THE West Cork Vintage Ploughing and Threshing will be holding their annual vintage working day on Sunday July 21st – and the event will be the perfect place to watch the All-Ireland final, on a special outdoor giant screen.
This is the 11th year of the event, which last year raised €33,000 for local charities and drew more than 3,000 visitors.
This year promises to be the best of the event yet, as it is held on land along the historic Sky Road at Killavarrig.
‘The event is growing legs every year,’ said Sean O’Flynn, secretary of the West Cork Vintage Ploughing and Threshing Association.
‘It brings people from all over Munster now, we have guys coming from Kerry, Clare, and Tipperary.
‘Micheál Hayes is leasing the land from Margaret Dromgoole and he has put a lot of work into getting it ready for the event and it really is looking lovely.’
The working day is a highlight in West Cork and last year attracted 3,500 visitors.
The event will be attracting visitors from around Munster, and indeed some from the Banner County, but most will be from the Rebel County, and the field in Killavarrig will effectively become a unique fanzone to watch the Cork v Clare clash.
‘It should be a fantastic place to watch the match on the big screen. There’s no outdoor fanzone for the match in the city or elsewhere so this should be a great place to see it.’
The threshing and vintage is in itself a fantastic sight. ‘We will have vintage silage cutting, vintage barley cutting and threshing on the day, along with a large display of vintage cars trucks and tractors,’ said Sean.
The event is be fantastic family event, with all ages covered. There’s a kids play area and bouncy castle and slide, as well as a sand area.
There’s live music on the day from the Derek Burke band while there will also be a chance to experience a live cattle auction.
YouTube star ‘The Sheep Shepherd’ – aka Glen Egan, brother of GAA social media star Buff Egan – is travelling from Killorglin, Co Kerry with his father for the event.
There’s plenty of refreshments available, with John Daly chipper as well as ice cream, teas, coffees and more.
And the venue for this year’s vintage working day is in itself spectacular, in an area of historic importance. The site is just east of the
Michael Collins Museum along the historic Sky Road. ‘The Sky Road leads from the Collins museum all the way along Killavarrig Hill to the venue. ‘It’s up on the height and the view up there really is incredible. You can see right to the Old Head of Kinsale,’ said Sean O’Flynn, secretary of the West Cork Vintage Ploughing and Threshing Association.
A lot of planning has gone into the big day in Killavullig by chairman Paddy Ryan, Sean, and all of the 54-strong West Cork Vintage Ploughing and Threshing Association.
And the event will raise funds for three worthy local charities: The West Cork Jesters, Bantry Hospital Stroke Unit, and Clogagh National School’s new autism room.
‘Shortly after we chose the Bantry Hospital Stroke Unit, my own father in law had to use their services, and they were fantastic,’ said
Sean.
‘The West Cork Jesters do some great work and a lot of the dads in the Threshing have children going to school in Clogagh and it’s a very worthy cause.’
For the first time, the West Cork Vintage Ploughing and Threshing Association are holding a monster raffle as part of the event. ‘Lynch and McCarthy approached us with the offer of raffling a brand new quad bike as first prize.
‘We’d never held a monster raffle before but we said we’d give it a go.’ So far, so good: association members have already been busy selling tickets on the agricultural show circuit and some 1,200 have already been sold.
Tickets for the monster draw are €20 each and will be available at the vintage day, with the winner to be drawn on Sunday evening.
It promises to be a day not to be missed in Killavarrig – and watching a Cork win the All-Ireland final could certainly make it one to remember!
