Friday, October 17, 2014

Doolin Harley Festival raises over 37K euro for cancer charities


The first annual Doolin Harley Festival which saw 200 Harley Davidson owners from across Ireland, the UK and USA descend on the North Clare village raised €37,589 for local cancer charities.
The announcement was made by the event organisers who set up a foundation in the memory of local woman Marie Clancy who sadly passed away from ovarian cancer earlier this year.

Marie's husband James, Jimmy Boyle and Mark Clancy, all of whom are motorcycle enthusiasts, partnered with Hotel Doolin to organise the festival.  The event featured music over three days, a custom bike show, fireworks, a balloon release, and a bike ride-out in the Burren.

To date, funding has been presented to Kilnamona based Slainte an Chláir and Cahercalla Hospice Ennis.

''On behalf of Doolin Harley Fest, I would like to sincerely thank everybody who supported our charity event.  Without the help of our family, friends and many volunteers and the donations from local businesses and individuals the festival would not have been such a success", stated James Clancy.

He added: ''It is our hope that Doolin Haley Fest and Marie's Foundation will help raise awareness about ovarian cancer, a subject close to all our hearts.  The atmosphere at this year' festival was electric and there was a great show of solidarity between the Doolin community and bikers young and old.''

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that the second annual Doolin Harley Festival will take place over the weekend of 15th - 17th May 2015.

Hotel Doolin General Manager Donal Minihane commented: "We were delighted to host the inaugural Doolin Harley Fest and look forward to welcoming the festival back to Hotel Doolin next year. Like many other small communities around Ireland, there are not many families or people who haven't had a loved one or friend touched by cancer.  People can feel helpless when their loved ones are suffering but events like this can make a difference.  They raise money for a good cause and they represent a show of solidarity and compassion from neighbours, friends and the wider community."

"Marie's Foundation deserve huge credit for putting together this festival and for raising such a large sum of money that will make a difference to people suffering from cancer in the community", Mr Minihane concluded.