Furrowed brows relax as ploughing finally makes welcome return

Anna Losty from Co Meath with a three year old Hampshire Ram at the National Ploughing Championships, Ratheniska, Co Laois. Picture: Dan Linehan

It is the Holy Grail of farming and country life festivals, and for three years its absence has been keenly felt.

For Nora Power though, the return of the Ploughing Championships after its Covid-enforced absence is bitter sweet. The Galway mother of three and her family woke up at 4.30am on Tuesday morning to make it up for the day.

“We’re not even tired, and of course it’s better than being in school,” she said, but there is an element of sadness for the Powers.

“Very sadly my husband died eight weeks ago, and he was to bring my daughter Micaela (13) today,” she said. “I’m here because he couldn’t bring her.” 

She said her husband was “always at the ploughing championships” and “for us it’s about carrying on his tradition”.

Tradition returns

More than 90,000 flocked to the fields of Ratheniska, Co Laois for the opening day — slightly less than the 102,500 on day one in 2019, but a strong showing nonetheless. After the pandemic quashed plans for festivities in 2020 and 2021, there’s a real buzz about Europe’s largest outdoor event, which is in its 91st year.

In the packed shuttle bus from Portlaoise, the excitement is palpable.

“It’s not just for farmers,” said Tina Dibber, who came up from Donegal in a caravan with her husband. 

"It’s for everybody. We come every year, it’s just a great day out. I’m not a big farmer or anything, I have five sheep, but I enjoy the craic and get a lot of ideas from all the stalls; things like doing up your house with insulation, that type of thing."

Taking a break from the somewhat overwhelming crowds was Wexford woman Betty Minagh, who comes every year to ‘the ploughing’.

“It’s lovely being back,” she said sitting and having a smoke on some farming machinery. “Everything’s back to normal here.” 

Holding the hand of her 22-month-old son was Siobhan Barry, who has visited the ploughing “every year since we were young”.

“It’s kind of a family tradition, so we all go together,” said Ms Barry who came with her family of 10. 

Thousands flocked to Laois to welcome back the Ploughing Championships. Picture: Dan Linehan

While tradition is at the heart of the festival's roots, it certainly has a modern twist, not least with 37km of metal roadway replacing the mud and sludge of years gone by.

No country festival would be complete without some GAA stalls, and sure enough the hurlers were out in force.

The best of wares 

Adrian Moran of Moran Hurleys said the ploughing is a huge promotion for his business, which specialises in handcrafted hurleys from Westmeath. 

He hopes to sell a few thousand hurleys over the coming days. He added that his branded hurls are seen in schools and clubs across the country after the ploughing each year.

It’s promoting your product all over the country, all over Europe.

In the tent beside him is Cork man and veteran ploughing festival-goer John O’Connell of Lee Sports, who hopes to sell 600 to 700 pairs of GAA gloves this year.

“There’s no nicer people than the farming community and it’s a good bit of craic,” he said. “It’s a must-do event.” 

Also in attendance is the Catholic Church, who were keen to chat to people out and about for the day.

“It’s important to let people know the Church is here and that they’re very welcome,” said Fr Ger Ahern, parish priest at Baltinglass, Co Wicklow.

He was working on a wall hanging rug using latch hooking, and was asking people to chip in.

“I’d like to think that we’d have it done by the end of the week,” he said. “That would mean getting done 10,000 or 11,000 pieces a day.” 

Competition underway

Away from the chaos of Ireland’s biggest pop-up town, horse ploughing is a quiet reprieve. As ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’ echoes in the background, competitors carefully plough as straight as they can.

Jeremiah Delaney ploughing in the under 40 horse plough class, getting a hand from his father JJ and former ploughing champion Zwena McCullough, at the National Ploughing Championships, Ratheniska, Co Laois. Picture: Dan Linehan

“We worked [with] horses since we were children,” said Moss Trant from Tralee, who competed in the horse ploughing on Tuesday. 

"We were cutting with a mowing machine at eight years of age. You would hardly let a child go to school at eight years of age now!"

Arriving to watch the competition was President Michael D Higgins, who told reporters it was “good to be back” at the festival.

He said the championships are a “great opportunity for urban people as well, to visit and become acquainted with all the different complexities of Irish rural life”.

 He said farming “isn’t only about happens in relation to the soil and the produce, but in relation to rural life itself”.

“There’s absolutely no reason given the evolution of technology, why you shouldn’t be able to have a great life in rural Ireland and have access to all of the services and equally it would be very, very foolish to draw distinctions between urban living and rural living. There are too many issues we share together.” 

His wife Sabina said Laois is “the one place in the country where you come and see golden fields... it’s a joy”.

“Thank God for Laois and the counties that do tillage.”