Aughrim Sheep Show celebrates 50th anniversary
A MILESTONE 50th anniversary will be celebrated by Aughrim Sheep Show this year and organisers are publishing a history of the event to mark the occasion.
‘ The Show – A Celebration of 50 Years of Aughrim Sheep Show’ is a collection of memories, photographs, press cuttings, catalogues, and articles relating to the show.
Aughrim Sheep Show is known throughout the country and attracts buyers from all over Leinster and beyond.
It is renowned for the quality of breeding stock on offer and particularly from the Suffolk Cross and Cheviot breeds.
The first show was held in 1968 and has been a fixture in the farming calendar every year since. It was first located in the centre of the town, adjacent to Lawless’s Hotel, before moving to a number of locations, including Baltinglass Mart, before it settled in its current home in Carnew Mart.
Chairman of Aughrim Sheep Breeders Sean O’Neill said that reaching 50 years is a significant achievement for the show.
‘As a committee, we were determined to mark this significant anniversary of our show. Aughrim Sheep Show has made, and continues to make, a lasting contribution to the local community. Our book gives us the opportunity to record in print our gratitude to previous committees who fought to keep the show going. It also gives us the chance to highlight the vital role a huge number of exhibitors, buyers, judges and sponsors have played in the show going from strength to strength,’ he said.
The show and sale day is a happy, hectic and exciting one, though at times tinged with sadness as those who were once the heartbeat of it are remembered.
The committee pays tribute to them each year at an after-show presentation night where exhibitors, judges, sponsors and well-wishers come together to raise funds for local charities. Members are delighted to have pieced together this comprehensive record of the show throughout its first 50 years. This project has been a year in the making with a vast amount of research and preparation carried out to bring it to fruition.
‘ The Show’ – A Celebration of 50 Years of Aughrim Sheep Show will be launched on Thursday, December 21, in Joe O’Toole’s, Aughrim, at 8 p.m.
It is on sale for €15 from all committee members and in many local businesses, including Byrnes’s Daybreak, Byrne’s Londis, Joe O’Toole’s and Rednagh Stores.
The Aughrim Sheep Show committee would like to acknowledge the support of Arklow Municipal District for this project.