Keep Her Lit For Lar

17/03/2022

What a wonderful evening spent last night getting the opportunity to present in person the cheques to 4 very deserving charities from the Keep Her Lit For Lar fundraiser held back in early January.

The McGuinness family presented the 4 cheques each to the value of €33,575.78 to representatives from each of the charities

* Aoife’s Clown Doctors
* LauraLynn - Ireland’s Children’s Hospice
* Friends of St.Lukes
* Skerries Youth Support Services (SYSS)

Thanks to each of the charities who came along last night and explained how this significant amount of money will help their charity to continue to do the great work that they do.

The presentation last night brought a nice conclusion to what was the most wonderful community event held in memory of a great man Laurence McGuinness, we will continue to hold Laurence in our hearts as we go forward, always remembering that magical night on January 2nd.

As Laurence would say “Keep her Lit”!

29/01/2022

Finally we got a chance yesterday to present the 1st prize in the raffle to winner David Cronin, the Snap On Rachet Gun Set was kindly donated by Eanna O’Brien of Snap On Tools who is pictured here along with Johnny McGuinness presenting the prize to David. Congratulations David!

Just to let everyone know that the idonate page will close on the 2nd of February if anyone still wants to make a donation.

www.idonate.ie/KeepHerLitForLar

21/01/2022

Hard to believe its been almost 3 weeks since “Keep Her Lit For Lar” took place! The donations received to date have been so generous and we are delighted to be able to share the fantastic total amount raised to date with you this evening.

Currently the total amount raised is an AMAZING €131,457.31 !!

This sum in above and beyond anything we ever imagined being raised, it is all thanks to those who supported the cause so generously over the past number of weeks and for that we are so thankful to each and every one of you.

The total amount raised will be divided evenly amongst the 4 charities nominated for this fundraiser and they are; LauraLynn - Ireland’s Children’s Hospice, Aoife’s Clown Doctors, Friends of St.Lukes, and Skerries Youth Support Services (SYSS).

A presentation night will be organised in the coming weeks where representatives from each charity will be invited to come and accept the donation on behalf of their charity.
Date to be confirmed.

Well done everyone the 2nd of January is a day that everyone who took park in or contributed in any way should be proud of, without you this would never have been possible. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

20/01/2022

Lar passed away on January 12, 2021 after battling cancer

12/01/2022

Lovely message below from Lar’s wife Maeve, on his 1st anniversary today:

“On this, the 1st anniversary of Laurences’ death, I just wanted to say a huge thank you for all the help, support and kindness shown to myself and the girls in the last 12 months.

To all of those involved in the run, committee members, drivers and collectors, stewards, participants, donators of prizes and money, and to all who came out to watch, we will be forever grateful.

As I said previously, we weren’t able to give Lar the funeral he wanted, and we are unable to do it today, on the 1st anniversary but we gave him something just as good on 2nd January: a gathering with a record breaking amount of tyres, engines and over 103,000 bhp. He would have loved it.

The week before Christmas Aideen asked for the 1st time “Where’s Daddy?”. While she’ll never remember him, or the gentle, generous, kind giant that he was, I have amazing photos and footage of the run, which I can show to her and tell her that this was your Daddy, the kind of man that brought so many people together to help create an amazing event, and that is down to all of you.
So thank you all from Maeve, Caoimhe, Doireann and Aideen “

12/01/2022

Remembering Laurence today on his 1st anniversary.
Lar will be forever in our thoughts and prayers.
Thinking of Lar’s wife Meave, daughters Caoimhe, Doireann and Aideen and all Lar’s family and friends today and always. ❤️

To keep the wonderful memory of “Keep Her Lit For Lar” in our hearts, Grace Hoey kindly gathered many of the great clips that were sent into the page over the last few days and compiled them to make this wonderful video of a terrific event which we will cherish in our memories forever. 🚜🎄💕



https://youtu.be/aZCCWcl2DxI

Parade of Lights in memory of Laurance McGunniess in aid of Aoife's Clown Doctors, Friends of St Lukes, LauraLynn and Skerries Youth Support Services. 02/01/...

11/01/2022

Check out this week’s Fingal Independent to read all about “Keep Her Lit For Lar”.
Thanks to Jack Corry for the great write up.

09/01/2022

St. Francis Hospice was a great support to Laurence McGuinness during his sickness and in his final days.
With the success of the “Keep Her Lit For Lar” fundraiser, it is with a great sense of fulfilment that we are in the position to make a donation to St. Francis Hospice at the Barney Greene Annual Road Run today.
Pictured is The McGuinness Family making the donation of €5000 to Barney Greene which will be added to the total of the fundraiser today for St. Francis Hospice.

08/01/2022

07/01/2022

We have received some video footage from the parade on Sunday and would love to make a short video of it all.

If you have any videos or pictures of Keep Her Lit For Lar we would love if you could send them to us in messenger.

07/01/2022

Thanks to the Dublin Gazette for putting a write up about “Keep Her Lit For Lar” into this week’s issue.

Pictured below in John Joe Skelly who worked hard over the last number of weeks to go out and collect €1082.50 for Keep Her Lit For Lar. An amazing amount for one person to collect.

‘Keep Her Lit for Lar’ saw an incredible 460 drivers join in a fundraising parade on Sunday last (Jan 2), dedicated to the late Lar McGuinness

05/01/2022

Thanks to everyone who purchased raffle tickets on Sunday, apologies to those who did not get the opportunity to buy tickets, the line up of vehicles was just so much longer than we ever anticipated!

For those with tickets the live raffle will take place at approximately 3:30pm via Facebook Live this Saturday the 8th of January.

Best of luck to all!

04/01/2022

The tribute drive was organised in honour of popular local farmer Laurence "Lar" McGuinness, who passed away on January 12 2021 after battling cancer

04/01/2022

Thanks to everyone who has sent in so many amazing photos and videos of “Keep Her Lit For Lar”since Sunday.
To give you a great glimpse of the parade Liz White took these super photos that can be viewed at link below.
The effort that went into decorating vehicles is absolutely unreal!

Photos from the day, taken by Liz White.

03/01/2022

Well where do we start!
How incredible was the turnout last night!
We cannot believe the amazing response we got for last nights parade.
Our expectations were doubled and more!

The atmosphere was electric, everyone was in such great spirits , drivers began to gather from 2pm all with the most amazingly decorated and shined vehicles, vehicles that took hours and hours of hard work and effort to get them to the high standard that they turned out in yesterday evening.
Horns beeped, boom boxes played all the hits and people waved and reconnected with people who they have not seen in many months.

While vehicles arrived from all ends of the country, the wonderful group of volunteers got into their positions and worked so well to marshal, register and direct so many vehicles.
As this was happening teams of marvelous volunteers gathered collection buckets and took off ahead of the parade to all local towns on the parade route.

At 5pm sharp after a patient wait, engines roared with excitement and the sky was lit up with the millions of Christmas lights that dawned vehicles. Slowly the hour long parade of vehicles took to the roads as the anticipation grew in local towns with the excitement of witnessing such a Spectacle.

Every town had their marshalls ready as crowds lined the streets and cheered on drivers as they passed, giving so generously to the collection buckets that made their way amongst everyone. Reports at base were that the first vehicles were nearly at Skerries when the last vehicles were departing, we could not believe it!

Yesterday demonstrated the impact that Lar had on so many, even on the parade route people made the effort to spell Lar out in lights on their gates.
As each vehicle passed by Whitestown Cemetery they saluted the tractor that stayed parked there representing where Lar was laid to rest less than a year ago showing utmost repect.
It was emotional for all drivers and they held Lar in their hearts as they continued on the parade.
There was a sense in the air that Lar was watching over and minding us all yesterday evening while we travelled through the roads he would have travelled so often.

With over 460 vehicles arriving back at base that could even be seen from planes flying over into Dublin Airport , messages were flooding in from all directions that those on the parade had the best time and those that watched on were in awe of the terrific turnout. The community spirit was well and truely alive and the sense of support was incredible.

We are blown away by the incredible reponse for “Keep Her Lit For Lar”. We are yet to reach a final figure and the idonate page which climbed significantly yesterday for the charities will remain open for the next few days. There are so many people to thank and acknowledge which we will do in due course but for now we think we give this moment to Lar.
Remembering him dearly an amazing husband, father, brother, uncle and friend to many that was taken far too soon but in his memory has created an amazing spirit amongst all those touched by yesterday’s event. Many people who attended yesterday said due to Covid they were unable to attend Lar’s funeral so this was their way of giving him the send off he deserved.

As Lar’s 1st anniversary approaches on January 12th we remember Lar’s amazing family and send them all the love they need to get through the next few weeks which will not be easy.
Hopefully “Keep Her Lit For Lar” has brought some comfort.

Remembering Lar today and always ❤️

02/01/2022

And they are away …..

02/01/2022

There are miles and miles of tractors, trucks, bikes you name it ready to leave, please enjoy the run, wrap up warm it will be a long one.

To all our drivers best of luck , safe trip !

02/01/2022

In a few hours time we will be taking to the roads for the hugely anticipated “Keep Her Lit For Lar”, months of planning and preparation have gone into this event and finally today is D-Day!

We are really looking forward to seeing you all and your wonderfully decorated vehicles we know huge efforts have been made by all who are taking part.

We urge spectators to watch the parade from their local towns as there will not be space for spectators at the Man O War GAA club.
Please obey the marshalls in each town as they will be doing their best to keep everything running smoothly.

Please note times to each town below could vary by a few minutes:

17:10 Lusk
17:25 Rush
17:50 Skerries
18:10 Balbriggan
18:20 Balrothery

Before we take to the roads we would ask you if you are taking part to please take 5 minutes to read the following guidelines and to please co-operate and comply with guidelines issued:

* Registration will open at 3pm tomorrow afternoon Sunday 2nd January, please ensure that you have parked and registered before 4:45pm.

* The road will be closed at 4:45pm, no entries will be accepted after this time - the parade will leave at 5pm sharp.

* Stewarts will guide you to where you must park your vehicle, please follow the stewarts directions.

* Please have your registration fee of €20 and driving licence ready and insurance displayed in your vehicle.

* Passengers only where there is a passenger seat available.

* For those parked at the Man O War Clubhouse registration will take place at the Clubhouse.

* For those parked on the Country Crest road way we ask you to remain in your vehicle and a member of the registration team will come to you.

* Please wear your mask while registering

* Due to Covid restrictions we ask people to remain in their vehicle and avoid congregating with others

* There will be Portaloos available for use.

* Due to Covid we are not in the position to provide refreshments, so please feel free to bring your refreshments with you!

* We will have goodie bags for those that register as long as stocks last, strictly one per vehicle

* The parade will be fully marshalled by An Garda and volunteers, please obey these stewarts while on the run and ensure to comply with the rules of the road, failure to comply will result in you being asked to leave.

* There will be raffle tickets available to purchase by those taking part, the raffle team will be passing through all parked vehicles if you wish to purchase tickets

* The parade will finish back at the start line, there will be no gathering afterwards, raffle and prize giving will take place via Facebook Live next week.

Please share the above post with those who may not be on facebook.

We wish everyone a very safe trip and thank you in advance for your support and co-operation.

02/01/2022

Finally it’s the day we have all been waiting for January 2nd - the day that “Keep Her Lit For Lar” will take place.
In advance we want to thank each and everyone of you that have contributed in any way.

To the Vehicle Drivers - we know already that you have all put in the most amazing effort and we cannot wait for “Keep Her Lit For Lar” to light up Fingal.
Please remember that registration starts at 3pm and will be closed at 4:45pm so be at the Man O War GAA club in plenty of time.
Parade must leave at 5pm sharp.

To all spectators- we have provided you with the route which will visit Lusk, Rush, Loughshinny, Skerries, Balbriggan and Balrothery so please do come out and show our drivers some support as they pass through and admire their hard work and effort.
There will be collectors on the streets as the parade passes for those who would like to donate.

This will be a spectacular community event to be part of in any way whether taking part or watching on.

Lets do this in memory of Lar, who would have loved to be involved today.
We will all be thinking of him especially as we pass Whitestown Cemetery, Rush tonight where a tractor will stay parked to represent Lar’s place of rest.
We will hold Lar in our hearts dearly as we light up Fingal this evening in his memory - as Lar would say

“KEEP HER LIT”!

01/01/2022

‘Twas the night before the tractor run, and all through the village
Not a speck on a vehicle, not even from silage.
Fairy lights were hung in the cab with care,
In the hopes that your yoke looks the best one there.

The tractors were nestled all snug in their sheds,
While visions of the run danced in their heads
The lads in the pub, and I on the dry,
Had just settled down and hoped the night would fly.

When out on the road arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the couch to see what was the matter,
Away to the window I flew with a dash,
And wasn’t it a heap of tractors... sure they gave me the flash

The moon on the cab of the New Holland below,
Made me giddy inside and I was rearing to go!
Then what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a Massey, a Renault and two shiny John Deere!

With salutes from the drivers, the flash and the beep,
I knew in that moment, with excitement I wouldn’t sleep.
More rapid than eagles the next morning came.
The lads lined up and were called on by name:

“Now Renaults! Now Zetors!
Now Claas and John Deere!
On Massey! On Case!
And Fendt pulling up the rear!
Off on your way!
You’ll all have a ball!
Now Dash Away! Dash Away!
Dash Away All!”

🚜🎅🏼🚜🎄🚜✨🚜⛄️🚜

01/01/2022

Fair play to Paul Fynes Jr who kindly presented two separate donations on behalf of Pat,Anthony and Keith Moore of Moore Produce and his dad Paul Fynes of Paul Fynes Commercials both for €1000 each to Ado McGuinness.

Thanks to both for their very generous donations, your kindness is very much appreciated.

01/01/2022

In 24 hours we will be taking to the roads for the hugely anticipated “Keep Her Lit For Lar”, months of planning and preparation have gone into this event and finally tomorrow is D-Day!

We are really looking forward to seeing you all and your wonderfully decorated vehicles we know huge efforts have been made by all who are taking part.

Before we take to the roads we would ask you if you are taking part to please take 5 minutes to read the following guidelines and to please co-operate and comply with guidelines issued:

* Registration will open at 3pm tomorrow afternoon Sunday 2nd January, please ensure that you have parked and registered before 4:45pm.

* The road will be closed at 4:45pm, no entries will be accepted after this time - the parade will leave at 5pm sharp.

* Stewarts will guide you to where you must park your vehicle, please follow the stewarts directions.

* Please have your registration fee of €20 and driving licence ready and insurance displayed in your vehicle.

* Passengers only where there is a passenger seat available.

* For those parked at the Man O War Clubhouse registration will take place at the Clubhouse.

* For those parked on the Country Crest road way we ask you to remain in your vehicle and a member of the registration team will come to you.

* Please wear your mask while registering

* Due to Covid restrictions we ask people to remain in their vehicle and avoid congregating with others

* There will be Portaloos available for use.

* Due to Covid we are not in the position to provide refreshments, so please feel free to bring your refreshments with you!

* We will have goodie bags for those that register as long as stocks last, strictly one per vehicle

* The parade will be fully marshalled by An Garda and volunteers, please obey these stewarts while on the run and ensure to comply with the rules of the road, failure to comply will result in you being asked to leave.

* There will be raffle tickets available to purchase by those taking part, the raffle team will be passing through all parked vehicles if you wish to purchase tickets

* The parade will finish back at the start line, there will be no gathering afterwards, raffle and prize giving will take place via Facebook Live next week.

Please share the above post with those who may not be on facebook.

We wish everyone a very safe trip and thank you in advance for your support and co-operation.

01/01/2022

Huge thank you to ORHT who have kindly donated €1000 to “Keep Her Lit For Lar”.
Colin Hartford, Eoin Wilde and Cathal Cronin made the very generous donation to Johnny, Nuala and Ailbhe.

Wishing all at ORHT a very Happy New Year.

01/01/2022

We would like to express our gratitude to Matt and Geraldine Thorne who have kindly presented a cheque for €1000 to Johnny and Nuala.

Thank you so much, we would like to wish you a very Happy New Year.

01/01/2022

Thank you to Ciaran Delahan of Delahan Steel Fabrications who kindly made a very generous donation of €250 to “Keep Her Lit For Lar” yesterday. Errol McGuinness was on hand to accept the donation from Ciaran for the fundraiser.
Thanks Ciaran and wishing you a Happy New Year.

01/01/2022

“Keep Her Lit For Lar” will be honored today to have a race in it’s name at the Fairyhouse New Years Day races.
The Handicap Hurdle race will be held in Laurence’s memory and it will take place at 12:55pm.
There will a special feature to watch out for those attending or watching on TV, some lit up vehicles which will be taking part in tomorrow’s run will be on display beside the parade ring and there will be some representatives there to promote “Keep Her Lit For Lar” which takes place tomorrow.
Thanks to all at Fairyhouse for this opportunity.

31/12/2021

As this year draws to a close we would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported “Keep Her Lit For Lar” over the past number of weeks and who will show their support in the coming days when “Keep Her Lit For Lar” takes to the roads this Sunday the 2nd of January.

The generosity of everyone has been overwhelming and phenomenal, we have received donations, offers of help and support, auction items, raffle prizes to name but a few. We can’t thank you all enough, without your generous contributions this event would not be possible.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy New Year and hopefully we will get 2022 off to a great start on Sunday evening when we all gather for “Keep Her Lit For Lar”.

Keep an eye on the page we will post further updates in relation to the event over the next day or so.

31/12/2021

Big thank you to Weldon Motors who have kindly donated €500 to the “Keep Her Lit For Lar” fundraiser.
Pictured is Derek Weldon making the very generous donation to Caoimhe and Doireann McGuinness.

Wishing all at Weldon Motors a very Happy New Year.

30/12/2021

Very grateful to everyone in St.Maur’s GAA club who have overwhelmed us with a very generous donation of €1000 for the “Keep Her Lit For Lar” fundraiser.
Derek Farren kindly made the donation to Meave and Aideen on behalf of the club.

Wishing all St.Maurs club members a very Happy New Year and continued success.

30/12/2021

We would like to express our thanks to Peter Smullen of Orby Landscaping pictured here making a very generous donation of €500 to Caoimhe and Aideen McGuinness for the “Keep Her Lit For Lar” fundraiser.

Wishing all at Orby Landscaping a Happy New Year.

29/12/2021

Big thanks to White’s Agri who have very generously made a donation of €2000 to the “Keep Her Lit For Lar” fundraiser. Amy Bergin of White’s Agri kindly presented the donation to Nuala, Ailbhe and Alice Hartford.

Wishing all at White’s Agri a very Happy New Year.

28/12/2021

“Keep Her Lit For Lar” will be travelling around North County Dublin this Sunday the 2nd of January. The parade will visit local towns at the times listed below.
It will be a spectacle not to be missed - the attached video was captured at “Fionn’s Parade of Lights” which took the same route 2 years ago. It was simply breathtaking.

There will be collectors on the main streets in each town who will be collecting for the fundraiser- they will be wearing specific charity collector vests.
Please come out on the night to show your support.

We urge spectators to watch the parade from their local towns as there will not be space for spectators at the Man O War GAA club.
Please obey the marshalls in each town as they will be doing their best to keep everything running smoothly.

Please note times below could vary by a few minutes:

17:10 Lusk
17:25 Rush
17:50 Skerries
18:10 Balbriggan
18:20 Balrothery

Thanks once again for your support!

26/12/2021

'Keep Her Lit for Lar', a vehicle parade of lights organised in memory of Laurence McGuinness, will take place on Sunday, January 2.

24/12/2021

Remembering Laurence this Christmas Eve and thinking of his family who will miss him so much on his first Christmas away from home.
Our thoughts are with you all this Christmas.❤️

On behalf of everyone who will support “Keep her Lit for Lar” this festive season we would like to wish you the very best for Christmas and always. 🎄

23/12/2021

We would like to express our thanks to all at Paud Flynn & Sons, who have kindly donated €1000 to the “Keep her Lit for Lar” Fundraiser.
Paul Flynn a great friend of Lar and who is currently busy working on the organising committee is pictured below presenting Johnny McGuinness with the donation.

We would like to wish all at Paud Flynn & Sons a very Happy Christmas.

22/12/2021

We would like to say a big thank you to the pupils and staff of St.Brendan’s National School Loughshinny who made a huge effort to raise funds for the “Keep her Lit for Lar” fundraiser.
They organised a Christmas jumper day and raised a total of €621.25 which is amazing.
Ali Brennan and Laurence’s daughters Caoimhe and Doireann who are all pupils in the school are pictured here presenting Meave with their donation.

Wishing all in St.Brendans N.S a very joyful Christmas.

22/12/2021

Good Morning Everyone
Thanks to all who have placed bids on various items in the auction over the last few days.
This is a reminder that the auction we have running on the page will close tomorrow the 23rd of December at 6pm.
If you would still like to place a bid, please visit the “Keep her Lit for Lar” page and the auction post is pinned to the top of that page.
Please note that bids will only be accepted in the comments under that post.
If you placed a bid on a shared post it will not be accepted as we cannot view shared comments.

Thank you and best of luck to everyone who has places a bid.

21/12/2021

Big thank you to Cormac from CSC Engineering Ltd who has kindly made a donation of €200 to “Keep her Lit for Lar” , thanks to all in CSC Engineering for your kindness, we wish you a very Happy Christmas.