This article is from page 52 of the 2008-09-09 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 52 JPG
THE Gods were shining on east Clare on Saturday as the annual Scariff Agricultural Show took place on one of sunniest days of the sum- mer. The show had been in jeopardy during the week as persistent rain forced the cancellation of a number of events – including the show-jump- ing and sportsman classes.
Conditions improved greatly on Saturday, however, baking the hun- dreds who attended the show under warm sunshine with not a cloud in sight. The show is traditionally one of the last shows in the national show calendar and draws a large crowd. One of the highlights of this show was the All-Ireland Year Filly Championship Final which was won by Anthony Gordon from Ballina in County Mayo.
“The filly competition is a real highlight of the festival. We the the top 22 or 23 foals from all over the country here for the competition,” said Joanne Allen of the Scariff Show Association.
“It’s an unusual competition in that it is sponsored each year by the show society itself. When most shows host a major competition they have to get major outside sponsorship, but we
have such great local backing that we can sponsor this competition our- selves.”
The list of winners for this years show represent every corner of the country and will be available in full from www.scariffshow.com _ later this week.
“The entries this year were very good. Our best dressed child, Isa- bell Lobb, coming all the way from Barcelona. In fact there was a huge increase in the numbers entering the indoor competition,” said Joanne.
‘We had to cancel a few of the out- door classes because of the weather which was regrettable. These classes are some of the best supported in the whole show and there is a great local interest in them.”
The Scariff Show committee are examining the possibility of re-stag- ing the showjumping and sportsman classes at a future date – possibly in the new year.