The Southern Star and Celtic Ross Hotel ‘WEST CORK FARMING AWARDS’ AUGUST MONTHLY WINNER is Mary Bugler from Innishannon.

The August monthly award is sponsored by GP Wood.

FROM driving a tractor down Dublin’s Grafton Street to being part of an over-night sit-in, in an EU building in the capital, Mary Bugler isn’t afraid to stick her head above the parapet, in the name of fair play and progress.

It’s that same, roll-up-the-sleeves attitude that saw her establish Valley Rovers camogie club in the late 80s and help develop it into a club that now plays at Intermediate level.

Mary, a retired farmer, modestly and matter-of-factly says that if she sees a gap, she responds to it. It’s as simple as that.

Born and bred in Innishannon where she still lives, she grew up on a mixed farm which she took over the running of from the young age of 16.

‘My father Daniel, originally from Bantry, died in 1963 so along with my mother Mary (Manning), I ran the farm which was her home place. My late sister Angela would have helped out as well. Even when I was still at school I helped out and really enjoyed it and I was delighted to be in the position to take it on,’ she remembers.

Mary worked through many major milestones in the agri sector including the change from horses to tractors, and the introduction of milk quotas.

‘The milk quota regime was around the time I got married to Bernard, a garda, so we made the decision to change from dairy to beef and later sucklers and sheep in the late 80s,’ she said.

Mary was very open minded about farming and willing to change, according to circumstances. But she wasn’t willing to let policymakers ride roughshod over the farming community.

Like many of her generation she joined Bandon Macra na Feirme, a very strong club, in 1961 where her leadership skills were recognised and honed.

She was a keen debater and mentor, and has fond memories of this time including a three-in-a-row win in the efficiency competition at Cork Show in 1968, 69 and 70, which was never before done.

She was also a key player in reforming the Innishannon branch of the IFA in the early 90s.

‘A group of us got together in response to a particular local issue and reformed the branch as it had lapsed,’ she said.

It wasn’t long before this tour-de-force was recognised by county IFA executive and Mary served six years on the organisation’s national sheep committee, six on animal health, and six on the beef committee.

As well as attending meetings, she actively advocated to improve conditions for farmers, along with ‘wonderful leaders’.

That saw her, among many other things, take part in a tractor protest in Dublin when she was still part of Macra, and take part in a protest in 2010 over a European agri issue, and protest in the capital over CAP reforms in 2013.

In recognition of her service, Mary is now an honorary member of the IFA.

Bernard and Mary were parents of five, three boys and two girls, and it was a busy household.

Mary acknowledges the great support of her mother and Bernard, who sadly passed last year, which enabled her to get out to meetings and continue her work off-farm.

‘When Bernard retired from An Garda Síochana in 1998 he was probably doing more of the farming then me. I had brilliant backup and I suppose looking back I had a lot of energy and just took it all in my stride! Farming was very different back then though; when you came in from the yard in the evening, you were finished, unlike now. There’s an awful lot more involved with all the regulations.’

Mary is synonymous with Cork camogie, and she was a founding member of Valley Rovers camogie club in 1987 – again after seeing ‘a gap.’

‘My sons played hurling and football but there was nothing for the girls, so we set about sorting that out!’ she said.

The club has gone from strength to strength over the years, winning four county titles and a Munster league title, and many members of the club have worn the Cork jersey, including Mary’s daughter Liz.

Fellow founding member Mary Crowley said Mary was a tireless worker for the club: ‘She has been a constant support and tireless worker and is a brilliant role model for all its members.’

Mary, who actually never played camogie herself, was also very involved at county level and was the competition secretary and vice-chairman of the Cork camogie board.

She was also involved in the establishment of the Carrigdhoun division with the late Jim Forbes in 1994, and is the honorary president of Carrigdhoun Camogie.

‘Carrigdhoun won the county senior title in 2004 and as a result of that, our member Elaine Burke was captain of the All-Ireland winning senior title in 2005,’ said Mary proudly.

She is currently the liaison officer for the referees, and organises matches at Cork camogie board level

Mary was also a key figure in the restoration of Innishannon’s local hall, and helps where needed at the annual vintage steam rally festival.

Suffice to say Mary is not found wanting to support a cause, sell tickets, crank up the burco boiler, or as she says herself, ‘fill a gap’.

Interestingly, across all the areas she helps out in, she often encounters the same people and they all have one thing in common: Macra.

‘It’s the same circle of people all the time, that would have come up through Macra. It’s a great training ground for people to get involved with their community.’

Mary no longer farms and misses it at times. However, she feels it’s difficult for anyone embarking on a career in farming in this day and age.

‘It’s very expensive to get a start. By the time you stock the farm and invest in machinery, you wouldn’t see a couple of hundred thousand euro. So, that’s difficult, and younger people can see there’s probably easier ways to make money, but then others have a real love of farming, and that’s what gets you through it,’ she said.

Her advice to young people, in particular those who have just received their Leaving Cert results, is to keep their options open.

‘There’s a lot of high achievers out there, but not everyone can be a high achiever, so I’d like young people to know that there’s so many directions their lives can go in, to take away the pressure, and to realise that it’s not all about the titles after the name,’ she said. And she encourages people to get involved in their communities, when and where they can.

‘I’ve made friends around the country through the various groups I’ve been part of. It’s great to feel you have a contact wherever you go, and having that support network was especially noticed after Bernard’s death.’

When she’s not volunteering, her hobbies include playing cards, and she laments the fact that many card drives didn’t resume after Covid lockdowns.

She also enjoys playing Bridge locally.

Winning The Southern Star monthly farming award was a ‘big surprise.’

‘I thought I had gone past that stage of my life now and I really wasn’t expecting that at all! It is much appreciated,’ said Mary.

What would the grandmother-of-seven like her legacy to be?

‘That I did what I could to help out along the way, that’s it really. And that I enjoyed every minute of it too.’

Why we support West Cork farming

Susan Grainger at GP Wood

GP Wood’s roots stretch back to 1977, and as a company with almost 50 years’ experience, we intrinsically understand the importance of long-term planning and preparing for the future. These are values that we share with farmers right across West Cork, and as farming has changed in Ireland immeasurably in the last decades, with a renewed focus on sustainability and environmental protection, we are pleased to share our commitment to renewable materials and do our part to support the farming community in their climate commitments. Providing direct employment to 150 people, and another 250 in forestry operations, we are embedded in the West Cork community.

As one of Ireland’s largest suppliers of sawn softwood products, we understand the importance of the material as a valuable renewable resource. It is important to us that our customers are supported so they have everything they need to know, to understand and reap the benefits of timber as an invaluable material on the farm.

At GP Wood we are proud of our continued investment in the latest technological processes in both engineering and automated systems, and both of our facilities, at Enniskeane and Lissarda, use some of the most modern wood processing techniques found in Europe today. We have state of the art facilities for kiln drying, machining, and timber treatment, and in 2005, we constructed Ireland’s first large-scale commercial biomass CHP plant. This plant produces 2.5 MW of electricity which is sold to the national grid, and 6 MW of thermal energy.

In embracing this new technology, we show in a very real way our commitment to continually looking to the future. Part of that commitment includes preserving the natural world and respecting our raw materials and so, we are committed to working in a manner that is responsible in its energy use, minimising waste, recycling where possible, and we use only raw materials from sustainably managed forests.

As farmers find ways to work within new guidelines and directives, we are pleased to continually evolve our own practices and join West Cork farmers on their journey, working on the land as we did in the past, but always with an eye to the future.