Myshall homecoming honours ploughing champ Eamonn
Sons and Grandson: Steve, Davie, David, Eamonn and Sean Tracey
CROWDS turned out in Myshall last weekend as the village came to a standstill to honour world ploughing champion Eamonn Tracey. Eamonn was crowned supreme world ploughing champion at the 69th World Ploughing Championship in Estonia recently, his third year in a row to take the conventional class title. The now six-time world champion was joined by his teammate Jer Coakley from Clonakilty, who took first place in the reversible category, a first for Co Cork.
A piper got proceedings underway, followed by a parade of vintage tractors, before Eamonn, Jer and their supporters participated in a street walk, leading to an outdoor stage where the local world champion told those gathered that the event meant “everything” to him and spoke of his tremendous pride in sharing it with his family, friends and neighbours.
An evening of refreshments, chat and music followed. General secretary of the World Ploughing Association Anna Marie McHugh told The Nationalist: “There was a massive sense of pride. There is nothing like a rural setting for a homecoming. It’s so genuine and so heartfelt when your own local community come out, and as Eamonn said himself, standing up on a world stage and being called a world champion is such an honour, but it’s nothing to the homecoming in your own small village and the local people coming out to recognise and celebrate your achievement. It’s really significant.
The eyes of the ploughing community now turn to Ratheniska, Co Laois ahead of next week’s national ploughing championships. Both Eamonn and Jer were greeted with great applause when they attended the launch day of the event during the week. Anna Marie, who is also assistant managing director of the National Ploughing Association, said there is a great sense of excitement ahead of the three-day championship event, with 300,000 expected to attend. “It’s all about the qualifiers for next year’s worlds now,” she said, adding that this year’s successes are a “great start to the proceedings”.
