Leinster Classic

For a large majority of European rallyists, Irish motorcycle tourism is often summed up by the legendary name of one of its oldest meetings: the Shamrock rally, just as Wales automatically evokes that of the Dragon rally.

The Irish scene is in fact far from being limited to the well-known Limerick & District MCC meeting. It is much richer than one might think. The list of all kinds of meetings organized in Celtic lands since the early 70s is much too long to be able to cite them all; let us remember the main ones among all of them: Harp, Phoenix, White Tiger, Wild Rose, Dublin Touring, Leinster Classic, Avonbeg, Mourne, Dolmen, Emerald, Star, Lords, Celts.

The collection (photo by Perry O'Toole) seen on this table is a testament to the richness of the Irish rally scene

Today I would like to briefly introduce to the faithful readers of this website one of them in particular: the Leinster Classic.

Two badge images start a story

Why this one? The reason begins with two rally badges in my collection of images captured over the decades, here and there on the internet. These two, found many years ago, immediately caught my attention due to the aesthetics of their logos that I found both original and really visually pleasing to the eye. Whoever had artistically given birth to their respective logos certainly had a lot of talent.

The only indications mentioned on both badges were the years of their respective organizations, in this case in the early 1980s; the one from 1983 also indicated that it had taken place in Ireland.

Apart from this information, nothing else indicated the exact location where the rally had taken place. As for the name of the club organizing the event, it was reduced to four initials: L.C.M.C.

Suffice to say that wanting to find out more information on the subject was comparable to looking for a needle in a haystack.

They were alphabetically listed by these abbreviation that we had, on the rally badges page of this website starting with the letter L.

The passionate and inveterate collector of motorcycle badges that I am could only appreciate the beauty of these two badges; triggering in me one more quest to add to my already long list: that is to say, to learn more about this mysterious L.C.M.C rally

A program cover clarifies the mystery

In July 2024, while surfing the internet, as I like to do to relax in my spare time, quite by chance I came across a scan of a program cover announcing an Irish rally from the past that had taken place from 11 to 13 July 1980.

Good heavens! A spark immediately set the engine of my brain in motion when I read it. This logo in the left corner rang a bell. I had already seen it somewhere. There I was, immediately diving into the files of my archives in search of what I knew would match this program exactly. And there it was. Found. Finally. The mystery is now cleared up forever. These four initials L.C.M.C, that did not want to speak for several years, now sing to me at the top of their lungs: Leinster Classic Motor Cycle Club.

Since then, the badges on have been accorded their right and proper name on the L badge page.

The little we know about this club

The next step was of course to try to find out more about the club organising this rally. The little available on the internet revealed that the Leinster Classic Motor Cycle Club Ireland Limited was in fact founded on 2 December 1978 at a meeting in Rathcrogue House, Carlow.

Still in existence today, it has nearly a hundred club members from all over Ireland and even Wales, and deals mainly with classic motorcycles from the 50s and 60s, but also older machines.

The club organises several races throughout the year, as well as the annual club rally in July; every year at Easter, the club organises Ireland's largest exhibition of classic and vintage motorcycles, where members from all over Ireland display their machines.

What more can we wish for

There are necessarily among you readers rallyists who, in the past, have taken part in one or more meetings of this Leinster Classic rally. All reports, photos, information or comments concerning this rally are welcome in order to improve the content of this page about it.

This request is not only for this rally in particular but for any other gathering in Celtic lands of the Irish country.

Let it be said. Friends and brother Irish rallyists, to your keyboards to share with us your adventures and your history of motorcycle touring in Ireland!

- Jean-Francois Helias