John Sexton, tribute to a true ambassador of ploughing
John Sexton, who has passed away this year, was always a popular figure at the National Ploughing Championships. Picture: Denis Minihane
A celebrated ambassador for the National Ploughing Championships and rural life passed away on January 13 this year.
A dairy and tillage farmer, John Sexton from Courtmacsherry in west Cork, attended his first ploughing championships as a young spectator in 1950.
Eleven years later, he began reporting on the event for local and regional newspapers, a practice he continued for over 60 years.
He witnessed the event grow into the size it is today but always regarded the ploughing competitors as being at the heart of it all, especially if they hailed from west Cork.
That shines through in his 2005 book, “70 years-a-growing” — a history of Timoleague ploughing and ancillary events.” Anna May McHugh, managing director of the National Ploughing Association, paid tribute to his commitment in her foreword to that publication.
John, she wrote, gave freely of his time to ploughing whether it was stewarding on gates, publicising events or representing the NPA at funerals and giving graveside orations.
Mrs McHugh also noted in a 2009 Irish Examiner interview by Carl Dixon that nobody knew or understood the championships better than John, whose father, Larry, was a former NPA national chairman.
That knowledge was always sought by the agri-media at “The Ploughing” every year and readily offered by John with a soft voice and a twinkle in his eyes.
But competitive ploughing was only one part of his involvement with rural and community life.
He was a local correspondent for the Southern Star and contributed to the Irish Examiner and other publications.
The GAA, road bowling, horse racing and amateur drama were among his many interests.
He was awarded the George Russell Award for his long service to Barryroe Co-op and the Paddy Fitzgerald Award for his work in the Irish Farmer’s Association, which also honoured him with lifetime membership.
The author of three books, he was also the editor of a long-running annual review, the Courtmacsherry Satellite.
