Visitors from Kildare and beyond praise return of Punchestown festival

Attendees at the first day of Punchestown Festival 2022 were absolutely delighted to get back out and watch the long-awaited horse racing championship.

Liz Persse, who was  Master of Kildare Foxhounds from 2008 to 2017, and Liz Power also praised the return of the event, with both being longtime Punchestown fans.

“The atmosphere here has been fantastic, and the weather is great too,” Liz Perrsse said.

“I don’t know how the sponsors and organisers do it, it’s absolutely super,” Liz Power added.

Other attendees included Celine O’Keefe from Leixlip who said the last two years deu to Covid are the first Punchestown festival she has missed in over 30 years. She wasn’t missing this one no matter what.

“It’s absolutely brilliant to be back. I wanted to be back so much and even though I had surgery 10 days ago on my back, here I am. Only thing that is bothering me is that I can't come again tomorrow,” Celine said.

Another man having a great day on the festival return was Lorcan Kelly from Hollywood and he said said: “It’s wonderful to have Punchestown back, I have been coming here for the last 60 years. Missing them for two years broke my streak but we’re back now and it’s great to be here. Punchestown is our track, it's a great place for racing.

“I backed Gordon elliot’s two winners so I can't complain about today anyways.”