Limerick show …then and now
Limerick Show due to take place on its traditional date on Sunday 27th is now in its 94th year having been run without a break on Limerick Racecourse since its inception in 1929.
However, the current show replaced an earlier show run in the Markets Field which was first held in 1890. The Limerick Chronicle of the day dated August 25th, 1956, traces the history of the earlier show. Among. those who organised the event (and whose families are still around) were Wm Leahy ,Solicitor, JF Power T.C (who ran a grain and feed business), P P Johnston Veterinary Surgeon and many more. The leading light appears to have been Owen Coll, a Veterinary Surgeon who practised in Limerick but hailed from Knockane, Bruree where he must surely have been related to Eamonn DeValera whose mother was a Coll and came from those parts and where the young Dev was brought up.
Chronicle correspondent Dick Naughton recalled the show as being an outstanding success with music provided by “The splendid band of the Worcestershire Regiment under the baton of Mr Evans.” The show had a distinctly military feel to it with competitions run by the 15th Hussars as follows “Cavalry display, jumping hurdles etc, lying down horses, bareback wrestling and tilting at ring”.
For all that in those pre-revolutionary days the show was well supported run over two days with a huge attendance and a notable profit achieved towards running the following year. The show continued right up until the troubles when the military influence probably rendered the format untenable.
The troubles and the early days of the free state saw Limerick without its county show right up to 1929 when the Lord Dunraven of his day formed a committee to re-establish the show to be run on Limerick Racecourse at the end of August. Lord Dunraven, already in his seventies had only recently inherited the title and Adare Manor(and all that went with it) from his cousin who had died without a male heir. He had moved from Carrick-on-Suir, and he must have been a man of extraordinary dynamism. Among the committee and whose family are still involved in the current show were Ned Leahy, Solicitor, WG Peacocke with the then mayor of Limerick filling the role of Vice-Chairman ,a role the current Mayor by tradition holds to this day. Lord Dunraven was show president and he remained in office well into the fifties when he died at the advanced age of ninety-five. The family kept up the connection and his great-grandson Sir Francis Brooke remains a staunch supporter of the show as does Billy Leahy still show solicitor and Billy Peacocke son of WG of Ballinacurra.
The succeeding 93 years have seen the show run almost without a break apart from foot and mouth but the founders could not have known that the birth of the show would coincide with the great depression but then as now the show weathered adversity and ran right though the second world war .Always ready for new innovation, the show moved from the old Greenpark in Ballinacurra to its current venue in Greenmount, Patrickswell on Limerick racecourse. The move from old to new was done seamlessly due to the good offices of racecourse chairperson Mark McMahon and the late Michael Punch engineer extraordinaire.
After an enforced stoppage due to Covid happily this year sees the show under the chairmanship of Richard Kennedy of Clarina enter a new era with AMCS now in their second year as anchor sponsor.
Over the years we have had some very famous visitors including future British Prime-Minister Sir Antony Eden while more recently Robert Mueller Director General of the FBI complete with his security detail spent an enjoyable afternoon in Greenmount.
As well as all the traditional events such horses, cattle, horticulture and crafts, the show promises all sorts of innovations with an agricultural sustainability event sponsored by AMCS limerick’s own home-grown multi-national founded by local farmer Jimmy Martin. Jimmy has stepped forward as anchor sponsor of the show and among the many innovations he has brought is an employment fair where most of Limerick’s leading companies will have a presence looking for the Collinson brothers of the future. AMCS have proved an invaluable asset supporting the show not just financially but making its full IT resources available to the show.
Whether it is horses, cattle, fashion or innovation the show offers a shop window for the best Limerick has to offer. This year’s farm machinery exhibition will be Ireland’s biggest short of the Ploughing. Always a high point of the show is the family dog show held in the parade ring where your family pet will be welcome to compete for generous rosettes and prizes. Completing the day will be the best dressed lady, the Animal farm, the free kiddie’s zone with all amusements free on the day and with only €10 entry fee it is a must day out for all lovers of country life.
