‘Dying art’ of ploughing sees revival as Kilkenny woman seeks three-in-a-row

Siobhán Darmody was a latecomer to the plough, only taking up the pursuit in the last five years after potato farmer Eddie Doyle had donated an old tractor in Mooncoin to get teenagers in the South Kilkenny community interested.

For Darmody, however, it quickly became more than a pastime as she is bidding on Wednesday to make it three national titles in a row.

“A distant relation of mine, Richie Darmody, was wondering about getting the younger generation involved. After growing up on a farm where I’d always driven tractors, I was used to that end of it, but I wouldn’t be as good as I am only for Eddie. His coaching has done it,” says the 26-year-old, who now works for Teagasc.

Everything in ploughing is about straight clean lines: “If you go off any bit, well, you’re in trouble. Attention to detail and concentration is 100 per cent a necessity,” says Darmody in advance of her return to action in Ratheniska, Co Laois.

To plough straight, the driver needs to line up the tractor, sometimes using a distant landmark on the horizon. By aiming for that notch, the tractor’s path can be kept straight, perhaps within a foot.

“It’s a dying art, but it will always be an art to be able to plough properly,” says her mentor, Eddie Doyle.

“Before the era of being able to kill weeds with spray, if the ploughing wasn’t done properly you’d have a bad crop. That’s where the old skill comes from.”

His motivation was simple; it was to revive the “glory years” of the ploughing when men, including his own father, Peter Doyle, “lived and died for ploughing” while competing at the highest level.

“My father ploughed in the Worlds four times, but his career was cut short due to ill health. I suppose I never had the time to put into it myself between work and everything and it was only when he died, in 2014, he’d said to me not to let it ‘fade out’ altogether . . . so I figured I better put some effort into this.

“There was already a good club so it was just trying to build on that, and get the young people back involved. And kind of like that, it can get contagious.”

[ Sunshine and tailbacks greet arrivals as record crowd expected ]

[ Mixed mood among farmers as competitors yearns for less raucous days ]

The net result has “rejuvenated” the tradition in the area and given them three All-Ireland winners. As well as Darmody, a student, James Shine, has also brought home national titles. The latest champion came on Monday, bringing ploughing glory back to the Doyle household, via Doyle’s own son, Shane, in the under-21 category.

For Darmody, it’s easy to sum up why she adores it.

“There’s this really great community and the Mooncoin ploughing crew are just this absolutely brilliant, tight-knit bunch. But then it was the challenge to take it on; it made me step out of my comfort zone and I just wanted to get better.”

Their efforts are bearing fruit elsewhere; this was the first year Darmody faced competition from another woman in the Kilkenny qualifiers.

“That drove me on. The other girl – Aoife Hennessy – was wicked competition. It was extremely hard but I got there.”