If it’s the Irish bank holiday weekend, then it’s time for the Innishannon Steam & Vintage Rally. Colin Tyson returned to the ‘Emerald Isle’ to catch up on the rally that just gets bigger and bigger.

It’s a good few years since I’d attended the Innishannon Steam & Vintage Rally - which is one of the major Irish rallies and the biggest event of its kind in the south - and my, how you’ve grown!
And it’s even more years than I care to remember when I first attended the same rally in its previous incarnation; the Upton Steam Rally, which was then held within the grounds of a are home for mentally handicapped children. Situated just twenty minutes south west of Cork amidst beautiful lush countryside, the drive from Cork Airport to the rallyfield is now much faster than the journey of a decade ago, due to major road re-building programmes.
Sunday and Monday June 6/7 was the weekend of the seventh annual rally to be hosted by the current committee — but they do have 20 years of former Upton rally experience to draw upon! On that note, this year’s rally was tinged with sadness as it was the first without Mary Buckley, who passed away on March 17 last. A founder member of the Innishannon rally, she was involved in the running of the Upton rally for many years. She was part of a team that continue to tirelessly raise funds for the Irish Cancer Society and the impressive total that has been raised by the rally up until 2003 stood at €166, 605.

Lovingly cared for without the need for paint! Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies threshing mill No. 27021.

Both the site and the number of exhibits have grown enormously and the first big impression made was the sight of fifteen threshing mills in a line. Nine were Ransomes machines; two Marshalls; an 1885-built Garrett; two Garvie mills, made in Aberdeen and an even rarer Tullos- also of Aberdeen, owned by Moss and Trevor Fleming of Castlemartyr, Cork. This machine is numbered C179. One of the committee members that put together the Irish threshing record last year, Paddy Knox, was to be seen helping in the threshing area and the father and son team of Dennis O’Mahony and Dennis (Jnr) provided the sole steam support on the threshing line with their Fowler compound traction engine No. 21626 of 1936 St. Patrick. The engine returned this year after a two year major rebuild.

The Innishannon steam line-up.

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