Wexford Macra na Feirme: Queen of the Wool 2014

Elizabeth Earle, Blackwater Macra (Queen of the Wool) pictured with the judges

Back to reality after an unbelievable weekend! A huge thank you to everyone involved in The Queen of the Wool event - to the beautiful contestants themselves, ye were credit to yourselves, your clubs, your counties and Macra na Feirme, we sincerely hope ye enjoyed yourselves! To the escorts ye did a great job, thanks for stepping up and looking after the girls, we hope ye had a good night too. To the judges (Phyllis Bolger, Karen McGillicuddy, Thomas Honer and Josephine Casey) and our MC Eric Driver the event would not of been possible without ye so thank you for volunteering your time so generously! To all our volunteers during the day and night - thanks a million for giving up your Saturday and putting for putting so much energy and enthusiasm into your roles! To Golden Shears Ireland thank you for having the courage and drive to organise such a huge festival for the benefit of the such great local charities, the local community, County Wexford and the country, thank you also for asking us to come on board, we hope the opening night gave it a kick start and that the rest of the week goes smoothly, successfully and safely for ye. Thank you to Beat 102 103 and the Amber Springs Hotel and Spa for your help. To Casey Concrete, Creative Dynamix and all those who sponsored/donated prizes Go Raibh Míle maith Agaibh go leir! Finally to the audience who travelled from across the country to support Wexford Macra and the contestants, we hope ye had a good night (sincere apologies for the temperature but unfortunately the elements were beyond our control and we hope it didn't dampen your spirits). Congratulations to our best craft winner Lisa Walsh, Rathdowney, Runner-Up Caroline Gittens, Trebler Macra na Feimre and our Queen of the Wool - Elizabeth Earle, Blackwater Macra!!!!!

The Event

Queen of the Wool, hosted by Golden Shears Ireland, in conjunction with Wexford Macra na Feirme, took place on Saturday 17th May 2014. This exciting event officially launched the
16th Golden Shears World Sheep Shearing and Wool Handling Championships, being held on a 25 acre site on the outskirts of Gorey Town, adjacent to the Amber Springs Hotel, part of the Redmond Hotel Group.

Macra Ladies, representing their respective Counties and Clubs from across the country, competed to take the title of "Queen of the Wool".

The Contestants