Large crowds make pilgrimage to Offaly as National Ploughing Championships get underway 

Josephine and Dermot Tobin of Castle Agri, Co Kilkenny with a snow plough on display at the National Ploughing Championships 2026 at Screggan, Co Offaly. as exhibitors put the finishing touches to their displays ahead of the opening day on Tuesday. Picture: Larry Cummins

Large crowds were on Tuesday making the annual pilgrimage to the Ploughing Championships, which will run over the next three days in Co Offaly.

Over a quarter of a million people are expected to attend the farming extravaganza and marvel at the stalls and exhibitions set up across extensive lands in Screggan, Tullamore.

Along with the ploughing competition itself, there will be several popular events, including sheep shearing demonstrations, a brown bread baking competition, a tug-of-war event, and a welly throwing competition.

Most of the Cabinet, including the Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris, will be among those attending on Tuesday, before the return of the Dáil tomorrow.

This will also be the first Ploughing Championships attended by Catherine Connolly as President. She is due to give a speech to attendees at 12 noon today.

The 95th National Ploughing Championships will see over 350 competitors compete for titles across various disciplines on 180 acres of land.

The Five Nations Ploughing Competition will also take place over two days, featuring competitors from Ireland, England, Wales, and Scotland, as organisers said the international appeal of the event grows.

People are also being encouraged to share lifts with others to reduce the number of cars on the roads leading to the Ploughing, to ease the stress on drivers and help reduce emissions.

Among some of the more noteworthy events are the ‘Most Appropriately Dressed Lady & Gentleman’ competition; the Office of Public Work’s interactive Lego flood catchment model, showing how flood relief schemes work; and a competition to win a Pedigree Charolais Heifer being run by insurers Zurich on its main stand.

There will also be traditional music, a fashion show, and a traditional lacemaking demonstration.

Met Éireann is forecasting a mostly dry and mild three days ahead in Tullamore, though there will be showers to add some grit to events today and Thursday.

The Ploughing Championships come after a difficult year for farmers, who faced a combination of rising fuel and fertiliser costs — which spiked after the US and Israel’s attack on Iran and the ensuing shutdown of the vital Strait of Hormuz — as well as months of high temperatures during this year’s summer, resulting in it becoming the hottest on record.

High temperatures and heatwaves can reduce grass growth, forcing farmers to use fodder reserves that would have been saved for the winter months, as well as make conditions difficult for animals and farmers themselves.

National Ploughing Association managing director Anna May McHugh said it had been a “tough year for many farmers” as a result.

“Hopefully, the Ploughing gives people a chance to take a day away from it all, enjoy themselves with family and friends, catch up with old faces and maybe meet a few new ones along the way.

“The Ploughing has always been about bringing people together and celebrating the very best of ploughing, Irish agriculture, enterprise and rural life and we are looking forward to what promises to be a fantastic three days this September.”