'Big outdoor party': Thousands turn out for Cork Summer Show
Sophie O'Flynn-Mahony and Adam and JJ Murphy from Cobh at the Cork Summer Show at the Cork Showgrounds, Curraheen over the weekend. Picture: Eddie O'Hare
Plenty of sunshine and sources of fun made for a stellar weekend for families at this year’s Cork Summer Show.
Large crowds — estimated by the committee to have been in line with other years across Saturday and Sunday — gathered for what was described as “a big outdoor party”.
The sun shone for much of the weekend, with a few short-lived rainfalls that were to the benefit of the exhibitors.
President of the event organiser the Munster Agricultural Society Robert Harkin told the that the weekend was “fantastic” with Sunday proving to be the most popular day at the Showgrounds in Curraheen.
“Small bit of queuing on the road, but we’re fine, we had a one-way system coming in and traffic flowed very well,” he said.
Each year the show attracts dozens of thousands, and Mr Harkin said this year was on track to similar figures.
“The atmosphere is the biggest highlight. Everybody seems to be smiling, I’ve heard laughing and chat.”
Making his way through the crowds, Tánaiste Micheál Martin said that one “cannot overstate the importance of events” such as the Cork Summer Show, particularly in terms of the agricultural industry.
“Agriculture has been a very significant industry in the Cork area for a long time, it’s just important that it’s showcased,” he told the .
At the official opening of the show on Saturday, Mr Martin announced a collaboration between the Munster Agricultural Society and University College Cork.
The society is providing a philanthropic gift of €375,000 to the Cork University Foundation. The arrangement is providing for the development of a Farmland Biodiversity Education and Research Programme within Agricultural Science at UCC.
Mr Martin said that he finds farmers across the country generally are “very alive to this agenda, and they put a lot in, in terms of doing the homework themselves and research” around environmental solutions.
“If other sectors in society had the same application, we might be in a better position overall climate-wise,” he added.
“Every sector has to play its role, agriculture is playing a significant role. There is a pathway there to reducing emissions whilst maintaining production and it will be challenging, but there are challenges in all areas of society, not just in Ireland, but globally.”
Ringside at the Showgrounds, some cattle showing legends were to be found, and well-known Cork showman Peter O’Connell was there to accompany his granddaughter, nine-year-old Tori.
For Mr O’Connell, who runs the Raceview Simmentals herd with his wife Marion in Mallow, agricultural shows are a big day out for him and his seven grandchildren.
“We took every class we stood in to and our young showwoman Tori was blessed to be walking the animal the judge chose as Simmental champion with the youngest calf on the field, and it set her on fire.”
She also took an overall reserve champion title — Mr O’Connell said that “everything” Tori touches “turns to gold”.
While there were the newest technologies on display across the weekend, the blacksmithing workshops, traditional crafts, and vintage vehicles gave a glimpse of the 218 years of agricultural history in which the Cork Summer Show has its roots.
Mr Harkin said that what “started as a cattle and horse show back in 1806, it has developed into what it is now”, with “the rural-urban divide taken away and made into a day out for everybody”.
Addressing some commentary around the increased cost of entry to the event this year, Mr Harkin said: “When you come here and see the value, it may seem dear initially, but it’s not with the amount of entertainment. Nobody that’s in the field has complained about the price,” he added.
"It’s €60 for a family of two adults and three children under 18, so for nine hours of entertainment. If you go to a match it’s €30 or €40 and it’s over in 80 minutes. Really when you come here you see the value."
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