Record thousands flocked to the village of Dualla this year for its annual show. St. Patrick’s Brass Band Cashel opened proceedings as events such as livestock, tractor pulling and showjumping went underway. The Liam MacCarthy cup made an appearance to the sounds of “Slievenamon” as large queues formed for a photo opportunity with the prized silverware.

This year Dualla Show hosted the Growvite All-Ireland Aberdeen-Angus championship which attracted a large number of livestock exhibitors from all over the country. Supreme Aberdeen-Angus Champion was Mogeely Dreamer T534 exhibited by John McEnroe, Oldcastle, Co Meath. The winner of the Irish Hereford Prime Terminal Index Senior Bull class was Anthony McCarthy with Banteer 1 Snowdrop 35. Declan Donnelly won the junior class with Clondrinapoll Rory who had a Terminal Index value of €82.

Elsewhere the AIB Best Pair in show was won by Donal Moloney of Ardnacrusha Limousins. Colin Burke from Rosegreen won the junior handler class. Colin also won the intermediate young handlers while Chloe Hegarty won the u12s. The supreme champion GAIN cup went to David Hegarty for his commercial heifer.

The sheep event introduced new Dorset classes this year. Best Dorset Shearling Ram was won by Noel Clancy. The Suffolk Ram Lamb was won by John Hanly while Brian Boland took the red rosette for Suffolk Ewe Lamb.

The Tractor Pulling attracted the usual large attendance this year that saw Darren Bailey from Laois pounding down the track to win the modified class with two full pulls in his New Holland “Challanger”. Pat Leonard from Wexford breezed to victory in the Class 3 competition while Ryan Patterson from Monoghan won the Class 2 event with his “Smokie Joe” in an exciting head-to-head that saw him pull a staggering 98.1 meters.

The TRP Tipperary Truck Show had its biggest event to date with 650 lorries in total. Truck of the Show went to Brendan Woods with his Dunlop memorial Volvo. A new cup this year in memory of Daniel (Danny fitz) Fitzpatrick also went to Brendan Woods and was presented by Danny Fitz’s son Mason.

It was all action in soft conditions for the Red Mills Grand Prix 2019 where Declan McEvoy just pipped Francis Connors by .03 of a second with a round of 42.17. Connors also took third (43.50) while Patrick joyce was fourth with 42.77 seconds. Robyn Moran was fifth and sixth while Mark Doyle came seventh. The 1.20 class sponsored by SuperValu was won by Laura Connors with second and third going to Jack Ryan of Cashel. Robyn Moran also won the 1.10 class.

A new attraction this year was the “Stars of Country Music” stage with live music all through the afternoon featuring Trudi Lalor, Mick Flavin, Gerry Guthrie, John McNicholl and Declan Nerney. The crowds filled a purpose-built dance floor with everyone enjoying top class music and musicianship in the glorious Dualla sunshine.

Not far from the main stage the hugely popular dog show attracted a wide variety of owners and dogs. Best in Show was selected as Holly, a beautiful, very excited labrador, expertly showed by Isabelle Gleeson with help from her sister Emily.

A “Live at the Marquee” event ran throughout the day with cookery demos by award-winning food-blogger Jolene Cox who delighted the packed tent with her takes on healthy meals such as “Curry in a Hurry”. Meanwhile Ultan Nesbitt demonstrated his gardening skills and gave tips on late summer flower baskets, roses, fruit bushes and herb gardens.

We wish to thank everyone for the massive voluntary effort involved to make the event such a smooth running success. Without such committed input an event of this magnitude simply could not happen.

We also want to thank all the sponsors whose contributions to Dualla Show not only help with the running costs, but has also help us build towards the success of future shows of this kind.

Finally, special thanks to landowners PJ Maher, Richard O’Dwyer and John Magnier for their continued support throughout the years.