Stradbally

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BIGGEST EVER STRADBALLY STEAM RALLY FIRES UP IN LAOIS FOR BANK HOLIDAY
WEEKEND

Ireland's largest steam engine rally will gather in Laois this
weekend, to fire up for its 60th birthday and parade together along
the main street in a spectacle sure to go down in the history books.

From its simple beginning, a small gathering of enthusiastic steam
engine owners in Court Square, Stradbally watched on curiously by
locals on St Stephen's Day in 1964, Stradbally Steam Rally has chugged
on reliably for 60 years, fuelled by the passion and love of these
impressively giant intricate antique machines.

This year the steam committee have injected new thrills, a lot of
live music and a campsite, to celebrate their birthday, not least
being the biggest display possibly ever in Ireland of 68 large engines
and 25 model engines.

There is a new focus this year on entertainment for the public other
than the machines, with tens of thousands of visitors expected daily
throughout the four day festival.

The traditional parade through Stradbally continues but before it
starts on Saturday evening at 7pm, there will be a street carnival
with family entertainers from 5pm at Court Square.

The biggest ever steam engine parade will then proceed up through the
Main Street from 7.15pm to 8pm, also including tractors and vintage
cars.

There is great music and even a dancing stage this year inside the
display grounds.

Irish Country music queen Susan McCann and Cliona Hagan headline a big
lineup of music names.

It starts on Friday, August 2 with Pure Green playing for the crowds
from 9.30pm to 11.30pm.

On Saturday, the great Laois band Abbeyfolk will play from 9.30pm
until midnight.

Then on Sunday, August 4 at 12.30pm, Timahoe Choir will kick off the
afternoon with a rousing hour of songs.

The official opening will be performed by Anna May McHugh, MD of the
National Ploughing Association, at 1.30 pm on Sunday.

Susan McCann takes to the stage at 2pm for a two hour concert,
followed straight afterwards by Cliona Hagan for two more hours.

From 6:30pm to 8:30pm the Rockabilly Rebels take over the stage, and
at 9:30pm the Celtic Gypsies will kick off, playing until midnight.

The fun rolls into Bank Holiday Monday, with Stacey Breen on stage
from midday to 2pm, followed by the AJs from 2pm to 4pm.

Since 1966, all of the events have been held in the grounds of
Stradbally Hall, by kind permission of three generations of the
Cosby family, offering their fields as a venue for huge gatherings
long before the Electric Picnic came to town.

There will be displays of steam engines, vintage cars, vintage
tractors and commercials.

On top of that are over 70 trade stands, a carnival, an Autojumble,
a Blacksmith Village, Steam Working Arena, Massive Saw Benching
Display with the Celtic Steamers, Truck Displays, Oil Engines, Steam
Engine Rides, Live Music, Bouncing Castles, a Kids Area, Craft
Village, Pet Farm and Dog Show.

Weekend camping and caravan/camper parking is even available this year
too. The campsite has security, water, toilets, a shower unit and
waste disposal. Mobility scooters can also be hired for the weekend.

The society donates part of the proceeds to charities, including Laois
Hospice, Stradbally Meal on Wheels, and Aoibheann’s Pink Tie.

Book tickets and camping on www.irishsteam.nethttps://irishsteam.net/

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NATIONAL STEAM RALLY COMES TO LAOIS THIS WEEKEND

Friday, 2 August 2024 18:38

People will come from all over to celebrate all things steam and
vintage.

The National Steam Rally is taking place in Stradbally over the
weekend.

The festival, in its 60th year, will celebrate all things steam and
vintage related with steam engines, vintage cars and a blacksmith
village among the attractions.

The event will also feature a variety of activities, including a pet
farm, food tent and crafts village.

The National Steam Rally is taking place on Sunday and Monday this
bank holiday weekend, marking the 60th anniversary with a parade on
Saturday evening.

Report 2
'A LOT OF THEM WENT FOR SCRAP METAL' - LAOIS STEAM RALLY'S CHAIRMAN

As the 60th Stradbally Steam Rally entertains thousands in Laois this
August Bank Holiday weekend, one family has a greater interest than
most.

Irish Steam Preservation Society Chairperson Nigel Glynn is carrying
on three generations of family tradition in the steam preservation
society, founded 60 years ago in 1964.

“My grandfather James was there from the start but got involved in
helping out in 1971, and was president in the 70s and 80s. My father
Albert is a former president too so I’m third generation for my
sins. We have all been directors too since the 1970s. We are involved
for 54 years now as a family,” he said.

He explained the origins of the rally.

“My grandfather and his father contracted out steam threshing mills
to thresh corn, back in the 1920s and 30s.

“The glory days were from 1900 to 1945, when they were mainly used
for agriculture. They started to become obsolete in the 50s and 60s.

“A lot of them went to Hammond Lane in Dublin to be cut up for scrap
metal, which was a precious commodity. They were recycled into other
things.

“The first rally in 1964 in Stradbally had four or five engines.
This year we will have 65 full size steam engines across maybe 50
acres, coming from every corner of Ireland and from England, Wales and
Scotland. It will be massive, it's never been seen in Ireland.

Laois photographer Michael Scully's photos from the very first
Stradbally Steam Rally in this week's Leinster Express.

“They are all fully restored and date back from 80 to 130 years
ago. There will be showmans engines too, which are steam engines
that generate electricity and lights for amusement funfairs. The
Burrells then are like the Rolls Royce of steam engines, they stand
out from the crowd,” he said.

It has become a family obsession for the Glynns, who are all from
Graigue na Spidogue in Carlow.

“I would have grown up with them, they were in the garage at home.
We are rebuilding engines since the early 70s. You don’t just buy
parts, you have to go to a machine shop and make the parts. We
started with two steam engines and now between my dad and this three
brothers we have 13 in the family. One or two were brought from as far
as Australia,” he said.

He is hoping that with good weather, they will welcome 20,000 visitors
through the gates on Sunday alone.

“It’s a meeting point for everyone. We are all like a family, we
know each other so well.

“This year too we are introducing live music and a massive dance
floor.

“It’s an important date on the calendar not just for Stradbally,
but Laois. Everyone in Stradbally looks forward to it. It’s the
start of the madness really, a week later there’s Electric Picnic,
then the ploughing championships. The steam rally is different though,
it’s very relaxed and easy going, there’s always a great
atmosphere,” he said.

The community and business support is vital, Nigel said.

“Local businesses get behind us and help and support us. Without
them we’d find it very hard to run it. A lot of locals are involved
and clubs too come together to help us,” he said.

It is ironic that the steam engines which were made obsolete by diesel
machines, are now transitioning into being carbon neutral.

“We started the transition with Arigna Fuels who are now our main
sponsor. Biofuel is completely carbon free. We are 80% there now. This
year we will have a touch of smokeless coal to give it that extra bit
of thump. In winter I hope to start trials again.

“If you had 65 engines on ordinary coal you wouldn’t stand in the
field, you’d be smoked out. For the last two years you wouldn’t
even see smoke.

“I hope we can keep it going for the next 60 years,” he said.

The steam rally is the biggest annual event for the Irish Steam
Preservation Society but they also organise the Stradbally Woodland
Railway and it is getting very popular at Christmas.

“For the last two years we have done a Santa Express train ride, it
sells out in four or five weeks, you wouldn’t get tickets for love
nor money. It’s all volunteers running it, and it’s all in aid of
charity.

Those charities are Aoibhinn’s Pink Tie, Stradbally Meals on Wheels
and Laois Hospice.

“Some money goes to them from the steam rally too but a lot goes to
running costs and insurance. We have a little museum in Stradbally
too, we get a small grant from Laois County Council and are grateful

Report 3
LAOIS MAN WITH UNUSUAL HOBBY OF MINDING A STEAM ENGINE

All year round after the crowds at Stradbally Steam Rally go home, two
steam engines and the steam train owned by the Irish Steam
Preservation Society remain on site where they are loved and
maintained by their volunteer members.

Among those members is Joe O'Shea, a truck driver from Ballymaddock,
near the Rock of Dunamase in Laois.

The Leinster Express / Laois Live visited Joe in the specially built
engine shed on the Cosby estate.

Joe looks after a 1917 Mann's Steam Cart & Wagon, nicknamed The Mighty
Mann, which was used for direct ploughing before tractors were
invented, and also used in a sawmills and for threshing.

Built in Leeds and sent to Ireland, its original owner is unknown. In
1922 it was bought by George E. Moore of Fraine, Athboy, Co Meath to
use on his Fraine House Farm.

Purchased for preservation after being left in the open for 12 years
by the early steam preservationist Jack Louth from Slane, Co. Meath in
late 1963, it was then donated to the Irish Steam Preservation Society
and was present for the 1965 National Steam Rally at Stradbally.

It was regularly driven by the Society Stalwart Jack Tynan and later
his son Tom until its boiler was condemned in the late 1990s.

Joe explained how the machine was most recently restored.

Alan Willoughby and Harry Glynn aboard the Mann Steam Cart at Ballyfin
Vintage Steam, Thresing and Working Day in 2024. Photo Denis Byrne

“When they got her first she was halfway up her wheels in sawdust.
She was out of commission for 20 years. About10 or 11 years ago we
sent her to England to get a new boiler and get done up.

“She's back since just after Covid and I've looked after her
since.

“She works like a kettle. There is a water tank on the back which
pumps cold water through a gap around the fire. She boils the water
and the steam drives two pistons.

“She's a lovely little engine for driving, the wheels are sprung,
she can do 10 or 11km per hour. She is a three speed, a lot of engines
would be two speed,” he said.

The driver stands up in a space beside the fire door.

“You're a one man band driving her. I have to stop on the road to
fire it (shovel coal into the fire). It gets brutal hot beside the
fire.

“We use Arigna smokeless coal or biocoal, which is made from crushed
olive stones. Three 20kg bags would get a day of good driving done.
It's a different smell, its strange.

“It takes an hour and half to get hot enough to steam it.

“We went to Dungarvan and lit it on the lorry and there was steam in
a half hour with the wind blowing through it,” he said.

Sometimes he said, leaf blowers are used under the engine to act
like a giant bellows to speed up the fire.

Minding The Mighty Mann he said is an ongoing job, with many parts
to care for.

“They all need continuous work, bits and pieces.

“I want to get new piston rods for her. I hope to get her repainted.
She was done up in England and they painted her red but I'd like to
change that to a more crimson red like our other engine,” Joe said.

He first got interest in caring for the steam engines as a teenager,
over 30 years ago.

“The society have another engine in their museum here in Stradbally.
Ben Foley from Foley's Garage used to look after it and I would go in
to look at it. My friend helped and I'd give him a hand. Then I
started looking after others and got more involved in the society.

Asked what is it he loves about the craft, Joe said: “I ask myself
that sometimes. Some people go golfing, this is my hobby.

“Every weekend I ask myself why I didn't pick a hobby where you
don't get dirtier than your day job.

“I grew up on a farm, machinery is my thing.

“I enjoy going to the rallys, from loading them up to travelling on
the road, checking where everyone is, there's great
camaraderie. Over the weekend of the Stradbally steam rally, I'll
be volunteering with everyone else. After you have a few beers and a
bit of craic, that's what it's all about,” he said.

The Mightly Mann gets to tour Ireland, brought to rallies in Antrim at
Shane's Castle, in Inishannon in Cork and after Stradbally, she will
head to the Moynalty steam threshing festival in Meath, among other
smaller gatherings.

While the driver stands up, the machine has recently had a little
wooden seat built on top of the water tank, especially for Joe's
daughter Caireann, 12 to sit on.

“She is taking a great interest, she is mad for driving it. There
are plenty of women who look after steam engines so hopefully she
will eventually take over from me,” her proud dad said.

The 60th annual Stradbally Steam Rally takes place this August Bank
Holiday Weekend, from Friday, August 2 to Bank Holiday Monday.

[C.M.FANCE]

Is the Fowler BB1 - no. 15223 now back in Ireland ? Or is the first photograph quite old ?