The Queen of the Land Festival is an annual festival in County Offaly,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, hosted by Offaly

Macra na Feirme Macra na Feirme (; officially meaning "Stalwarts of the land") is an Irish voluntary rural youth organisation. The organisation provides a social outlet for members in sport, travel, public speaking, performing arts, community involvement and agr ...

in which young women compete for the title "Queen of the Land" based on their "appearance, personality, energy, confidence, dress sense, rural knowledge and elocution". The festival, which is currently sponsored by WR Shaw, was initiated by the ''

Irish Farmers Journal The ''Irish Farmers Journal'' is a weekly newspaper (published Thursdays) which provides farming news, specialist advice, market data and country living features to the Irish agricultural industry. As of October 2019, it reportedly had a weekly ...

'' in 1964 as part of the Kilkenny beer festival. The competition was then taken over by Offaly Macra three years later.

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the ...

lives up to the claim of being the "Royal County" by having had six Queens crowned over the years.

Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medi ...

and Kilkenny come second with four titles each. The only year the contest had to be postponed was 2001; this was owing to the foot-and-mouth disease crisis that hit Ireland that year. It had the effect of giving Anita Meagher the distinction of being the only Queen to rule for two years. The host county has only tasted victory twice in the competition; Michelle Cody won in 1994 and Sinead Mulcahy in 2009, both from the

Shinrone Shinrone () is a village in County Offaly, Ireland. It is in the southernmost part of the county, close to the border with County Tipperary. It lies at the junction of the R491 regional road between Nenagh and Roscrea with the R492 to Sharavo ...

Macra Club. 2005 was the 40th anniversary of the festival. As part of the big celebrations, all former Queens were invited back to

Tullamore Tullamore (; ) is the county town of County Offaly in Ireland. It is on the Grand Canal, in the middle of the county, and is the fourth most populous town in the midlands region with 14,607 inhabitants at the 2016 census. The town retained ...

to join in the festivities for the weekend. The festival is celebrating 54 years in 2017.

Previous winners

1960s winners

*1964 – Phyllis Finnegan (''née'' Ward) – County Meath *1965 – Marie Grey (''née'' Curtis) – County Meath *1966 – Joan Caulfield – County Roscommon *1967 – Breda Keneavy – County Westmeath *1968 – Ann Kelly (''née'' Minahan) – County Clare *1969 – Elleen Cloney – County Wexford

1970s winners

*1970 – Jennifer McKenna (''née'' Redpath) – County Meath *1971 – Moira Miller (''née'' Hardgrove) – County Laois *1972 – Shelia Motherway (''née'' Hallahan) – County Waterford *1973 – Elizabeth Sharkey (''née'' Kelly) – County Wicklow *1974 – Joan O’Keeffe (''née'' Bergin) – County Kilkenny *1975 – Mary O’Connor – County Cork *1976 – Philomena Byrne (''née'' Collins) – County Meath *1977 – Mary Monaghan (''née'' Harte) – County Kildare *1978 – Rosaleen Gallagher (''née'' Gilsenan) – County Meath *1979 – Catherine Gorman (''née'' Coffey) – County Kilkenny

1980s winners

*1980 – Aine Kent – County Wicklow *1981 – Ornagh Darcy (''née'' O’Mahoney) – County Wexford *1982 – Ann Dempsey (''née'' Ryan) – County Wicklow *1983 – Ann Kavanagh (''née'' Alrey) – County Waterford *1984 – Kathleen Murphy (''née'' Sinnott) – County Laois *1985 – Helena Connolly (''née'' McElvaney) – County Monaghan *1986 – Margaret McPaddan (''née'' Quinn) – County Donegal *1987 – Eillsh Rahill (''née'' Kirk) – County Louth *1988 – Clare Dillon – County Galway *1989 – Ann Marie McHugh – County Kildare

1990s winners

*1990 – Chris Clifford – County Limerick *1991 – Alice Lynch – County Sligo *1992 – Marie Vines – County Cork *1993 – Michelle Sheerin – County Sligo *1994 – Michelle Cody – County Offaly *1995 – Josephine Rodgers – County Roscommon *1996 – Audrey Salley – County Kildare *1997 – Caroline Glancy – County Roscommon *1998 – Lorraine Morrissey – County Tipperary *1999 – Mairead McEvoy – County Kilkenny

2000s winners

*2000 – Anita Meagher – County Waterford *2002 – Eimear O’Brien – County Wicklow *2003 – Caroline Tuite – County Meath *2004 – Catherine McCollum – County Cavan *2005 – Elaine Murphy – County Kilkenny *2006 – Breda Goulding – County Laois *2007 – Yvonne Daly – County Cork *2008 – Kate Harrison – County Dublin *2009 – Sinead Mulcahy – County Offaly

2010s winners

*2010 – Sherine Prendergast – County Tipperary, South *2011 – Bernie Woods – County Kilkenny *2012 – Teresa Brennan – County Laois *2013 – Geraldine Barrett – Carbury Region, County Cork *2015 - Christine Buckley - County Kerry *2014 – Orla Murphy – County Galway *2017 - Emma Birchall - County Kildare *2018 – Louise Crowley – County Limerick

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Queen Of The Land Festival Festivals in Ireland Beauty pageants in Ireland Tourist attractions in County Offaly