Moynalty Steam Threshing Show

If you’re at a loose end this Sunday, August 10^th, why not head down to the Moynalty Steam Threshing and Working Show in Co. Meath. This is their 39^th annual show, and they know by now how to give people a good time.

Demonstration by Lincoln and Nolan, 26 March 1953

There will be all types of vintage tractors and farm machinery on display; machinery from Lincoln and Nolan, Fordson tractors, David Browns, maybe even a Porsche tractor if you’re lucky. But these machines will not just be sitting there, looking pretty. They will be put to work, demonstrating how farm work was carried out before tractors grew to the size of a house. (If you’ve ever driven along country boreens during silage season, you’ll know what I mean.)

Demonstration of new 2D David Brown tractor at Blakes' Cross in J.Daly's field,  05 January 1956

But if that’s not vintage enough for you, there will also be horse-drawn machinery, threshing wheat and ploughing. Remind yourself what ‘horse-power’ actually means. And if you want to go even more extreme, you might even see human beings reaping and binding crops by hand.

Ben Bulben, County Sligo, 25 April 1956

But it’s not all about farm machinery of course. There will also be vintage and classic cars on show, none of which will be any younger than 30 years old. If you love your Morris Minors, or Triumphs, or were a bit of a Hillman Imp in your youth, you’ll be in heaven in Moynalty this weekend.

Motorcycle manufacturer John Ellis with one of his veteran cars at Straffan House, Co. Kildare, 23 May 1961

There will also be a welcome for your faithful friend at the dog show, or you can bring your children along to see the farmyard animals and pets. Though, if you do, you should probably be prepared for weeks of nagging afterwards along the lines of: “Can we get a puppy/kitten/rabbit/pony/lamb, pleeeease?”

Mount Merrion Dog Show, 06 September 1952

If you do make it over to the show, keep an eye out for the Irish Photo Archive stand. We’ll have lots of prints of vintage tractors, farm machinery and cars, as well as our most popular fine art prints of Irish life and culture from the past six decades. We’d be delighted to see you, so do drop by and take the opportunity to see and hold our images close up. Maybe it’s an age thing, but I find the physical prints even more impressive than just seeing them on a screen.

And if none of that appeals to you, maybe the poitin still and roast pig might be more your style? You can dance it all off afterwards on the Dancing Deck!

The Girls in Green

Ireland's women's rugby team:

claimed a sensational Women’s Rugby World Cup victory over reigning champions New Zealand to put themselves within touching distance of a historic semi-final place.

Not many would have been heading for the bookmakers with the intention of having a flutter on the girls in Green. Nevertheless, they stunned the world of international rugby with their gutsy performance.

The Irish victory over the famous Black Ferns leaves them very well placed and brimming with confidence ahead of their upcoming game against Kazakhstan.

Irish Rugby Football Union, Ireland v New Zealand, Tour Match, Landsdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland, Saturday 7th December, 1963

Purchase framed photographs and prints @ Irish Photo Archive

The All-Ireland Hurling Championship: Past and Present

There is sure to be some excitement as the 2014 All-Ireland Championship Final draws closer. The semi-finals start with Kilkenny playing Limerick on the tenth of August and Cork playing Tipperary on the seventeenth. Who will be the final two teams that play on September seventh? Who will be the All-Ireland Hurling Champions of 2014? We’ll just have to wait and see.

We’ve added many new hurling galleries to the archive (144, to be exact!) take a look through them to see how the Cork, Tipperary, Kilkenny, and Limerick teams faired in past All-Ireland Hurling Championships. 

Cork beat Kilkenny in the 1966 All-Ireland Hurling Final.

Here is the Cork team that beat Kilkenny again in the 1978 All-Ireland Hurling Final.

Then, Kilkenny beat Cork in the 1982 All-Ireland Hurling Final.

 In 1964 All-Ireland Hurling Final, Tipperary beat Kilkenny.

The last time Limerick won the All-Ireland Final was in 1973 (Sorry, no pictures of this game!). Who knows, maybe they will make a comeback this year.

Croagh Patrick

Last Sunday, 30,000 people converged on Croagh Patrick in County Mayo to perform the annual Reek Sunday pilgrimage. Although the tradition is to climb barefoot, people were advised to at least bring a pair of shoes with them - just in case. Robert Hunt from Mayo Mountain Rescue asked the Irish Times to inform people that they “should not assume that a rescue team or a helicopter is available to carry you off” if they get tired half-way up.

Pilgrims ascending the mountain, 29 July 1962

The Croagh Patrick climb has become very popular over the years among groups as diverse as extreme-sports enthusiasts, spiritualists and tourists. While this is a great boost for the local area, the ever-increasing footfall on the mountain has severely damaged the path to the summit. The footing has disintegrated into gravel, which makes the steep incline at the summit quite treacherous. Slips and falls are common, and many people resort to sliding down the mountain on their bottom rather than risk injury.

Pilgrims take the stoney path back down, 29 July 1962

The mountain is of course associated with St. Patrick, mainly due to the legend that he performed a Lenten fast on the summit. However, the discovery of a Celtic ring fort on the summit proves that the site has been a place of worship, and perhaps pilgrimage for millennia.

Deep in prayer on the summit, 29 July 1962

On Reek Sunday, The Archbishop of Tuam leads mass in St Patrick’s Oratory on the summit. This church was originally built in 1905 by locals, but it has been extended since. The Irish Photo Archive were there in 1962 when the extension work began.  Local farmer, Michael McNeill, used his donkeys to cart the cement and building material up the mountain, and was helped out by his sons and family.

Michael McNeill (2nd from right) and his crew in the oratory after their climb, 15-17 May 1962

On their way up the mountain, a hailstorm descended, drenching the whole expedition but leaving an eerie quality in these photos. The images from this event always feature in the Irish Photo Archive’s most popular, and the image below is my own personal favourite from the entire archive.

Donkeys reach the summit in a hailstorm, 15-17 May 1962

If you would like to see more from this event, please click here.

O'Malley Edging Closer

Kevin O'Malley, the St Louis lawyer nominated to serve as the next US Ambassador to Ireland has won unanimously endorsement from the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. For  while the nomination process had been stuck in the type of groove that had stalled President Obama's car as he left the US Embassy in Dublin a few years back.

Kevin O'Malley's nomination 'now goes forward to the floor of the Senate for further consideration and a vote.'

The new U.S. Embassy in Ballsbridge was officially opened by Congressman Wayne L. Hays of Ohio. 23.05.1964

Purchase framed photographs and prints @ Irish Photo Archive

In Duiblin's Fair City, Expenses are Pretty

Ivor Callely was today jailed for 5 months over expenses fraud. He had earlier pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining €4207.45.

 

Callely was a Fianna Fáil junior minister who served as Minister of State in the Health and Transport departments between 2002 and 2005.

20th December 1988. Councillor Ivor Callely, Lord Mayor, Ben Briscoe and City Manager, Frank Feely 'helping' Molly with her cart."

Purchase framed photographs and prints @ Irish Photo Archive