Search

06 Oct 2025

Dromahair man bags gold at the All Ireland Quality Potato Championship at The Tullamore Show

Leitrim holds the record for the most wins in Ireland with nine golds in all!

Dromahair man bags gold in the All Ireland Quality Potato Championship

Patrick Hiney, Dromahair, Martina Jameson, Catherine Gallagher, ISA; Freda Kinnarney, Irish Shows Association; Lorcan Bourke, Bord Bia and John Donoghue, Tullamore Show 

Reporter:

Claire Corrigan

12 Aug 2025 9:00 AM

Patrick Hiney from Kilcoosey, Dromahair has bagged first place in the Bord Bia All Ireland Quality Potato Championship 2025 after his friend Micheal Goldrick took home the top prize last year!
The cup is back in Leitrim for the 9th time in all with Michael winning the coveted prize eight times over the years. 
Speaking to the Leitrim Observer, Michael said that this is Patrick's 4th year to compete after being runner up every previous year. 
So how does Patrick feel about the win?
Michael told us: "He's delighted. It's his first time to win it. I think he was in shock when he won. Last year I had the Rooster and Patrick had the Home Guard and he was runner up to me so Leitrim got first and second last year. This year, we swapped around and he came first and I came second so Leitrim got first and second again this year!"
He added: "We're the most successful county in the competition, we have nine All-Ireland's now!"
Michael, from Dromahair, who is a renowned potato grower was last year, congratulated by Leitrim County Council for his 2024 win, marking his eighth time winning the competition over a 40-year career.  

Speaking of the competition, he told us: "It's a very long day and we didn't get home until 3.30am and didn't get home until 10.30am the following night."
Talking about the process of growing award winning potatoes, he explained that the vegetables are covered with peat. "You have to water them every day and you have to feed them. You have to look out for slugs. For the final, the judges prefer an Irish potato and one that is around 6oz and no bigger or smaller."
The judge will also cut one potato in half to "distinguish the dry matter content and by this you can see how dry a potato is and the dryer the potato, the better for you in terms of the scores. Home guard, Kerr's Pink and Rooster are usually the winners."
There are 25% marks for external condition and 25% for internal condition, he explained. "Then you have your shape, form, weight and eyes. Then you have an overall presentation mark for the way you present the potato. You want a potato that is free of any blemishes."
He added: "I think people think you just throw them in the ground and come back in a few months but you have to be out checking them and make sure they get a steady amount of water each day; you can't just throw a bucket of water on them and leave them for a week because the skins will crack. You actually have to constantly look after them and check them. You have to check for blight due to humidity and spray them. The skin condition is a major factor in how successful they will be; they have to be free from any skin blemishes etc. It has to be pretty much a perfect potato."

To continue reading this article,
please subscribe and support local journalism!

Subscribing will allow you access to all of our premium content and archived articles.

Subscribe

To continue reading this article for FREE,
please kindly register and/or log in.

Registration is absolutely 100% FREE and will help us personalise your experience on our sites. You can also sign up to our carefully curated newsletter(s) to keep up to date with your latest local news!

Register / Login

Most Popular

Sponsored Content

Multimedia

We've got Donegal Covered...

Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie

Buy a paper

Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.

Buy Now
Get the news

Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.

Register Here
Iconic Media is Ireland's largest independently owned regional newspaper and media group, with an unrivalled audience in print, online and mobile. We have 19 regional newspapers and 21 digital sites.

Iconic Digital Titles

  • Carlow Live
  • Clare Live
  • Derry Now
  • Donegal Live
  • Éire Bheo
  • Inish Live
  • Ireland Live
  • Kildare Live
  • Kildare Now
  • Kilkenny Live
  • Laois Live
  • Leitrim Live
  • Letterkenny Live
  • Limerick Live
  • Longford Live
  • Louth Live
  • Mayo Live
  • Nenagh Live
  • Offaly Live
  • Tipperary Live
  • Waterford Live

    • Iconic Print Titles

  • Clonmel Nationalist
  • County Derry Post
  • Derry News
  • Donegal Democrat
  • Donegal Post
  • Dundalk Democrat
  • Homes in Donegal
  • Inish Times
  • Kilkenny People
  • Leinster Express
  • Leinster Leader
  • Leitrim Observer
  • Letterkenny Live
  • Limerick Leader
  • Longford Leader
  • Mayo News
  • Midland Tribune
  • Tipperary Star
  • Tullamore Tribune

    • This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.

    © 2025 Iconic Media