South Offaly Ploughing match set for February 16th in Rath

THE annual South Offaly Ploughing Match will take place on Sunday next February 16^th in Rath, Birr. This year's match takes place on the lands of the Grennan family, by kind permission.
The site is in close proximity to the GAA field in Rath. The event will feature ploughmen and women competing in a series of categories, including vintage, conventional and reversible.
The South Offaly Ploughing match always draws a large number of spectators to the field. The skill of the competitors who plough the plots with such a level of precision can be extremely rewarding to watch.

Competitors will be judged on the quality of their work, including the uniformity and straightness of their furrows, as well as their overall technique in turning the soil.
The South Offaly match is the fifth match in Offaly where local competitors battle for places on the Offaly team to represent the county at the all Ireland championships. This will be a busy year for all involved in ploughing in Offaly as the All Ireland ploughing championships return to Screggan, Tullamore next September. Offaly won gold in two classes at the 2024 All Ireland championships and every competitor will be eager to represent their county on home soil in Screggan next September.
Last weekend the South Offaly Branch hosted the annual Offaly novice ploughing match at Killyon. Six competitors competed on the day and the standard for ploughing was excellent.
Millie Standish won the conventional class and Charlie Bracken won the reversible.
South Offaly Ploughing would like to extend a huge word of thanks to all their sponsors for
their continued support.
While some spectators come to see some very sophisticated ploughs with many modifications and adjustments many more spectators take the opportunity to see the vintage tractors and ploughs in action. This event is one of the rare opportunities people get to see tvo tractors like the Fordsen ploughing with a two furrow trailed vintage plough. The vintage classes always attract a large number of entries with competitors travelling from as far as Northern Ireland to compete.

The event in Rath next Sunday kicks off at 12 noon and all competitors can pre-register by calling (087) 7584168.