateful for the generosity of our Cannonball family & amazing spectators all over the country. We can’t wait to see the new Kolkata Cannonball Buses which will be driving around Kolkata for the next 15 years! " said Alan Bannon, Founder of Cannonball.
On Friday September 9th, Cannonball blazed a trail from Malahide in Co. Dublin to Co. Cork with a fuel stop in Circle K Fermoy and lunch in The Blue Haven Kinsale in Co Cork before moving on to Killarney, Galway, Sligo and Meath for the rest of the route. Spectators got up close and personal with 200 of the finest cars on the planet and enjoyed the unique festival atmosphere that Cannonball is renowned for. The Brazilian Dancers brought all the glamour of carnival and the Cannonballers and celebrities in crazy costumes added to the melee. From Spiderman to Star Wars, Cat Woman to Wonder Woman, cheerleaders to Charlie’s Angels, Batman, the Joker and more, it is a totally unique free family day out.
This year the event featured the first ever Ecto-1 Ghostbusters Car built in Ireland and proudly presented by Galway Bay Brewery. The build commenced with a 1960 Cadillac and took 5 years to transform into Ecto-1 including the iconic roof rack, Proton Packs for all of the crew, Ecto Goggles, P.K.E. Meters, and a slew of Ghost Traps. The car is 23 ft long with a straight piped short blockV8 motor. One thing is for certain ... I ‘aint afraid of no Ghosts!’
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 2022. The Tour Sponsor this year wasApache Pizza and Cannonball official partners included Galway Bay Brewery, Manhattan Popcorn, Bonavox, Karl Goodwin Motors, HONE, AP Haslam, AB Signs, and BMW Ireland. See cannonball.ie
Ben O'Donovan, aged 4, pictured at the Cannonball Run in Kinsale. Photo: Kasia Farat.
