Enthusiasts are going bonkers for conkers

AFTER a morning in front of the television roaring on the Irish rugby squad, sports fans engaged in a very different pursuit for the afternoon yesterday.

It involved plenty of hooks, the odd close brush and a lot of very hard tackles. And there were a lot of splits too as over 200 revellers gathered in Kilkenny for the annual Irish Conker Championships.

It's the fourth year of the event in Freshford and organiser Grace Kearney says its lost none of its appeal, particularly for international competitors.

More and more people seem to be going bonkers for conkers each year. This year, the organisers had a tough forage for conkers the competition is a week later than normal and the dry spell, coupled with eager squirrels, meant conkers were not in as plentiful supply this year as normal.

Competition in the ring was ferocious as fearless competitors risked their knuckles and aimed to split the conker at the end of a leather string held by their opponent.

Competition was fierce. First prize was €1,000 to go to New York and have a pint in McSorley's pub in Manhattan. The McSorley family has strong connections with Freshford and were glad to support the event, as were Manning Travel which offered a €250 prize for the runner-up.

Among the international competitors were conker enthusiasts from Holland, France and all over Britain.

One young man was particularly proud of his performance. Thirteen-year-old Tom Cheshire was glad the competition was not next Sunday. He's from Melbourne in Australia and looks forward to Ireland's clash Down Under against his home side next week. He's been on holiday here for three weeks.

"I won the first round of the under 16 competition. It was good fun. It's the first time I've ever played conkers and really enjoyed it. I'm back home next week just in time for the Irish game. I think we'll win," he said.