Display of traditional Irish heritage items a must see at Longford Ploughing Championships

The club will host a truly impressive display of traditional Irish heritage items.

The 2023 County Longford Ploughing Championships is being hosted by Sean Donohoe on Sunday, March 26 on his land at Cartron, just a short walk from Granard town.

Eamon McIntyre of the Rath Mhuire Men's Social Club explained what the group will be doing on the day: “We will have an impressive array of beautifully restored items reflecting our heritage as displayed by Rath Mhuire Men’s Social Club, at last year’s Ploughing. Since 2009, this club has been a vibrant social hub for men.”

Last year their stand was located by the loy digging plots. Having a keen eye for heritage they were inspired by the ancient craft of loy competitors who quietly turned the soil in peaceful silence, with Carragh Church in the background.

The Rath Mhuire Men's Social Club have restored a number of heritage items as projects for the members: “It really started because we did not have any money to buy materials,” Eamon explained, “We started restoring horse drawn jaunting carts and carriages.”

Eamon says there is great interest in projects: “We have 25 in our group at present. We have been on the go a long time, but we only became affiliated as a men's shed last October.”

Apart from exploring heritage and restoring rare artefacts, the group bonds members with a sense of camaraderie from sharing time together, enjoying good food and healthy exercise activities that puts a spark in their heart.

There is a very artistic streak in the work of the members, not only in their restoration projects, but also in other endeavours: “On returning to the resource centre last year, they blended images of the loy dig with St Mary’s Church and Motte here in Granard, to produce a local version of the scene painted by Millet in his famous oil masterpiece The Angelus.”

The group continue to work on a number restoration projects and the fruits of their labour will be on view at their stand at the Longford Ploughing Championship at Cartron.