Irish farm contractors star in new TV show

A new TV series exploring the working lives of Irish agricultural contracting families is set to debut on TG4. 

The seven-part observational series will feature crews from Limerick, Tipperary, Meath, Donegal, Clare, Galway and Kerry as they deal with the highs and lows of daily life.  

The documentary will present a mix of Irish culture, heritage and contracting experience in the Irish language, featuring many female-led and female-centred enterprises. 

Each of the seven episodes will be defined by a theme based on the time of year and the work involved, intercut with snippets of the contractors' personal lives. 

Dubbed "the white knights" of farming, 1,800 agricultural contractors from all over the country provide time, manpower and expensive specialist equipment to assist Ireland's 137,00 farming families. 

They are particularly busy from April to September as Irish farmers who can't do all the required work alone enter their busiest 6-month period. 

According to TG4, contractors handle everything from slurry spreading to hedge cutting, ploughing, round baling and more. 

The show will be entertainment-based and will include instances of family crises and kitchen-sink drama, as well as opportunities to discuss topics like farm safety, climate change and the changing role of the farmer. 

The contractors featured in the documentary include Alastair Doherty from Donegal, Thomas Moloney from Tipperary, Eoin Ó Muircheartaigh from Kerry, Karen O’Donoghue from Limerick, Eoin Collins from Clare, Peadar Seoighe from Galway, and Peter and Pat Farrelly from Meath. 

Alastair Doherty from Ramelton, Donegal runs Bobby Doherty Agri, a company started by his father over 40 years ago. They have 130 dairy cows and supply their milk to Aurivo-Co-Op. When the milking is done Alastair and crew are out and about spreading slurry, ploughing, reseeding, round baling and cleaning septic tanks. With 8 Massey Fergusons at his disposal, there's no better man for the job. 

Tipperary man Thomas Moloney runs Moloney Agri and Tree Care along with his father Jim. They do silage work such as mowing, tedding, raking and baling of silage hay and straw using round and square bales as well as slurry spreading using low emission trailing shoes. Digger and dump trailer work is also a service they provide as well as tree surgery work carried out by certified operators. They are award winning contractors. 

Eoin Ó Muircheartaigh from West Kerry runs a beef and sheep farm. He also carries out baled silage, slurry spreading with trailing shoe, a small bit of ploughing and reseeding grassland. From modest beginnings with just one tractor and a baler he has now upsized to employing up to 4 lads in the busy summer months. 

Limerick woman Karen O’Donoghue has been working with her father’s Agri Contracting business since she was 16 years old. They do all kinds of work such as precision chop silage, round & square baling, raking, tedding, slurry spreading, dumper hire, wrapping & stacking bales and ploughing & tillage work. Now with baby Clodagh in tow, Karen still remains stone mad for John Deeres! 

Secondary school teacher, Eoin Collins from Clare is part of Collins Agri, a business his father started in 1994. Alongside his father and three brothers, they specialise in silage, baling, tillage and slurry. 

Peadar Seoighe, a sheep shearer and contractor from Galway has been in the contracting business for about 6 years. From lime spreading to topping and spraying rushes, Peadar has built an agri contracting business based upon the size of enterprise in the hills of Corr na Móna along with his competent sheep dog called Lindsey who helps him get the job done! 

The Farrelly brothers Peter (left) and Pat (right) from Kells in Meath have been in the contracting business for over 40 years. From pit silage to ploughing, sowing seeds to site clearances, they have around 20 people working for them and the hard work never stops!

'Contractors' has a release date of February 24 2022 at 9.30pm.