Showing us all the best side of local life
IT was eighty years ago, this very week, that the Limerick Showwas revived after an interval of 15 years caused by the outbreak of the First World War.
At a meeting earlier in 1929, presided over by the Earl of Dunraven, it had been decided to move the showfrom a market yard in Mulgrave Street to the spacious Greenpark Racecourse. The budget they had for the running of the show?
Just 800. These days, the local racecourse is the superbly appointed Greenmount track and this weekend the showgoes on, once again, at its relatively newhome. Limerick people can be grateful that, in a time of turbulence when it seems nothing can be taken for granted any more, some of the best things in local life continue.
The Cappamore Show, another hugely important annual event, took place this Wednesday at the Gleeson family farm and was perhaps the best demonstration we have seen all year in Limerick that even in the most difficult times, life goes on - and it can still be better than before.
Incredibly, sponsorship for the 55th Cappamore Showwas up on last year. Is there any event in the country, of any kind, that can make a similar claim? Even the demand for trade stands was, to quote Cappamore's long-time secretary Paddy Ryan, "unprecedented".
This is no mystery about this. The reason for Cappamore's success is down to those old-fashioned virtues: hard work and dedication. This remarkable community festival can withstand the toughest economic recession since the foundation of the state because of the people who make it happen, convincing sponsors to part with vital funding because those businesses understand just how important the showis to thousands of people.
Many local businesses have contributed to the running of both the Cappamore and Limerick shows – not to mention the many other wonderful shows which take place around the county over the summer – and they deserve recognition and support from the public for having done so at a time when budgets are seriously stretched.
Back when the Limerick Show was revived in 1929 – incidentally, the year of arguably the biggest worldwide financial crisis in history, another parallel with 2009 – there were various trophies donated by local firms and individuals, some of which will be presented once again this weekend. Ten thousand people came to Greenpark and there were 1,500 entries.
The winners included many well-known local families - Patrick Heffernan from Patrickswell, Talbot J Considine from Pallasgreen, Denis O'Regan from Charleville and Gerard O'Brien from Mulcair Farm, to name a mere four.
No doubt plenty of these families will be among the winners again when the Limerick Leader continues another time-honoured tradition next week and prints a comprehensive list of the winners from both Limerick and Cappamore Shows. Long may they both reign.
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Weather for Limerick
Monday 21 May 2012
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Temperature: 12 C to 18 C
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Wind direction: South
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Temperature: 13 C to 18 C
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