There are two major steam rallies held in Ireland, one in Stradbally, Co. Laois, and the other in Innishannon, Co. Cork, and it was this latter event that was held over the June bank holiday weekend.

Steam power was the precursor to the modern engine. Much of the engineering required to make a steam engine was transferred to the production of internal combustion engines, which not only greatly improved the efficiency of burning fuel, but also made the engines far lighter and more compact.

Steam engines at Innishannon — The attraction of steam brings a big crowd to Innishannon each year

Both stages of mechanisation were on display at the event, although with steam engines being less common, as well as bigger, heavier and far more expensive to maintain and display, there were understandably less of them than tractors present.

Yet, that doesn’t mean to say that their contribution to agriculture is insignificant. They would have ploughed the ground and powered threshing machines as mobile units, and in stationary form would have driven mills and pumps.

Compound steam engine — Lendinag an air of sophistication to the proceedings was this compound engine that has two cylinders to help extract more work from the steam

Two further examples of rural steam power in action were being demonstrated at the event – these were stone crushing and log sawing.

Driving the saw bench, was a 5nhp (nominal horse power) Burrell belonging to Trevor Glynn from Co. Carlow, and it was having to work hard to keep the blade turning, as it sliced a plank off the edge of the log.

Traction engines working at Innishannon — Working hard sawing wood and crushing stone were these two traction engines belonging to the Glynn family from Co. Carlow

Steam engines often give the impression of being unstoppable, and indeed they have massive torque, but the actual power produced is often quite modest, the brake horse power of this particular engine being around 30.

If the circular log saw hasn’t changed much over the last century then neither has the principle of the plate type stone crusher. fracturing stones between two hardened surfaces and then sorting the mix via a rotary separator is very much the principle of many machines at work in quarries today.

Vintage collection at Innishannon

Innishannon is not only an attraction for steam aficionados, a good number of vintage and classic tractors were parked in the display area.

One of the more notable of these was a David Brown 775, which is believed to be the only one in Ireland. This is of little surprise for only 230 of them were made and these were destined entirely for the German market.

David Brown 775 at Innishannon — The front mudguards and elongated appearance of the 775 marks it out as a tractor destined for the continental market

They 775 comprised the 36hp front end of of a 770 matched to the rear end of an 885, which was built to handle 47hp.

Quite why this was considered a marketable design is unclear, the need to include a transmission brake could well have something to do with fitting an oversized transmission to a smaller tractor.

French stalwart

Other unusual tractors included a Renault D22 of uncertain date. However, the D series was highly successful in France, being introduced in 1956 and they were either powered by a two cylinder MWM engine or a three cylinder Perkins, depending on power output.

Renault D22 tractor — The Renault D22 was a popular tractor in its home country

This example was the D22 of 22hp, with a twin cylinder MWM engine that looked in a sorry but still working state, and was in fact for sale as a restoration project.

David Brown and Renault were also in the business of selling implements in their day and there was a baler from each on display.

David Brown balers were a fairly common sight in Ireland, but the more conventional Renault machine would have been less so.

David brown baler at Innishannon — The David Brown baler pushed bales out to the left rather than behind, thus ensuring the bales had to be handled manually

What marked the David Brown machine out was the side discharge arrangement which ruled out the use of a flat eight handling system, although those never caught on in Ireland anyway, even with conventional balers.

Ford tractors are always plentiful at rallies as they are favourites amongst collectors, yet one Fordson Major stood out as being different due to its six cylinder engine with extended bonnet to match.

This Fordson Major conversion gave no obvious clues as to who undertook it

It was also blessed with chassis rails and a driven front axle, but there was no indication of who performed the conversion.

It was obviously not a county, nor did the roadless name appear anywhere, and it had no entry number either, so for now it must remain a mystery.

Contractors story

Harking back to the days of tractor driven harvesters and advent of such advancements as double chop machines were a pair of Nuffield 10/60s owned by Barry Twohig of Co. Cork.

Barry Twohig with Nuffield — Barry Twohig with two of the Nuffields he operated in a contracting business along with a Kidd trailed harvester

Now beautifully preserved, they were the tractors which Barry and his business partner used for silaging in conjunction with a Kidd single chop the 70s.

They eventually moved on to New Holland self-propelled harvesters and even tried out a couple of Field Queens, which Barry suggests were unsuitable for grass and they were not kept long.

Hero of the Chunnel

Moving away from the agricultural exhibits, Johnny O’Sullivan of Ovens, Co. Cork, had brought his 1988 JCB Sitemaster along which was painted in blue and white, rather than the bright yellow normally associated with the company.

The reason for this being that it had worked in the Channel Tunnel with Johnny as its operator during the four years of its construction.

After the tunnel was completed, he purchased the machine, brought it home to Ireland and later restored it to its present condition.

Vintage collection at Innishannon

French stalwart

Contractors story

Hero of the Chunnel

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Machinery: Classic tractors and steam at Innishannon Rally