This article is from page 8 of the 2006-10-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
A CLARE woman made history last week by becoming the first ever female to compete in one of the main events at the National Ploughing Championships in Carlow.
Not only did Sinead Corbett – from Newmarket-on-Fergus – compete, she also turned a few heads by finishing in fourth place in the Under21 Competition, leaving many lads in her wake.
Up until last week, female ploughers have only competed in the Farmerette Category of the championships.
One female did appear in the vintage plough section a number of years ago, but Sinead’s appearance is the first by a female in any of the mainstream competitions.
“It was always open for boys and girls, but this year I just decided to have a go before I am too old for the Under-21 category,” she told The Clare People .
“I had been ploughing at a few different events in the midlands and in Tipperary and, when there wouldn’t be enough girls to run a Farmerette competition, they would put us in with the lads.
“We got the idea from that, got the all-clear from the National Ploughing Association and then just decided to go for it.”
Sinead is currently based in Limerick, where she works as a student nurse.
At 20 years of age, she still has one year remaining in the Under-21 age group.
She has been ploughing since the age of 16, under the tutelage of her father, Frank Corbett.
“I am very proud of her. She had put in a lot of work in preparation all through the winter. She really likes it a lot, I guess it’s in the family,” said Mr Corbett.
“She got the full backing from everyone at the NPA and the response that she got from the people up there was brilliant.
“The Farmerettes are usually shoved into some corner at the Ploughing Championships, but I think that this might be the start of something good for lady ploughers.”
Other Clare ploughers to perform well at the National Ploughing Championships included John White, Gerard Frost (Jnr), John J Donnellan and Gerard Harmon. More than 60,000 farmers descended on Tullow in Carlow for each day of the National and World Ploughing Championships.
A great display by 17-year-old Scot Andrew Mitchell saw him take first place in the conventional section of the World Championships, while Simon Witty from England took the crown in the reversible category for the second year running.