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One of the most keenly anticipated events in the Men’s Sheds calendar took place on Wednesday 22 May, as the Topline Shed Series returned for 2019. The fourth outing for this much-loved annual event took place at Naas Racecourse in Co Kildare, with Mairead Lavery of Irish Country Living joining nine-time champion jockey Pat Smullen on the judging panel. John Phelan of Topline Phelans rounded out the panel faced with the unenviable task of picking a winner.
With 140 initial entries whittled down to a final shortlist of 23, competition was fierce but friendly. An hour before the scheduled start time, the marquee at Naas Racecourse could already have passed for the Venice Biennale, such was the quality of the artworks neatly arrayed within.
Eighteen counties were represented at the final event. One of the first to arrive was Portaferry Men’s Shed of Co Down, whose mammoth work of local history would give many a university department a run for its money.
As well as a superbly detailed miniature rendering of their town’s historic churchyard, the shed has produced an abundance of accompanying literature on the surnames of its members, and how their ancestors came to arrive in Portaferry.
Cooley Peninsula Men’s Shed – unaccustomed to leaving the Shed Series empty-handed – were next on the scene. The Co Louth shed surpassed themselves once again with a cheekily humorous entry entitled Men’s Sheds Throughout the Ages. The entry featured such delights as a Topline-branded Stonehenge, the (pyramidal, naturally) interior of an ancient Egyptian shed, and a breathtaking nod to local myth in the shape of a backdrop featuring An Táin Bó Cúailnge (the Cattle Raid of Cooley).
Tuam Men’s Shed of Co Mayo, meanwhile, turned up with some astonishing works of craftsmanship drawing on their town’s history and heritage, in keeping with the criteria of the competition. Sheds were also required to utilise free materials provided by their local Topline retailers.
Such was the standard of competition, however, that none of the above-mentioned sheds made it into the winners’ enclosure. For the second year running, Killoe Men’s Shed of Co Longford scooped the People’s Choice Award, with a magnificently detailed entry which racked up a remarkable 1,200 likes on Facebook, in a canvassing operation that would have done any local election candidate proud.
KC Men’s Shed of Co Kerry placed third overall, with their astonishing model of the historic Norman castle which gave Castlemaine its name (before its final remnants were destroyed in the 1960s).
Second place went to Rosslare Men’s Shed of Co Wexford, for their intricate hand-cut work commemorating the town’s vital – but under-recorded – links with the radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi, and Rosslare’s role as a vital node in his earliest radio network.
There could, of course, be only one winner, and this year’s laurels go to Kilbeggan Men’s Shed of Co Westmeath. They produced a pyrography-based entry themed around the historic townlands surrounding Kilbeggan, whose names and identities have been obscured by the fog of time.
As well as the plaudits of the judges and the cheers of the crowd, Kilbeggan Men’s Shed took home a cheque with a total value of €1,500, provided (like all of the total prize fund) by Topline as part of its ongoing partnership with the Irish Men’s Sheds Association.
John Phelan, representing the Topline members on the judging panel, commented: “I continue to be blown away by the skills and craftsmanship demonstrated by the sheds. But more than that, the involvement really does highlight the importance of giving men a place to come together and feel like they are giving back and not alone in their community.”
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