Residents of Clogheen in south Tipperary were on 'homecoming' duty last weekend as they hosted their annual festival. They have this particular kind of event off to a tee and by making the best possible use of their modest budget, the festival committee always manage to return a profit - no small achievement in recessionary times.
The mainstays of the festival are the gala day and the sheep racing and while a lot of communities have got in on the act in recent times, Clogheen is recognised as the true home of sheep racing.
The rock climbing wall at the gala day proved to be a big hit and it was good to see proceeds from this attraction going to St Paul's Community Centre which is the social and cultural hub of Clogheen.
The road race and cycle early in the week were also very well supported. There was a big crowd at the sheep racing as tote operators gave punters a chance to make a few quid. There's quite a bit of work to get these animals to and from the venue so fair play to all concerned. The sheep are well cared for and are none the worst for the small bit of sprinting they have to do.
Clogheen's Homecoming Festival is a chance to met people and have the craic and there was certainly no shortage of the latter in Clogheen on Sunday night as people took it easy knowing the lie-in awaited them on bank holiday Monday.
During our trip to Clogheen last weekend we were alerted to the fact that Vee Rovers (the local soccer team) in conjunction with Clogeen Community Council are hosting a Gathering style event that will run from 24th to the 26th August. Hopefully we'll be supplied with additional information in the coming weeks as it seems like a very interesting project!

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