Ireland's top two have won five world ploughing contests and been runner-up seven times
Ireland’s world-beating ploughmen Eamonn Tracey from Carlow and John Whelan from Wexford will between them bid for their 13th top-two-in-the-world performances, after winning their national test matches at Carlow last week.
Tracey has been the world champ in conventional ploughing three times and the runner-up four times.
Whelan has won the reversible world ploughing contest twice and been the runnner-up three times.
Both were runners-up in the World Ploughing contest this year in Minnesota, and will bid to go one better when they again represent Ireland at the World Ploughing contest in Suzdal, Russia, 220km north-east of Moscow, next year.
Their wins by only three points in each case last week in Carlow demonstrated their versatility, as they coped well with unprecedented Irish weather conditions for September, in a week with only 2% of normal rainfall, leaving the Carlow area with the highest soil moisture deficits in the country.
Eamonn Tracey won the Senior Conventional Test Match with 443 competition points, just ahead of Martin Kehoe, Wexford, with 440.
In the third and fourth places, Matthew Simms and Gary Simms from Donegal made their own bit of ploughing history, as part of a team of six brothers taking part in last week’s ploughing competitions.
They were definitely the winning family, with Alan Simms the runner-up in the vintage two-furrow mounted ploughing, and Ivan Simms placed third in the novice two-furrow conventional senior ploughing.
Meanwhile, John Whelan, Wexford, with a score of 497, had only three points to spare over Dan Donnelly, Wexford, in the Kverneland reversible test match.
Gary Ireland from Kilkenny showed he is world-class also, with an impressive 498 points performance in the five-nations reversible competition, a big step-up from his 2018 intermediate reversible win.
Meanwhile, a record-breaking attendance of 297,000 enjoyed the 88th Ploughing Championships.
Ploughing results
1, Denis Dunne, Kildare, 221 points.
2, Michael J Donegan, Kerry, 173.
3, Seamus McConnon, Monaghan, 158.
4, Darragh Egan, Offaly 41 141.
1, Sean Kehoe, Wexford 53 237.
2, Steve Tracey, Carlow 228.
3, James O’Sullivan, Cork West, 226.
4, Conor McKeown, Louth, 217.
1, Shane Duffy, Mayo, 180.
2, James Ginty, Kildare, 129.
3, James Donnellan, Clare, 112.
4, Brendan Ryan, Dublin, 111.
1, Brian Dunne, Kildare, 185.
2, Billy Donnelly, Wexford, 184.
3, James Prendergast, Waterford, 180.
4, DJ McHugh, Laois, 177.
1, Ned Conway, Kilkenny, 154.
2, James Murphy, Tipperary South, 139,
3, Pat O’Riordan, Limerick, 134.
4, Ciaran Milne, Tipperary North, 128.
1, Stephen Whelan, Wexford, 213.
2 (tie), Eric Wickham, Wexford, and Dermot Ryan, Offaly, 193.
4, Daniel O’Dwyer, Kilkenny, 159.
1, Jimmy Ryan, Laois, 240.
2, Michael Wycherley, Cork West, 233.
3, Michael O’Halloran, Kerry, 231.
4, John Cahalan, Tipperary North, 225.
1, Jeremiah Delaney, Cork East, 88.
2, Billy Molloy, Wicklow, 85.
3, Eamon McDonagh, Mayo, 82.
4, Stephen Payne, Wicklow.
1, Tom Larkin, Wexford, 172.
2, Conor Gibbons, Offaly, 167.
3, Conor Ryan, Kilkenny, 130.
1, John Woulfe, Cork West, 94.
2, David Grattan, Down, 90.
3, Aeneas Horan, Kerry, 87.
4, Jim Cullen, Wexford, 85.
1, Siobhán Dermody, Kilkenny, 213.
2, Laura Grant, Offaly, 205.
3, Ellen Nyhan, Cork West, 196.
4, Joanne Deery, Monaghan, 181.
1, William Kehoe, Wexford, 207.
2, David Murphy, Cork (Avondhu), 207.
3, David Walsh, Cork (Carbery), 184.
4, Gerard Mahon, Offaly, 170.
1, Gerry Reilly, Galway, 193.
2, JJ Delaney, Cork East, 178.
3, Noel Hand, Monaghan, 172.
4 (tie), Kevin Doran, Wicklow, and Moss Trant, Kerry, 167.
1, James Barron, Wexford, 204.
2, Alan Simms, Donegal, 180.
3, Oliver Smyth, Meath, 176.
4, Paddy Doyle, Wicklow, 175.
1, Republic of Ireland (Kieran Coakley), 442.
2, England (Donald Tonkin), 429.
3, Wales (James George), 422.
4, Scotland (Hugh Currie), 378.
1, Republic of Ireland (Gary Ireland), 498.
2, Northern Ireland (Adrian Jamison), 448.
3, Scotland (Brian Baxter), 409.
4, England (Alan Critchlow), 375.
1, Trevor Fleming, Cork East, 181.
2, Bruno McCormack, Meath, 172.
3 (tie), Eoin Buttle, Dublin, and Willie Hayden, Wexford, 157.
1, Niall O’Driscoll, Cork West, 216.
2, Orla Hayes, Cork East, 201.
3, Ivan Simms, Donegal, 189.
4, Eoin Burke, Wexford, 188.
1, Maria Dunne, Kildare, 182.
2, Darren Cuddihy, Kilkenny, 177.
3 (tie), Ciaran McConnon, Monaghan, and Lorna Byrne, Laois, 142.
1, Daniel Burke, Kerry, 173.
2, Eoghan McCabe, Cavan, 150.
3, Ben Flynn, Dublin, 147.
4, James Hannan, Clare, 126.
1, Joseph Kehoe, Wexford, 132.
2, Gavan Duffy, Meath, 119.
3, Richard Duffy, Dublin, 100.
1, Eamonn Tracey, Carlow, 443.
2, Martin Kehoe, Wexford, 440.
3, Matthew Simms, Donegal, 431.
4, Gary Simms, Donegal, 427.
5, Sean Keating, Wexford, 412.
6, Frank Cullen, Wexford, 411.
1, John Whelan, Wexford, 497.
2, Dan Donnelly, Wexford, 494.
3, Jer Coakley, Cork West, 485.
4, Liam O’Driscoll, Cork West, 473.
