ALL roads lead to Screggan, Co Offaly next week for the 95th All-Ireland Ploughing Championships.\u00a0<\/p>\n
West Cork has an impressive 23 competitors from across the area\u2019s eight clubs, taking part with many defending their title from last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Among them is Ellen Nyhan (26) Ballinspittle who has strong ploughing credentials \u2013 her parents Jimmy, who is also her coach, and Rose are well known in competition circles, along with her brother Noel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018The standard in West Cork is so high, so if you manage to qualify for the All-Ireland you\u2019re already in a good place,\u2019 said Ellen who works in\u00a0 the pharmaceutical company MSD Brinny.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ellen is defending the All-Ireland title she won last year: \u2018No pressure there so! And there was just one mark in it too!\u2019<\/p>\n
She said that on the day it\u2019s all about \u2018holding your nerve\u2019 during the two and a half hour competition\u00a0 \u2013\u00a0and listening to her coach, dad Jimmy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018You\u2019re there to do a job and you have to keep calm, and focus on what you\u2019re doing. The ground in Offaly is very different and you have to work with what you have, keep the lines straight and hope you don\u2019t hit any stones,\u2019 she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She\u2019d encourage any young person to consider ploughing as a pastime.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Once you can drive a tractor you\u2019re half way there. There are so many benefits involved such as learning good communication, precision and accuracy. You also need patience, to have a good eye and to be observant, which are all transferrable skills to every-day life.\u2019<\/p>\n
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Jer Coakley is a national, European and world champion. (Photo: David Patterson)<\/p>\n
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Jer Coakley, Reenascreena is revered in ploughing circles.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019s travelling to Offaly with a European Reversible title won earlier this month in Switzerland under his belt. That\u2019s a fourth for him along with a long list of other accolades won in Ireland, and overseas.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019s been ploughing since he was 14 and inherited both his love, and talent for ploughing from his late father, Jerry, another award winning ploughman.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018I was born into ploughing and it\u2019s part of life now, part of who I am \u2013 it helps that I\u2019m good at it!\u2019<\/p>\n
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All-Ireland winner Laoise O\u2019Driscoll with her father Liam. (Photo: David Patterson)<\/p>\n
The O\u2019Driscolls from Kilbrittain are another legendary West Cork ploughing family: Liam, Caroline and their daughter Laoise (17).\u00a0<\/p>\n
Laoise (coached by Liam) took an All-Ireland last year while Caroline placed fourth in the under 40 horse ploughing.<\/p>\n
Caroline, along with\u00a0 Claire O’Rourke from Timoleague and Se\u00e1d N\u00ed Mhaoilmhia, Kinsale, captured the public\u2019s hearts last year when they ploughed with bay cobs Larry and Jeff, having just decided to compete a few months earlier.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This year Caroline and Claire will compete with Se\u00e1d in a supporting role: \u2018We\u2019ll change the roles every year, but it\u2019s very much a team effort \u2013 you need someone to plough, to take the horse and to lean on the front of the plough. It\u2019s really physical.\u2019<\/p>\n
The trio love it though, and get to combine their love of horses, adventure and the outdoors while spending time together.<\/p>\n
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S\u00e9ad N\u00ed Mhaoilmhia, Kinsale, Caroline O\u2019Driscoll, Kilbrittain and Claire O\u2019Rourke, Timoleague, with horses Larry and Jeff. S\u00e9ad will work in a supporting role for Caroline and Claire when the compete in Screggan next week.<\/p>\n
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\u2018It\u2019s great fun, and we\u2019re all very like-minded. It\u2019s good too to keep the tradition of horse ploughing alive. The amount of stories we hear from people coming up to us how we\u2019re bringing back memories from their childhoods it just brilliant.\u2019<\/p>\n
Logistically there\u2019s a bit more involved for them to compete: \u2018The horses will go on Monday night in one horsebox and the plough \u2013\u00a0which is 100 years old and has won an All-Ireland before, and the other equipment will go in a second horse box.\u2019<\/p>\n
Director of West Cork Ploughing Kieran Keohane said the area has always enjoyed a rich ploughing tradition.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018It\u2019s something that\u2019s been passed down through the generations. People have grown up with and can see how it gives opportunities to travel, and to have friends for life from all over the country.\u2019<\/p>\n
This article was featured in our West Cork Farming 2026 magazine \u2013 you can read the full magazine here!<\/p>\n