Fallon's Town Talk: The rituals of late summer provide reassurance and joy

The rituals of late summer are upon us with two of those occasions taking place on the Athlone Road in Roscommon Town last Saturday. The Roscommon Agricultural Show attracted the customary large crowds to Hannon’s Field. The volume of cars parked on the side of the road was a throwback to the Connacht final. The weather played its part, it was pleasant without reaching the high temperatures of last Thursday.

Along with the usual array of competitions and display stands, much of the conversation among the farming community would surely have centred on the impact of this year’s extraordinary weather. One of the wettest springs in anybody’s memory has been followed by one of the hottest, driest summers. It has left grass growth far below normal levels.

As farming communities gather at agricultural shows, building up the Ploughing Championship, the worry will intensify, especially if the weather remains dry.

The drought has led to tales of farmers in the south-east of the country already dipping into their silage reserves in August. Crop yields are much lower than normal and that is likely to lead to a hike in food prices. The impact of the scorching summer of 2026 will be felt far beyond the agricultural sector.

As the agricultural show wound down on Saturday evening, another large crowd gathered on the Athlone Road, Graveyard Masses are another staple of the summer in Ireland. The Roscommon Parish Mass brought a huge crowd to St. Coman’s Cemetery. As well as allowing parishioners to pay their respects to their loved ones, cemetery masses provide a chance for people to meet up with one another. In a way, graveyard masses are the 21st century equivalent of station masses which took place in family homes throughout the second half of the 20th century. I often refer to the quote of a man who used to work in a hardware store in Roscommon in the late 1990s: “If it wasn’t for the stations, nobody would do up their house.” Ireland, and Roscommon, has changed a lot since then.

The last hurrah of the sporting summer was provided by the European Athletics and Swimming Championships. Over the last two years, it felt like the euphoria and pride of 2024 couldn’t be recaptured. The 2024 Europeans and Olympics were AE Housman’s “land of lost content”.

The shocking cancer diagnosis of Ciara Mageean stunned the nation. The beaming smile on her face when she became European 1500m metre champion in 2024 is hard to equate with the battle Ciara now faces. When Ciara had to step away from her role as an analyst for RTÉ television, it cast a shadow over Birmingham and Paris.

Sharlene Mawdsley’s injury and Rhasidat Adeleke’s loss of form and confidence were minor issues by comparison, but it added to the general downbeat mood.

Yet, last week was wonderful, truly wonderful. RTÉ’s inspired decision to cover both athletics and swimming gave the week a mini-Olympic vibe. Sligo’s Mona McSharry, who had toyed with the idea of retirement after her thrilling Olympic bronze, was back and, in the time of reaping, harvested three medals. Ellen Walshe catapulted herself into the national consciousness by winning two golds. All the while, Olympic gold medallist Daniel Wiffin used his return to the pool to work on his fitness. It is remarkable.

And then it was onto the athletics in Birmingham, where for much of the week it seemed the ever-growing legion of Irish fans were the only group creating any atmosphere. Thursday night may have been the most rhapsodic, joyous night in Irish sport since Troy Parrott’s hat-trick against Hungary.

Mark English, the Donegal man with strong Knockcroghery connections, reached the pinnacle of his career by surging to the gold medal in the men’s 800 metre. In the year in which Ronnie Delaney, Ireland’s most famous middle-distance runner, passed away, English became the first Irish male athlete to win a European track and field gold medal.

As the nation drew breath, Adeleke stepped up the line in the 200m. Just five weeks earlier, her season was in disarray. In the interim, she rediscovered herself to win the silver medal, underlining her credentials as, arguably, the most naturally talented athlete Ireland has produced since Sonia O’Sullivan.

And on the carousel went to Saturday. The brilliant Kate O’Connor won gold in the heptathlon and Andrew Coscoran swooped for bronze in the 1500m. How we wish every major athletics championship was held in Britain. Last week was the capstone on a great sporting summer.