Ploughing at Newmarket this Sunday

Newmarket-on-Fergus will see an influx of ploughing enthusiasts this weekend for the Clare Ploughing Championships.
The event, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year, will be held in the townland of Crussa on Sunday on the land of Laurence Hannon. Competitors from Clare, Limerick, Tipperary, Cork, Offaly and Galway will take part in the confined and open championships for tractor and plough, as well as horse and plough competitions.
Aside from the ploughing, spectators will be able to enjoy a vintage machinery display where old farming equipment such as engines and ploughs should attract attention from rural farming people and urban dwellers alike.
Parteen-based Terry Higgins, who is joint president of the CPA with Louis Quinn from Newmarket-on-Fergus, urged people from across the community to come and see the skills of the ploughmen and the machinery that was used in farming down the years.
“To see a ploughman plough a straight furrow with tractor or horse is a marvellous skill and greatly to be admired” said the president.
The competitions will start around 1pm and all the Clare winners will represent Clare in the All-Ireland finals in Athy in County Kildare in September.
“Clare has had All-Ireland champions in the past and several of these will be taking part this year,” pointed out Newmarket-on-Fergus man and former ploughman and retired farmer John Meehan, who is a director of the National Ploughing Association and an active member of the Clare Ploughing Association.
The chairman of the CPA Michael Enright from Newmarket said what is interesting about Clare ploughing, “is that we do very well even though there is no tillage here now as such though there are men still ploughing their land.
“There was tillage years ago, but you have to go to places like Carlow, Kilkenny, Kildare and Wexford for the best tillage land for ploughing” he added.
Other prominent members of the CPA are secretary Noel Fitzgerald from Oatfield; treasurer, Ger Frost Junior from Kilkisheen and PRO, PJ Ryan from Sixmilebridge.