Bringing the Best of Laois to the National Ploughing Championships.
It’s been a fantastic 3 Days National Ploughing Championships with all our Laois Family!
Huge thanks to everyone who came out to support all our fantastic local businesses. Stay tuned for a run down on what has been a Laois Taste Adventure to remember…
Huge Shout Out to Laois County Council, Laois Partnership, Local Enterprise Office Laois and The Department of Agriculture for all the help and support they have given to us to help make this happen!
But Do You Know How The National Ploughing Championship Started?
The National Ploughing Championships takes place each year in the month of September.
The first inter- county ploughing contest took place in 1931 as a result of an argument between two lifelong friends, Denis Allen of Gorey, County Wexford and JJ Bergin of Athy, County Kildare. Different worlds have different opinions, and this resulted in a challenge. Therefore on Monday 16th of February 1931, the first National Ploughing contest took place in Mr W.K. Hosie’s field at Coursetown in Athy. Since then, the National Ploughing Championships has grown in size, year on year. It has expanded from requiring a small field of 26 acres to needing over 700 acres of land today.
Within this, the site now requires 180 acres for ploughing, 100 acres for trade stands and exhibition space, 400 acres of car parking and a demonstration area of approximately 25 acres. The National Ploughing Championships (NPC) has been around for over 90 years now. It used to just be an annual competition but now it’s more than that, it’s a part of Irish rural life.
The National Championships used to only be for farmers and machinery enthusiasts, but now it’s expanded to include activities for the whole community. These include a Tented Trade Village, a Food Fair, Craft Village, Livestock, Forestry, Education, Lifestyle, Motor Show, Financial Services, Bio Energy and Agri Service. Along with all this, there are also a lot of entertainment and special events happening. Some of these include: Fashion Shows, Celebrity Guests, Sheep Dog Trials, Loy Digging, All Ireland Lamb Shearing, Most Appropriately Dressed Lady & Gent Competitions, Craft Demonstrations, Meggers, Celebrity Cookery Demonstrations, Outdoor Radio Broadcasts and much more.
With all this happening, the Championships attracts in excess of over 1,700 exhibitors and up to 297,000 visitors.
