DEAR EDITOR,

Having read your excellent article on Irish Shows and Tinahely Show, the one thing stood out was the uncertainty of dates for the commencement of our Irish shows.
Well, down here in south Kilkenny, a village called Piltown, has a definite start up date of 1826. The show in question is the Iverk Agricultural Show, founded by a member of the Bessborough family.
The family resided at Bessborough House, which is now Kildalton Agricultural College. This year the show celebrates its 174th birthday and it is expected to be bigger and better than ever.

The Bessborough family resided in Piltown until the late 1920s. The surrounding area was called the Barong of Iverk, from whence the show got its name.
For many years people referred to the show as going to the Barony meeting.

The intentions of the starting of the show by the Bessborough family were for the betterment of all the people of the Barony. There was a policy in Bessborough House of having a top class English farm manager at all times on the farm, and they played a major role in developing farming in the area.

Silage was made for the Bessborough farm in 1922 and many other ideas came on stream. The quality of stock and vegetables were other major bonuses that came from these stewards.

The show was founded on the basis of being non-political and non-sectarian; not too easy in the times that were in it, but the show survived all hiccups and kept on improving all through the 1800s and up to the war, when the war and foot and mouth disease forced a stoppage for a few years.
When these happenings ended it reorganised and is now one of the leading shows attached to the Irish Shows Association.
The committee now own a lot of the show ground and with the support of Kildalton College, the GAA and good neighbours, the amount of ground taken up on show day is approximately 60 acres.

There is a very vibrant committee, approximately one hundred, involved in organising the show every year. They put on an excellent show on the day with something for everybody to enjoy.
The show has a number of firsts to its credit.
It was among the early members of the Irish Shows Association, and has always been to the forefront in trying to improve standards and interest in agricultural shows.
It's biggest achievement however, was in becoming the first show ever to do a direct twinning with a show outside the country, namely the United Counties Show in Carmarthen, Wales. This took place in 1997, when the idea was put forward in Brussels through 'Inter-Reg' to see if there was anything that could bring communities in different countries together and develop relationships for business and tourism.

Since most shows now depend on sponsorship and good will for their success and survival, Iverk has been very successful and is grateful to all who have helped to make this show such an ongoing success.
Another plus is the large support it gets from the North of Ireland. Down through the years they have come to Piltown and sometimes stay for a few days. They bring a lot of entries to horse showing and jumping classes and we appreciate their efforts.