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Carlow Driving Route 3 -The Gordon Bennett Route

The Gordon Bennett route takes in Counties Carlow, Kildare and Laois. The 1903 Gordon Bennett Cup Race came to Ireland because of the remarkable victory by Selwyn F. Edge in the 1902 race. The rules required the winning country to stage the following year’s race and so unexpected was the British victory and so strong the establishment opposition to motoring in that country that there was little hope of the race being staged there. Many thousands of visitors came by boat to view the race while some 1,500 brought their cars with the intention of touring the countryside while here. As the total number of cars in Ireland was only around 300 at the time this was a huge influx and provided many Irish people with their first opportunity to see a motor car. Four countries entered teams of three cars each for the contest: France, the United States, Germany and Britain. The cars were to be painted in national colours - France in blue; the United States in red; Germany in white and Britain, in deference to Ireland's role in organising the race, chose emerald green. The chosen route was a figure eight course centered on Athy. see www.gordonbennettroute.com .

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