If you were to unsuspectingly stumble upon the main street of Tipperary town this Saturday, you would be met with a spectacle that might surprise you. That is, of course, as long as you are not from the Premier County. Most Tipp folk will have knowledge of this tradition.

Throngs of people will line the street from AIB to the traffic lights, intently watching the All-Ireland churn-rolling championships. Now in its 54th year, the annual competition caters for different age categories in both male and female events.

It involves a 100m sprint while rolling an empty milk churn in front of you. Not as simple as it sounds, but more on the logistics later.

Tipperary town is the only place in the world where an official churn-rolling race takes place, according to the research of locals. In the 1970s a similar competition took place in Listowel, Co Kerry, but has since ceased.

Agricultural Origins

Stevie O’Donnell is chair of the Tipperary Churn Rolling Association (TCRA), the group that organises the championships. The origins of this tradition are deeply rooted in agriculture, explains Stevie, and its birthplace was none other than Tipperary Town Creamery. Tipperary Co-operative Creamery sponsors the championship to this day.

“The farmers used to bring churns of milk into the creamery on a horse and cart, because obviously there were very few vehicles on the road at that stage,” says Stevie. “There would be about seven to nine churns on a cart.

"The raw milk went into big tanks inside the creamery. When the churns were emptied, the farmers were helped by the staff of the creamery in putting them back up onto the horse and cart.”

Casually, both the farmers and creamery workers began racing while rolling the churns down the creamery yard. Jimmy Tobin, who worked in Tipperary Town Creamery in the 1960s, is credited with coming up with the idea of turning it into an official championship.

Donal Ryan crosses the finish line to win the over-40s race at the All-Ireland churn-rolling championship finals. \ O’Gorman Photography

“They decided then they would create a championship amongst themselves,” says Stevie. “The yard below in the co-op would have been maybe rough and tumble. There would have been no concrete there at this stage, it was a basic kind of a roadway. So they brought the churns onto the main street of Tipperary town. It has developed and progressed from there.”

Skill

Although the beginnings of the sport are humble, it requires speed, strength and, above all else, skill. There are three different size churns used for the men’s, ladies’, and underage races, the heaviest of which is 44lb and can hold 20 gallons. Top senior men would complete the 100m in under 15 seconds and their female equivalents in under 17 seconds.

Winner of the senior ladies churn-rolling All-Ireland in 2015 and 2016, Geraldine Kinane, embodies the two main elements associated with churn rolling: milk and athleticism. She is a dairy farmer and won an All-Ireland camogie medal with Tipperary in 2004.

To compete in the churn rolling, it is important that people train in order to learn and practice the correct technique, explains Geraldine. “You have the churn in front of you and you are using two hands to turn it."

The churn is on its edge at the base while it spins and rolls in front of you. It is all about keeping it under control while running as fast as you can.

“It takes a bit of technique. Rollers do be going fair fast with it and if you lose control people can fall and stuff like that, but it is great to see it in full flow.”

Safety is important at the competition, and certain precautions are taken. Everyone racing has to complete training, metal barriers are erected in front of the crowd, and competitors put swarfega (a type of hand cleaner) on their hands to stop them blistering.

As a result of the sport’s unique nature, it has attracted the attention of high-profile figures such as Dáithí O Sé and Michéal Ó Muircheartaigh. This year, members of TCRA are expecting up to 4,000 spectators at the event.

Churn rolling is such a distinctive tradition that the All-Ireland often draws visitors from abroad, explains Stevie.

“There are people from England and further afield that come to Tipperary town every year on their holidays for the churn rolling. Then they would go around and take in the rest of Ireland, sightseeing and all that.

“They come to the churn rolling because it is a different sport, it is a unique sport and they will not see it anywhere else,” he says.

The All-Ireland churn-rolling championships can be witnessed this Saturday 14 July, from 7pm on the main street of Tipperary Town. For more information contact stevieodonnell9@gmail.com.

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