Ploughman Christy ‘honoured’ to represent Ireland

He may have a number of All Ireland titles to his name, but Kilbeggan’s Christy Carton says that competing for Ireland at the Northern Ireland Ploughing Championship this weekend will be the highlight of his ploughing career.

Christy earned the honour of representing his country through his fifth placed finish in last year’s All Ireland Ploughing Championships. Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner this week, he said that he was looking forward to donning the green jersey for the first time at the championships, which are being held in Cookstown.

“It is a great honour for myself and everyone involved in ploughing in Westmeath,” he said.

While his father Paddy ploughed using a horse in his younger days, Christy says that he learned a lot about tractor ploughing from his neighbour Tom Lynam on his farm.

“I spent a lot of time with Tom Lynam and it didn’t do me any harm,” he said.

After developing a keen interest in ploughing as a youngster, Christy’s enthusiasm waned for a period before he returned to competitive action around 13 years.

In his first back competing he won the Junior All Ireland title and followed that up 12 months later with a second place in the intermediate section, which was enough to win promotion to the senior ranks.

Since then he has been competing against the country’s finest ploughmen with last year’s fifth place in the All Ireland his best performance to date.

Congratulating Christy on being selected to represent his country, the chairman of Westmeath Ploughing Association Senator Paul Daly said that his fellow Kilbeggan man, who also happens to be his cousin, would do his county proud.