The importance of festivals to Laois
episodePreviously titled “The importance of Festivals to Laois ” — renamed by the publisher on Aug 4, 2026
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The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk. With Aviva Insurance. We are in the glorious surroundings of County Leash this morning as part of the Newstalk summer tour. We're in the Ballykill Cavern Brewery this morning with thanks to ESB, Ireland's largest EV charging network. We have a live audience. You're all very welcome, everyone. Let's hear you. We have some great people for you to meet over the next couple of hours, including a rugby hero from Leish, farmers who'll tell us why Leish is at the heart of Ireland's farming life, and we're going to find out why Pudgine is having a revival. We'd love to hear from you. WhatsApp us this morning, 087 1400 106, or email claireburn at newstalk.com. Now, we have the Farming for Nature Festival, which is taking place right here, right now, on Ballykill Cavern Farm today.
But this, of course, is not the only festival that takes place here, because we have Forest Fest, the National Steam Rally, the Leash Walks Festival, many more besides, including, of course, Electric Picnic. So what makes Leash a hotbed for all of these festivals? I'm joined by Tom Cosby, who's the owner of Stroud Valley Hall, and Hannah Clarke is Events Manager with Ballintubbert Gardens and House, and they both join me. You're both so welcome. Thank you for being with us. Tom, what's your take on that? Why Leash has become, over the last few years, somewhere where people are looking at now as a festival venue more than ever before?
The Ploughing Championship. Well, I suppose you start with the steam rally that's been around for the last 62 years. My favourite. Which, I mean, bizarrely, you sort of see people bring their grandchildren to a festival that they were brought to by their own grandparents. And I suppose then you moved on to the National Ploughing Championship was in Balacola back in 1996. That's right. Then I suppose the Electric Picnic, when that sort of moved to us in 2002, or was created with us in 2002, it sort of kind of set the tone at that point. I mean, Leash has got a lot of things going for it. I mean, you're far enough outside Dublin to be away. But the access is great. The access is fantastic. So you're only really on a good day, an hour outside,
outside Dublin, outside the M50. On Festival Day it's going to be slightly different. There's a number of locations which are all absolutely lend themselves to.
Tell me about your place, about Stradbury Hall. Tell me a bit about the background to it.
Background, you don't want a history lesson.
Oh, come on. Give us the abbreviated version, Tom. Come on. How long are you in charge there?
Personally? Yeah. When was I? 1996, I was home, age 22. Wow. Bizarrely, my father went religious and decided to, he decided, he sort of fell out with his local church and decided then he was going to build himself a Russian Orthodox church. So off he went. Off he went and built himself a little Ashurst Northwark chair.
What festivals are currently happening in County Laois?
So you asked at that point, Tom, are you ready, willing, and able, or did you have no choice?
I wouldn't say there was no choice. I wasn't particularly intellectual. I wasn't going to do anything else. So anyhow, I sort of returned home anyhow.
Where were you when you were 22? Where were you returning from?
I knew her very much. Went to a cultural college and travelled for a few months and then that was it, home. And back. And back, yeah.
And did you realise what the scale of the undertaking at that point?
No, you see, when you're 22, you'll do anything. You know, it doesn't matter what's in front of you. When you get a bit of sense at age 50, you know, you'd probably sort of run a mile. No, it's the right time, you know, when they're young and idiotic.
But what was the scale of it? What was the size of the estate you were taking on at that time?
It was 500 acres.
Why is Laois considered a hotbed for festivals?
It was only 300 to pasture, the rest of it's got a woodland and various other sort of kind of waste ground. And so, you know, as a farm, it's a reasonable sized farm, but it's not something that's going to support a house and yards and everything else of that scale.
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