The gap in the diaries of agricultural show enthusiasts this year due to coronavirus cancellations is laid bare in the new series of ‘Beidh Aonach Amárach’ which kicked off on TG4 on Wednesday, February 24.
Edel and Brendan McCawley, pedigree Angus farmers from Co. Leitrim, who compete annually at agricultural shows, featured in episode one.
John and Eileen Gallagher from Donegal who have been dancing with each other for over 40 years, stepped out for a trip down memory lane. They go to dances around the country and attend Clonmany show.
Niamh Seoighe’s summer calendar has a big gap this year due to the show cancellations but she told how she is keeping busy combining working on the farm with her role in the Loch Measc distillery in Tourmakeady, Co. Mayo.
The 27-year-old office manager at Drioglann Loch Measc helps her dad, Seán, on the family’s fourth generation hill sheep farm in the evenings. They have a flock of 300 Mayo-Connemara Blackface, Swaledale and Lanark sheep.
Seán co-founded the Tourmakeady Agricultural Show 24 years ago and Niamh has been a committee member for the last five years. What was once a small-scale local show, has grown into an event that attracts people from all corners of the country, especially Connemara folk for the Mayo-Connemara Blackface class.
Niamh is also a member of the Mayo branch of the Irish Natura and Hill Sheep Farmers’ Association (INHFA).
Hugely popular
With 140 agricultural shows across the country, the circuit is hugely popular with competitors and spectators. Every year thousands of people spend months of preparation before hitting the road to take part in the weekend competitions.
With country shows cancelled, enthusiasts have lost their get-togethers to hail the best of the best. Although the show will not go on, the show people – the winners; the losers; the bakers; the potters; the craftspeople; the florists; and the artists – continue their obsessions.
Throughout 2020, TG4 cameras and crews captured the stories of people of all ages and backgrounds who vie for the top spots in a range of competitions during normal times.
Viewers see enthusiasts who pulled out all the stops to take the top prizes in categories from cattle to cakes, sheep shearing to basket weaving, show-jumping to new technology, not forgetting outstanding vegetables, dog agility as well as art and crafts.
The entertaining lightly formatted factual entertainment series provides an insight into show people: their remarkable personalities; talents; brains; rivalries; trade secrets; skills; and stories.
Travelling to some of the most scenic parts of the island, the TG4 team captured breathtaking footage, with beautifully directed sequences to set the scene and mood and ultimately take the viewer into the realm of the rosette winners.
Family tradition
Viewers discover that showing, be it animal or vegetable, is often a family tradition. Families review their long association with this world, recalling where they won their first rosette, where they have travelled to in their pursuit of the red ribbon and how they fared.
Said Bernadette Morris, producer/director, said: “‘Beidh Aonach Amárach’ is back for series three and although Covid cancelled most of the agricultural shows, that didn’t stop the wonderful show community doing what they do best.
From quilters to gardeners, cattle breeders to Connemara ponies, it was a pleasure to travel the length and breadth of the country to meet the competitors, judges and craftspeople. The series is a much needed sunny happy watch celebrating the very ‘best in show’.
‘Beidh Aonach Amárach’ which can be seen on Wednesday nights at 8:30pm, was made by independent production company, Strident Media, with support from Northern Ireland Screen’s Irish Language Broadcast Fund, for BBC Gaeilge and TG4.