Unprecedented Female Entry for Bluebird Care Galway Summer Rally

This weekend an unprecedented number of female competitors tackling the Bluebird Care Galway Summer Rally on Sunday 24th August.

Leading the charge among over 30 female competitors on the entry list is Galway Motor Club member Gemma Hallinan.

The Craughwell driver comes into her home event following a Class 2A win at the Monaghan Stages Rally in her Ford Fiesta. Hallinan sits second in the Women in Motorsport category in the Top Part West Coast Rally Championship, as well as second in Class 2A in the Triton Showers National Rally Championship. Partnered by Derry-based co-driver Ciara Duggan, they are the only all-female crew on the entry list.

Local club member Des Lyons makes his home debut in a Ford Fiesta Rally3, with his usual Monaghan co-driver Aishling McArdle on board.

Top Part West Coast Championship leader Aine Lonergan travels from Kilkenny to field her Class 1 Honda Civic EK4 alongside Carlow co-driver Ciaran Dermody. In the same championship, the female navigator standings are led by Meath's Molly Foley, who sits alongside her brother Kaelin in a Peugeot 208 R2.

In the Junior category (Class 16), Tipperary driver Louise Bourke sits third in the Junior West Coast WIM standings, competing alongside Limerick co-driver Edwin Walsh in a Peugeot 206 Cup Car.

Also contesting Class 16 are Darragh Mullins and his Oranmore co-driver Sophie Byrnes, making their second appearance of 2026 in a Honda Civic. 

In the upper overall ranks, Mayo navigator Ruthann O'Connor partners her husband John Warren in a Ford Fiesta Rally2, with the pair targeting another top-ten overall finish. Ashleigh Will makes the journey from overseas once again, co-driving alongside Gordon Morrisson in a Class 14 Mk2 Escort.

Sligo co-driver Gillian Gilmartin continues her national championship campaign alongside David Hunt in a Class 2 Peugeot 208 Rally4.

Meanwhile, Mayo navigator Ella Conway holds third place in the West Coast Championship female title race, partnering Ian Chambers in a Class 11F Honda EG6. Also featuring in Class 11F is Galway co-driver Alesha Gannon, who is competing alongside Jason Ollerenshaw in a Peugeot 206. 

Crossing the Atlantic for the event, Canadian-based driver Oscar Mangan, originally from Mullingar, makes his first rally appearance in a Class 11R Ford Escort Mk1, guided by Westmeath co-driver Lisa Roe.

Family partnerships feature right across the field. Roscommon co-driver Jane Collins navigates for her father Vincent Collins, Clerk of the Course for the Midlands Rally, in a Class 18 Historic Ford Escort.

Father-and-daughter duo Ivan and Aoife Hernon tackle Class 2A in a Ford Fiesta R2T, while Rory Carroll and his daughter Katelyn bring their Ford Escort to Class 12 and Paul McHugh and his daughter Katelyn are in a Honda Integra Type R in Class 3.

Padraic Cawley is joined by his daughter Layla in a Class 11F Citroen C2.

Clare driver Francis Kelly and Limerick co-driver Megan Ryan tackle Class 3 in a Renault Clio, and Sligo brother-and-sister crew Ryan Mitchell and Charlene Mitchell run a Class 9 Peugeot 106 Rallye. Roscommon co-driver Michelle Silke Cooper partners her husband Bobby once again in their Class 11R Toyota Twincam. 

The Dacia Sandero Cup includes Kilkenny siblings Cillian and Lauren Doherty who line up alongside Galway driver Ronan Kinneavy and Michelle Horan, as well as Tipperary pair Stephen Ryan and Margaret O'Keeffe.