Pictured inspecting the crop are Martin Nyhan (Secretary, De Courcey Classic & Vintage Club), John O’Neill (Chairman, De Courcey Classic & Vintage Club), Paddy McCarthy (Landowner), Rex Draper and Christy Draper.
This day two weeks the 2015 De Courcey Harvest Working Day takes place. It’s launch took place in Ballinadee last Monday, the 13th of July.
Chairman of De Courcey Classic and Vintage club told how the McCarthy Family, land owners of this years site have a long history associated with Harvesting and Milling.
Members from each group who will benefit from funds raised on the day also said a few words.
Afterwards Corcoran’s Bar in Ballinadee hoisted some refreshments.
Last May the new Kilmacsimon Community centre, Bandon, Co Cork was the venue for a very well attended slideshow and talk about the West Cork and South Coast railway organized by the De Courcey Vintage Club and presented by Mr Chris Larkin. The evening was a huge success being both informative and also a great social occasion with a chance for a cup of tea and a chat during the interval.
Another historic talk is planned for the evening of Monday 4th May next at 8 P.M. in the same venue. This year’s talk will be presented by Mr Tim Crowley of the Michael Collins centre, Timoleague and will cover the history of Henry Ford from his family’s origins in Ballinscarthy to his great industrial success story with the famous Ford model T motor car. It is sure to be a most enjoyable night for anyone interested in either the history of West Cork or the history of the automobile.
De Courcey Classic and vintage Club, building on the success of the Claas Centenary and the New Holland Basildon 50 celebrations are once again planning a major event for the 2015 August Bank Holiday Monday.
The theme for this year’s event will be “A century of Change”. As in previous years it will of course be a working day. Visitors will be able to see teams of horses working with implements and machinery from bygone farming days as well as the giant harvesters of today and everything in between.
Continuing with our commitment to supporting local causes, this year funds raised will once again go to several local groups in De Courcey’s parish but our main beneficiary will be the ‘Friends of Jamie Wall Trust Fund”.
Friends of Jamie Wall
Jamie Wall is a local young teacher who led a very active life and was much involved in the GAA, playing both hurling and football for Cork in Under 21’s and Minors. Unfortunately Jamie suffered a severe illness in 2014 which left him requiring a great deal of care. ‘The friends of Jamie Wall’ fund was set up to raise funds to support Jamie’s rehabilitation and aid in his goal of once again living an independent life.
The team at De Courcey’s look forward to fine weather on the August Bank Holiday Monday and a great day at our new site in Ballinadee to celebrate the ‘Century of Change’.
Bill Chambers PRO.
Contact John 087 2667296 or Martin 087 6060777.
As spring arrives in 2015 the Vintage Club is starting to get ready for the season ahead. First up will be the local St Patricks Day parades.
The club will be attending as many parades as possible to publicise this year’s August Bank Holiday Harvest day.
Kinsale, Bandon and Courtmacsherry parades will be attended as usual and hopefully a few more as well.
The De Courcey Classic and Vintage Club held a meeting on 1st Oct last to discuss the venue for our 2015 harvest day on the August bank Holiday Monday. The last four years has seen this event grow and grow in size.
The sponsor for 2014 was New Holland Agriculture and was once again a very successful day thanks in no small part to excellent weather with an attendance of over six thousand spectators.
In previous years the Harvest day has been hosted by Jim and Eileen O’Regan at Barrels Cross near Kinsale. Jim was the person who came up with the original idea for the unique vintage event and his family have pulled out all the stops to make sure the events ran flawlessly.
De Courcey Vintage Club is most grateful to the O’Regan family for the last four years and look forward to returning to Barrels Cross in the future.
2015 however will be different as a new site has been identified adjacent to Ballinadee village on land belonging to Paddy and Ann McCarthy. The new site will be an exciting challenge for the Club members with a new layout to be planned. The preparation for Monday 3rd Aug 2015 is already under way.
Contact Martin 087 6060777, John 2667296
You can now rent or buy the Harvest Day 2014 video on Demand in HD! Watch it anywhere! On mobile, tablet, PC, laptop, Xbox, Apple TV and more.
The DVD of this years Harvest Working Day is now available to buy. New Holland joined this year, celebrating 50 years of manufacturing in Basildon, UK.
A range of Ford and New Holland tractors from Keith Byran’s 1918 model F, to Jim O’Regan’s 2014 T7.260, gave an unforgettable display of ploughing. Donal McCarthy’s team of Clydesdale horses were joined by Fordson model F’s, N’s, Ford Nans, Majors and Dextas with a mixture of trailer and hydraulic ploughs. The thousand series up to the modern T6’s and T7’s with their huge reversible were all represented. The final sequence in the ploughing area was a spectacular line up of the 24 participants in a single line spanning 96 years of progress.
With the ploughing out of the way, the Claeys, Claysons and New Holland combines took up position for a unique formation harvesting display of 16 combines with Kinsale Harbour and the sea in the distance behind them. The earliest machine on site was a 1963 Claeys M103 owned by Michael Ryan, Ballinscarthy and the most modern was a 2014 New Holland CX6090 owned by Leonard Draper of Dunmanway. New Holland combines from each decade in between were present.
On Saturday the 15th of November De Courcey Classic and Vintage Club held a presentation night to distribute funds raised at the 2014 Harvest Working day on the farm of Jim and Eileen O’Regan at Coolyrahilly, Barrel’s Cross, Kinsale in County Cork. This year the Club had €28,500 to distribute to various groups.
The main beneficiary were The Friends of Marymount Hospice who received €12,000. Ballinadee and Ballinspittle National Schools both received €5,500 and Courcey Rovers underage GAA teams received €5,500. This will bring the total amount donated by the club in the last five years to over €67,000.
The many thousands who attended the Harvest event on the August Bank Holiday were not disappointed as the club committee and sponsors Mc&S Agrisales Ltd and New Holland, had prepared a very special day indeed.
The day started early with ploughs, harrows and tilling at midday followed by the teams of horses mowing, binding and drawing sheaves in the traditional harvest section. The vintage Claas, M.F’s Dronningberg, and Dania harvesters then started their own display.
The official opening was then performed by Mr Andrew Watson C.E.O. of New Holland UK and Ireland, who had travelled to Ireland especially for the event.
A new attraction this year was a huge ploughing area. Donal McCarthy’s team of Clydesdale horses were joined by a range of Ford and New Holland tractors from Keith Byran’s 1918 model F, to Jim O’Regan’s 2014 T7.260, to give an unforgettable display of ploughing. The final sequence in the ploughing area was a spectacular line up of the 24 participants in a single line spanning 96 years of progress.
The Claeys, Claysons and New Holland combines were aligned for a unique formation harvesting display of 16 combines with Kinsale Harbour and the sea in the distance behind them. The earliest machine on site was a 1963 Claeys M103 owned by Michael Ryan, Ballinscarthy and the most modern was a 2014 New Holland CX6090 owned by Leonard Draper of Dunmanway. New Holland combines from each decade in between were present.
As all this activity was taking place visitors were able take a break in the picnic area at the food village which occupied a central location in the 35 Acre field. Delicious food was served all day by local West Cork food outlets and many people returned several times to try out the different wares. The De Courcey tea tent was an especially busy place with many exhibitors and visitors having a cuppa and catching up with acquaintances for a chat.
In tune with the harvest theme, there was an impressive display of various milling machines from horse operated threshing machines to engine and tractor driven mills. Raymond White from Ballinspittle was kept busy all day demonstrating how the hand operated kern stones produced flour from wheat.
A fine display of vintage cars, trucks and tractors was on site. The tractors were of course dominated by the blue of the Fords. Many early Fordsons were also present. New Holland had a full range of modern machines at the event and the merchandise shop did tremendous business out all day.
After the final harvesting displays completed the raffle was held. Prizes included three months use of a New Holland Tractor, a weekend break and a New Holland gift pack. Mr Andrew Watson was then called to cut a specially commissioned cake commemorating 50 years of tractor production at the Basildon UK plant.
De Courcey Classic and Vintage Club would like to thank the members, sponsors, landowner, local groups and individuals and the many people who contributed in all sorts of ways for their support in 2014.
The presentation night also marked the launch of the official Harvest Working Day DVD produced by Kevin O’Neill. The hour long DVD is available from Kevin Tel; 087 7752059 or kevinoneill@gmail.com.
Next year’s event is already being discussed. A new site on the farm of Paddy and Ann McCarthy close to Ballinadee Village has been selected. The club is looking forward to another successful Harvest day in 2015.