Ballinabrackey, Co Meath, will host the National Ploughing Association Championships later this year. Details of how the association plans to bring 100,000 people to a townland where only a cluster of farmhouses and open farmland exist were announced in nearby Castlejordan at the weekend.
Ms Anna May McHugh, the managing director of the NPA, gave details of the event which will be held this year on September 23rd-25th. She introduced this year's host farmers, the Moore family - father and son Peter and Mark - and their neighbour and friend, Mr George Cave.
The Moores farm 470 acres of free draining and what Ms McHugh described as "kind and easy to work soil" which had been reclaimed over the years and reshaped into large fields suitable for extensive tillage.
It was also suitable, she said, for the huge crowds which were expected for what is the largest farming event in the State and one of the largest agricultural outdoor events in Europe.
At the centre of this year's event will be a 90-acre field which will house hundreds of trade exhibitions with space to spare, 200 acres of ploughing land for the 300 competitors and nearly 300 acres of car parking.
"It is all falling into place because of the help we are getting from the various bodies involved," Ms McHugh added.
"Apart from the enormous input by the members of the NPA in Meath, all local bodies, such as the GAA have been coming forward with offers of help.
"Meath County Council has been wonderful and has already carried out a lot of work on surfacing local roads to take the traffic and anything we have asked for, we are getting."
She said it was surprising that despite the fact that Meath was one of the best tillage counties in Ireland, there had never been a national championship held here.
The accommodation officer, Ms Marian Drew, Mill Lane, Kells, has been given the enormous task of finding beds for the visitors in the 25-mile radius of the site. She has targeted Edenderry, Enfield, Kinnegad, Tullamore, Mullingar, Trim, Maynooth and, if necessary, Dublin.
She appealed to homeowners who might consider keeping visitors for the event to make contact with her at 046-41481.