Irish Photo Rally is an annual motorcycling event that takes place all over Ireland. Participants take photographs of their motorcycle(s) at a number of predetermined landmarks/objects. The purpose of the event is to encourage people to get out on their motorcycle and visit parts of the country that they may not otherwise see.
There's no need to register in advance. To take part, all you have to do is visit the points and take photos of your bike at each location. If you wish to include a pillion, they must be visible in the photos. When you've taken all your photos, submit them to the website. You must visit at least 12 points to submit an entry. The list of points can be found on the map page.
The entry fees, paid when submitting an entry, are:
Rider: €15
Pillion: €15
Paper album (optional): €10
Participants get a badge for visiting a set number of points. A bronze badge is awarded for visiting at least 12 points, a silver badge for visiting at least 18 and a gold badge is awarded for visiting all 24 points.
There is no cut-off date for starting, as long as you have completed your points and submitted your entry before the deadline. Irish Photo Rally generally runs from the start of February to the start of November each year. This year, it started on Feb 10, 2024 and ends on Nov 6, 2024. This means the list of points for 2024 was released on Feb 10, 2024 and you can take part and submit your entry any time from then until the deadline (Nov 6, 2024).
This year's deadline is: Nov 6, 2024.
No. Your whole entry must be submitted in one complete submission. Irish Photo Rally started with paper albums being entered by post. Although we have digitised the process, we want to stay as close to the original format as possible.
Yes. You can use as many bikes as you wish. However, to be eligible for the "Smallest Bike Award", "Oldest Bike Award" etc, the bike must have visited at least 12 points.
There are no "prizes". We give awards, which have no monetary value, to participants for anything that the judges deem worthy of praise, admiration or ridicule!
A GPX file containing all the points for the current year can be downloaded from the map page. The method for downloading it varies slightly, depending on what browser you are using, but a general instruction is to right-click on the link and select "Save As" or "Save Link As", or something similar in the menu that appears.
The location and description of each point is checked carefully before the list is published. While we are not infallible, the list is usually correct. If you think the GPS coordinates are incorrect, please make sure you are using the correct format (Degrees Minutes Seconds/Degrees Minutes/Decimal Degrees). Some sat navs don't show all roads/tracks and therefore may lead you astray. This is a fault with the maps on the device, not a mistake in our coordinates.
The address/townland names we use are as per Ordinance Survey Ireland maps - other maps may vary slightly.
The description of a point is sometimes a little vague, and sometimes even slightly misleading. This is to add an element of mystery and surprise when the participant arrives at the location.
If you are confident that you have found a mistake in the list of points, please let us know via the contact page.
The organisers of Irish Photo Rally cannot anticipate what the conditions will be at a particular point for the whole duration of the event. Depending on weather, roadworks and other factors, it may not be possible to reach a particular point. Sometimes the point might be down a muddy track or up a steep hill which you feel that you, or your motorcycle, are not capable of navigating. Remember that the purpose of Irish Photo Rally is to get you out on your bike, having fun, in places you may not otherwise go to. If you can't reach a point for any reason, just do your best. Take a photograph of your bike at the roadworks sign, snowdrift, muddy track or whatever obstacle is preventing you from reaching the point. The judges are usually very forgiving when someone has made a genuine attempt to get as close as they could.
The Google API, one which the printable map runs, does not allow double digits on the pins of the printable map. It doesn't make sense to only label pins 1 to 9 and therefore we do not have any numbers on the printable map. We recommend printing the map and writing the numbers on the pins by hand.
Before submitting a paper album, you must submit an online entry. If you wish to submit a paper album too, you must indicate this by ticking the box on your online entry and pay the additional fee (€10). If you have selected the option to include a paper album, the entry confirmation page will display the address to which your album should be posted. The address will also be in the confirmation email sent to you after your entry has been submitted online.