All hands to the plough

Preparations are well underway for the 102nd annual Mullahead Ploughing Match and ploughing entries are now open.
By The Newsroom
Published 24th Jan 2017, 07:26 BST
Updated 24th Jan 2017, 07:33 BST
Pictured at the 101st Mullahead Ploughing Match held at the Moyallen Estate in Portadown on Saturday. PICTURE STEVEN MCAULEY/MCAULEY MULTIMEDIAPictured at the 101st Mullahead Ploughing Match held at the Moyallen Estate in Portadown on Saturday. PICTURE STEVEN MCAULEY/MCAULEY MULTIMEDIA
Pictured at the 101st Mullahead Ploughing Match held at the Moyallen Estate in Portadown on Saturday. PICTURE STEVEN MCAULEY/MCAULEY MULTIMEDIA

The match includes a number of tractor and horse ploughing competitions including the 17th Ulster Horse Ploughing Championship, sponsored by Bank of Ireland and the 15th All Ireland Ferguson Ploughing Championships.

As the largest one day event of its kind in the UK, Mullahead has attracted ploughmen from across the UK and Ireland since its inception in 1912 and continues to grow year on year. Such is its magnitude, Mullahead holds the current Guinness World Record for the ‘Most Draught Horses Ploughing Simultaneously’ which it set in 2015 at its 100th annual match with 84 horses.

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“We are grateful for the support of our plough men as without them the match would not continue. Some of them go to great effort and travel long distances to be here and we know it is the fantastic ground and ploughing conditions on the Richardson Estate which keeps them returning year on year,” commented William McCracken Jnr, Mullahead’s secretary.

Entries are not just open to experienced ploughmen and returning competitors however, the Society urges first timers to have a go and will be judging a special Beginners category in both tractor and horse ploughing competitions.

The super competitive Tractor Pulling competition will also be returning for 2017 and entries are now open on a first come, first served basis. A real test of tractor and driver, this makes for a great spectator sport!

Entry forms are available via the website or by emailing [email protected].

Related topics:Ireland