Thousands attend 80th Tullow show
Pauline Allen and her prize-winning draught mare and foul with Maria O'Donohoe
THOUSANDS of people enjoyed a special afternoon in Coppenagh for the 80th Tullow Agricultural Show recently.
Secretary of the Tullow show committee Rachael Burgess said approximately 10,000 people attended the agricultural fair from all over Ireland and even some from abroad.
She said the field was “very full” with activities for everyone to enjoy. “The show is getting bigger and bigger every year. The timetables are flat out,” said Rachael.
There were around 2,000 entries in the many livestock and other competitions and this year they hosted the largest number of trade stands ever, with cooking demonstrations at the Charlie Wynn pavillion all day. There were 11 classes for the dog competition, which has become a “very popular” part of the show.
Rachael’s favourite part of the show is “coming in on the show morning before everyone arrives. People are so happy to come and with that comes great energy and excitement.” Music by Paddy Tracey, Patrick Feeney and Alastair Fingleton kept the place abuzz all day and a couple from outside of Carlow won the €1,000 prize fund for the jiving competition.
“The queen of the show,” Annie Brennan, who held the position of secretary for 25 years, launched the show. Another VIP was Carina Roseingrave, who is the international year of the woman farmer ambassador 2026.
A memento book in honour of the society’s 80th birthday, with lots of pictures and memories of previous committee members, was available.
The young committee also had its eyes on the future, bringing in content creator Katie Larkin for the launch while Glyn Egan, social media influencer also had a stall at the show.
Rachael thanked all the volunteers and committee members who put in “countless hours” to make the day happen, noting that the one day takes 12 months to organise. Volunteers continued working for days afterwards to restore the grounds to their former glory. Rachael also thanked the show’s landlords at Coppenagh, who provide the “gorgeous” grounds each year.
“It's wonderful to see the day come to fruition,” said Rachael. “I'm very proud.”
