World champion to judge ploughing match held in memory of Danny McColgan

A world champion ploughman has been drafted in to judge a ploughing match in Gleneely later this month.

Wexford man Martin Kehoe, a three time world ploughing champion and the current All-Ireland champion, will cast his experienced eye over competitors at a vintage tractor ploughing match in memory of the late Danny McColgan that's being held on John Harkin's farm on Saturday 24 May.

Danny McColgan, from Culkeeny in Malin, passed away in March after a short illness. He had a great interest in vintage tractors, and Davy Brown's in particular, and the ploughing match will raise funds for the Donegal Hospice.

“The idea came after my father's month's mind,” his son Daniel McColgan told Donegallive. “John Harkin, who's a first cousin of my father's, was back at the house for the tea afterwards and was looking at a set of ploughs in a shed and remarked it would be good to have a plough day and it snowballed from there.

“We knew seven or eight of the family would plough for a start, and we put up a Facebook post and there was a big response.
“We have nearly 30 entries now, and we've had to cap it at that.”

The ploughing match will take place at John Harkin's farm in Gleneely - the eircode is F93 F1C2 - and the public are encouraged to attend. There's no entry fee, but donations can be made on the day to the Donegal Hospice. Tea and refreshments will be served, but no chip vans as those wouldn't be in keeping with the tradition of such an event.

“There's always been an interest in ploughing in the family,” Daniel McColgan said. “Daddy was a good machinery man and would have ploughed a wee bit. He would have wrapped and raked silage for us on the farm every year.
“John Harkin's father would've won an Inishowen ploughing championship in the 1960s, and I think they still have the original cup from it.”

Ploughing competitions may have a long backstory in Inishowen, and while all the competitors will be novices that doesn't mean it won't be taken seriously.

“We had to go all the way to Wexford and get Martin Kehoe to be the judge,” Daniel laughed. “We did ask a few local men to judge it, but they all refused for fear of there being a row and some men falling out!
“We'll plough 15 or 20 furrows ourselves, but we're not while experienced and Martin might have his work cut out given the standard of it.
“He's going to do a demonstration himself, and it'll be good for us and all the spectators to see a master at work. I'm looking forward to seeing how he goes about 'opening a back', to get himself started. That's how the top ploughmen do it, but not something that I be at.
Ploughing starts at 1pm and Daniel says it will continue until the ground is ploughed or the field empties – whichever happens first.

Talk of vintage tractors in Inishowen doesn't be long in circling back to the Inish Tractor Run.

This year's event takes place on Sunday 1 June, and is dedicated to the memory of Danny McColgan.

The cavalcade will leave Banba's Crown at Malin Head at 11am, and tour around the north and east of the peninsula before repairing to the Malin Stables for a night's entertainment headlined by Mike Denver.

The biggest tractor run of its kind, it has raised more than a quarter of a million euro for local charities since it was first staged in 2014. 

“My father would've done that tractor run every year,” Daniel McColgan said. “It's a great event, and has raised a fortunre for local charities and we're looking forward to taking some of his Davy Browns out for this year's run.”