iTunes Top 100 singer a show-stopper at Clonakilty show.

Show organisers have eye and ear for the right musical talent to match the region’s prize farm animals, writes Denis Lehane

iTunes Top 100 singer a show-stopper at Clonakilty show.

Show organisers have eye and ear for the right musical talent to match the region’s prize farm animals, writes Denis Lehane

I once went out with a girl who lived near Clonakilty.

And one of the great things about going out with a girl who lives near Clonakilty is that you get to visit Clonakilty as often as you like.

Alas, ‘love’s young dream’ eventually died when she discovered I wasn’t half the man I claimed to be.

But my love affair with Clonakilty has continued ever since. I can’t help myself, I just adore the town.

So being asked to go along to Clonakilty to cover the agricultural show is a bit like inviting a well pickled companion to join you in a glass of the strong stuff.

I found myself licking my lips in anticipation.

It was a hot day in Clonakilty on Sunday. If you cracked an egg onto my oversized forehead, I’d swear it would have fried.

It was so hot in the show grounds that the strongmen were perspiring before they lifted a weight of any description.

It was a day for ice-cream and sun cream; alas, I didn’t have the time to indulge in either.

“You always get sunburned here at the Clonakilty Show,” beef exhibitor Eva O’Leary reassured me, as my neck burned like the fires of hell.

Eva is no stranger to exhibiting stock at the show. The O’Learys, from Westcourt Heights, Ballincollig have been showing Simmentals at Clonakilty for 20 years.

“We won our very first red rosette here in Clonakilty 18 years ago with Seaview Kelly. We were only talking about it the other day,” Eva recalled.

On Sunday, her pedigree cow Seaview Bliss took the Champion Simmental award.

“I must have started going to agricultural shows when I was about eight,” said Eva. “We go to 14 or 15 shows a year, from Clonakilty right up to Stokestown in Roscommon.”

Clonakilty though, is special for Eva. “There’s always a great atmosphere here.

“You meet so many familiar faces. It really is a warm and very hospitable venue. We also get a lot of enquires about our stock. Summer wouldn’t be summer without taking cattle to shows like the one here in Clonakilty. It’s just something we continue to do and enjoy as a family.”

Ava O’Leary, Ballincollig, owner, and James O’Leary, with champion Simmental Seaview Bliss and her calf at Clonakilty Agricultural Show. Picture: Denis Minihane
Ava O’Leary, Ballincollig, owner, and James O’Leary, with champion Simmental Seaview Bliss and her calf at Clonakilty Agricultural Show. Picture: Denis Minihane

Country singing star Paul Kelly returned to the show grounds on Sunday, having made a great impression there last year.

A lot has changed in the fortunes of the Donegal-based singer in the intervening 12 months. He’s on the crest of a wave, with his iTunes top seller ‘Cut The Grass’ (the silage anthem of 2018) burning up YouTube. It’s in the iTunes Top 100 for Ireland this week, so the sun has certainly come out for the rising country star.

Paul Kelly and his band. Picture: Denis Minihane
Paul Kelly and his band. Picture: Denis Minihane

Paul is also a farmer, with sucklers and sheep (or ‘white vermin’ as he affectionately refers to the woolly creatures), and he’s no stranger to silage harvesting either, having worked with a silage contractor in Donegal for many years.

“It’s a song really about my experiences working with a silage contractor.

“‘Cut the Grass’ took me two years to write, and we had to hold back on the release date, due to the silage this year starting three weeks later than normal.

“We released it on May 24.”

Timing is everything, in farming and music.

“We are stunned with its success. I’m getting calls from all over the country from shows like the one here in Clonakilty hoping we can perform, but we simply cannot do them. The demand is huge.” When did the Clonakilty Show book his act for 2018, I asked. “They booked us last year before we left the show grounds,” said Paul.

Clonakilty Show is 117 years old, and the organisers clearly keep an ear to the ground, a tuneful ear that knows talent straight away.

Meanwhile, the livestock and bloodstock are as good as ever, and the following exhibitors were among the show championship winners.

CATTLE

Friesians

John O’Mahony, show president, presenting the cup for the overall Holstein Friesian champion at Clonakilty Show to Robert and Sylvia Helen, Lyre, Clonakilty, for Eedy Alexander Acclaim. Picture: Denis Minihane
John O’Mahony, show president, presenting the cup for the overall Holstein Friesian champion at Clonakilty Show to Robert and Sylvia Helen, Lyre, Clonakilty, for Eedy Alexander Acclaim. Picture: Denis Minihane

Junior Champion: Pat Smith, Doneraile. Reserve: Pat Smith.

West Cork Bred Friesian In Milk: Robert & Sylvia Helen, Clonakilty. Reserve: Shanaway Farm, Ballineen.

Dubliner Cheese €1,500 All-Ireland Pedigree Friesian Heifer In Milk: 1. Mary Leahy, Listowel, Co Kerry (Cappauilla Cecelia 12). 2. Claire Kirby, Ballinascarthy (Mounteen Dempsey Zoe). 3. Robert & Sylvia Helen, Clonakilty (Eedy Altitude Rosalin). 4. Mary Leahy (Lissispin Sandra).

Production Class: Bryan O’Connor, Kanturk. Grassvale Shottle Jane Ex 93. Reserve: Richard Helen, Clonakilty.

Highest EBI Animal of the Show: Stephen Shannon.

Group of Three Females Irish Bred: Bryan O’Connor.

Champion Friesian of the Show: Robert & Sylvia Helen (Eedy Alexander Acclaim). Reserve: Bryan O’Connor (Grassvale Shottle Jane Ex 93).

Jersey: Stephen Shannon, Clonakilty. Reserve: Richard Helen, Clonakilty.

Beef

Shorthorn: JJ Barrett, Ballineen. Reserve: Harold Kingston, Drimoleague.

Pedigree Inter Beef Calf Class: John Ward, Bantry.

Best Group of 3: Stanley Family, Bandon.

Angus: Albert De Cogan, Castlemartyr.

Belgian Blue: John Cahalane, Castlehaven. Reserve: Stanley Family.

Charolais: John Ward. Reserve: John Ward.

Hereford : Shane O’Driscoll, Bandon. Reserve: Michael O’Keeffe, Newmarket.

Limousin: Keith & Luke Vickery, Rosscarbery. Reserve: Keith & Luke Vickery.

Simmental: Tony O’Leary, Ballincollig. Reserve: Keith & Luke Vickery.

Commercial: John Cullinane, Ballineen. Reserve: David Hegarty.

Pedigree Beef Calf: Stanley Family. Reserve: Keith & Luke Vickery.

Pedigree Female Beef Animal: Keith & Luke Vickery. Reserve: Michael Dullea.

Pedigree Male Beef Animal: Albert De Cogan. Reserve: John Cahalane.

HORSES

Brood Mare: John Roche, Foulksmills, Co Wexford. Reserve: PJ Lehane, Clonakilty.

Foal: PJ Lehane, Reserve: Sam Burchill, Skibbereen.

Castlefreke €2,000 Breeders Championship: PJ Lehane. Reserve: Leo Cahalane, Castletownsend, Skibbereen.

Combination of best turned out mare and foal and suitably dressed handler: Leo Cahalane.

3-Year-Old: Kieran O’Gorman, Clonakilty. Reserve: John Williams, Cashel, Co. Tipperary.

2-Year-Old: John Tyner, Kinsale. Reserve: Trevor Horgan, Piltown, Co Kilkenny.

Yearling: John Tyner. Reserve: Billy Twomey, Leap.

Young Horse of the Show: John Tyner (That’s Class Joe). Reserve: Kieran O’Gorman (Brookfield Bash).

Young Show Person: Brian O’Neill.

Hunter: James Lynch c/o Val Hyde, Ballymacoda. Reserve: Rosarie Collins, Rosscarbery.

Led Championship Champion: Martin O’Sullivan. Reserve: William & Aidan Williamson, Glandore.

Mini Supreme Pony: Margaret Greene, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary. Reserve: Jenny O’Driscoll, Castletownshend.

Ridden Pony: Margaret Greene. Reserve: Tim Hurley.

Supreme Pony: Martin O’Sullivan, Leap. Reserve: Margaret Greene.

Working Hunter Pony: Tim Hurley. Reserve: Grace Santry, Clonakilty.

Driving Championship: Denis Cullinane. Reseve: Dermot Mahony.

Donkey: William Ryan, Ballydehob. Reserve: William O’Sullivan, Skibbereen.

SHEEP

Charollais: Alan Jennings, Leap. Reserve: Alan Jennings.

Scotch: Lucy Harrington, Bantry. Reserve: Danny McCarthy.

Suffolk: Alan Jennings. Reserve: Alan Jennings.

Zwartbles: Timothy Kelleher, Kilmicheal. Reserve: Timothy Kelleher.

Texel: Timothy Kelleher, Kilmicheal. Reserve: Timothy Kelleher.

Texel: Lucy Harrington. Reserve: Alan Jennings.

Champion of the Show: Lucy Harrington. Reserve: : Alan Jennings.

DOGS

Best in show: Phillipa Mackler (Saoirse).

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