The Sunny South East beckons this year and the forecast sounds good, but rain or shine - they’ll be dancing in Carlow this year. Country people don’t give a damn about the weather if there’s music playing. Last year, in Screggan, Co. Offaly, the craic was ninety as the rain spilled down on the last day. The media were largely gone by then, having made hay out of the stormy weather the day before. But I got lucky and lapped up the sight of scores of people dancing in the rain without a care in the world.
Some of us townie types forget that country people are hardy and that the weather will never get in the way of their having a good day out at the Ploughing. They’re used to working hard in the rain, wind, mud and sloshing (and dancing) through puddles, in all seasons. Why more of us don’t think of farming I’m not sure. Toughens you up.
And with that, the penny finally dropped. I live in a rural area, but don’t farm. On my fourth and wettest of all visits, I learned that while the Ploughing is of course interesting with its pedigree cattle, shiny new tractors, ministers in marquees, free Aldi hats and celebrities, that’s only the half of it. The Ploughing is a people’s day out for close to 300,000 country people in Ireland . For any urban visitors, you just need to get over the weather and practice a few proper dance moves before you leave home. If you’re into line-dancing, you’re made!
- Allen Meagher, editor, ‘Changing Ireland’