Tipperary people expected to flock to 154th Clonmel Show this Sunday

Powerstown Park Racecourse (by kind permission of the management) will again be the venue for this year’s Clonmel Show this Sunday, July 7.

The show was first organised in 1865 and now one hundred and fifty-four years later continues to attract thousands of country and town folk in a celebration of all that’s good in family entertainment. 

Favourable weather really makes the day and Met Eireann are promising ideal weather for the occasion.

Live music will be provided during the afternoon by Gine and the Champions, with a tented area in front of the band-stand to provide ideal dancing conditions if you are in the mood!

There is €1000 in prizes for the best dressed Lady and Gentleman competitions, with a top prize of €500 for the winner of the best dressed lady. 

Entries for both competitions will be taken on the day at the Fashion Hub. 

Fashion shows are scheduled at 2pm and 3.30pm, hosted by Margaret Doyle and featuring Kristy Downey, Miss Tipperary 2019 and the KVS model agency with many of the top local boutiques providing the stunning clothes.

Lots of attractions are being organised for the children’s corner. 

 Junction Arts festival artistes will perform as follows: - at 11.30 Muireann Morris will lead a session of Fun Family Yoga, with Nota Stota presented by local man Des Dillon and his puppets at 2pm. 

The Secret Garden will be performed at 3pm with the Everybody Out dance troupe at 4pm. 

A selection of farm animals from Ger Clancy’s mobile farm, amongst others will be on display. There will be a variety of carnival amusements available free or at fixed low rates. 

The pet show, for all types of family pet, will be judged at around 3pm with prizes for all. Dogs must be on a lead with the large ones muzzled. The superb farm and machinery model display, organised by RB Modela, should be big attraction for many.

Twenty riders will contest the semi-finals of this the 41st running of Clonmel Show’s own unique Donkey Derby, with the top five finishers in each heat contesting the usually hard final.

 Riders of varying ability, gender, courage and enthusiasm will do battle for the top honour on Sunday 

National Grand Prix show jumping returns to Clonmel after a long absence. The Underwriting Exchange €5000 National Grand Prix is begin at 2.30pm. There will be a total of 17 horse and pony jumping competitions across four arenas.

Highlights of the 45 horse and pony classes will be the €1000 supreme ridden champion of the show, the Coolmore sponsored Thoroughbred Brood mare and foal classes and the retired race horse classes. 

Many well know retired race horses are entered in these classes, which commence at 1.30pm. 

Pony classes range from the leading rein and starter stakes to the working hunter and ridden pony classes.

Seventy three sheep classes are listed for judging, with entries from as far afield as Donegal. 

Breeds such as Texel, Suffolk, Rouge De L’Ouest, Vendeen, Charollais, Beltex, Dorset, Belclare, Scotch Blackface, Zwartbles, Jacob and Lleyn, along with pet lambs and commercial non pedigree sheep will be exhibited. Judging commences at 12 noon. 

Clonmel Show sheep section is amongst the top four in the country.  There will also be seven classes for goats.

The poultry section will feature twelve classes catering for every shape, colour and plumage imageable, be they waterfowl, bantams with hard feathers, heavy soft feathers or light soft feathers or even True Bantams.

Forty-three cattle classes will be judged on Sunday, ranging from Friesians and Shorthorns in the dairy breeds, to the beef breeds which include Herefords, Simmentals, Charolais, Angus, Belgian Blues and Limousins. 

The dairy, beef and inter breed championships will be the highlights of a busy cattle programme.

A recent exciting and tasty development at the show has been the Food Village.

This consists of an array of food outlets each specialising in their own unique quality product. 

Seating is provided in a tented area and the live music can be enjoyed whilst one relaxes, samples the cuisine and replenishes. Puppet shows will be performing during the afternoon for the “smallies”

Art exhibits will be displayed in the fashion hub, whilst the flower show will be staged in its own marquee. 

An interesting and challenging array of flowers, shrubs and vegetables will be displayed along with the stunning decorative floral arrangements by both adults and children. Photography classes will feature a number of different subjects.

The handcrafts, home baking and preserves section is wonderful to behold and is testament to the fact that skills in crafts and cookery are alive and well. 

Hundreds of trade stands, selling anything from food to needles, machinery to novelties, plants to lawn mowers and much more, will at the show.

An overflow car park, serviced by a mini bus service, will operate at Gurtnafleur. Traffic coming from the eastern side of Clonmel should make use of this facility

Clonmel Show is a registered charity. It donates a significant portion of your admission fee to local charities, who are chosen by lot.

 It also awards a number of educational bursaries annually and is involved in a seed capital funding scheme with Tipperary Co. Council bi-annually.

Mike Quirke and Clare Wilkinson have been the joint chairpersons for the past four shows. They have led from the front, by their hard work and commitment, a group of volunteers, numbering hundreds, who come together to run the Clonmel Show annually.

Sheila Quinn is the administrative secretary around whom the show revolves. 

In her own quite efficient way, she has made the show tick for more than twenty years, thus playing a significant role in the show continuing evolution. Thank you, Sheila,