Culchie Cailíní

ONE of the last bastions of male domination will crumble this weekend as women make history and join the usually all-male entry at the annual all-Ireland Culchie Festival.

Instead, the women will compete for a new title, the Culchie Cailín, at the 22nd annual competition in Co Leitrim.

Dozens of wellie-wearing culchies from around the country with binder-twine belts and flat caps are expected to descend on Mohill for the two-day event.

The ladies in question will have to prove their skills at round bale rolling, turf footing, potato picking, camel racing and in the daunting two-bucket woman challenge.

They will be tested on their sandwich-making skills, on their ability to drive a high nelly bicycle around a daunting urban course — and they’ll also be up to their knees in chic for a wellie-wearing fashion show.

Pig farmer Sinead Wall, 39, from Aghada in Co Cork, said she is delighted to be one of the first female culchies to “blaze a trail for mná na hÉireann”.

“I’m really looking forward to it. It’s a great sign of the times,” she said.

“I tried the Rose of Tralee before, but I think I was a bit rough around the edges for that. I’m a wellies and overalls kind of girl.”

Sinead underwent a rigorous qualification process set down by the Cork Culchie Club to secure her place in the All-Ireland competition.

She, along with fellow female culchie Julie Creamer, from Cloyne, passed a spitting competition based on accuracy rather than distance, they guessed the weight of a pig and Sinead milked a cow.

Cork Culchie Club spokesman Michael Greaney said the competition is one of the country’s greatest events.

“It honours the beast, rather than the beauty. There’s never a bad word spoken, never a fist raised,” he said.

The Cork Culchie Club are taking part to raise funds for My Canine Companion, a Cork charity which provides training and companion dogs for children with autism.

* mycaninecompanion.net