The National Ploughing Championships are a living, breathing show of Irish pride in their land and farming. The show, while uniquely Irish, is also utterly familiar to me, an American.
It reminded me of state fairs I attended as a child in the United States.
While ploughing is the focus, the overall championships seemed more practical than any American counterparts. I don't remember ever seeing so many stalls selling so much farm equipment all in one place.
The size and focus of state fairs in the US varies but most are focused on competitions.
These start local, in towns and counties, with the winners moving on to state fairs. Every animal showcased is a prize beast and even eating becomes a competition as Americans try to see who can bake the best pie.
In Athy, where Taoiseach Enda Kenny visited today, the stalls stretched on for miles and at one point I became so entwined among the practical side, I almost lost my way to the music and the carnival.
Another difference with US fairs were the number of part-time farmers who hold second jobs in a factory or elsewhere.
As someone who grew up with stories about my grandparents leaving the farm to find work, I was struck by the idea of the part-time farmer. In my mind, farmers were full-time .
In Ireland that is not the case, aided perhaps by the relative ease with which part-time farmers can commute to an urban centre for work.
What was also in evidence was the strong familial connection to the land. A number of people commented they were born on a farm, had worked the farm and hoped their children would do the same.
The people I met gave a strong sense of the history tied to the land and of their pride farming; that a true farmer would stick to the trade through good times and bad. While it didn't come as a surprise, the depth of the pride was unexpected.
What did take me by surprise was the number of cows at the festival.
When Americans think of Ireland, they don't think of beef. They think of sheep, of wool and of lamb. This perception is incorrect.
Teagasc reported that dairy products and beef made up 48 per cent of Ireland's agriculture exports in 2010.
Sheep meat made up a mere two per cent.
But not to worry, there were enough sheep for the sheep shearing demonstration.
As I left the event, I asked a farmer why everyone carried what looked like a brightly coloured walking stick, which he swished in front of him on the firm ground.
He told me it was good to have something to hold when you walk over the country. It was that simple, and an experienced nod to damper days when the site for ploughing championships becomes a morass of mud.
Everyone understood that - well, everyone but me - and most took home one of these practical souvenirs to use back on their farm.