Laois man with unusual hobby of minding a steam engine

All year round after the crowds at Stradbally Steam Rally go home, two steam engines and the steam train owned by the Irish Steam Preservation Society remain on site where they are loved and maintained by their volunteer members.

Among those members is Joe O'Shea, a truck driver from Ballymaddock, near the Rock of Dunamase in Laois.

The Leinster Express / Laois Live visited Joe in the specially built engine shed on the Cosby estate. 

Joe looks after a 1917 Mann's Steam Cart & Wagon, nicknamed The Mighty Mann, which was used for direct ploughing before tractors were invented, and also used in a sawmills and for threshing.

Built in Leeds and sent to Ireland, its original owner is unknown. In 1922 it was bought by George E. Moore of Fraine, Athboy, Co Meath to use on his Fraine House Farm.

Purchased for preservation after being left in the open for 12 years by the early steam preservationist Jack Louth from Slane, Co. Meath in late 1963, it was then donated to the Irish Steam Preservation Society and was present for the 1965 National Steam Rally at Stradbally. 

It was regularly driven by the Society Stalwart Jack Tynan and later his son Tom until its boiler was condemned in the late 1990s.

Joe explained how the machine was most recently restored.

Alan Willoughby and Harry Glynn aboard the Mann Steam Cart at Ballyfin Vintage Steam, Thresing and Working Day in 2024. Photo Denis Byrne

“When they got her first she was halfway up her wheels in sawdust. She was out of commission for 20 years. About10 or 11 years ago we sent her to England to get a new boiler and get done up.

“She's back since just after Covid and I've looked after her since. 

“She works like a kettle. There is a water tank on the back which pumps cold water through a gap around the fire. She boils the water and the steam drives two pistons.

“She's a lovely little engine for driving, the wheels are sprung, she can do 10 or 11km per hour. She is a three speed, a lot of engines would be two speed,” he said.

The driver stands up in a space beside the fire door.

 “You're a one man band driving her. I have to stop on the road to fire it (shovel coal into the fire). It gets brutal hot beside the fire. 

“We use Arigna smokeless coal or biocoal, which is made from crushed olive stones. Three 20kg bags would get a day of good driving done. It's a different smell, its strange.

“It takes an hour and half to get hot enough to steam it. 

“We went to Dungarvan and lit it on the lorry and there was steam in a half hour with the wind blowing through it,” he said.

Sometimes he said, leaf blowers are used  under the engine to act like a giant bellows to speed up the fire.

Minding The Mighty Mann he said is an ongoing  job, with many parts to care for. 

“They all need continuous work, bits and pieces. 

“I want to get new piston rods for her. I hope to get her repainted. She was done up in England and they painted her red but I'd like to change that to a more crimson red like our other engine,” Joe said.

 He first got interest in caring for the steam engines as a teenager, over 30 years ago.

“The society have another engine in their museum here in Stradbally. Ben Foley from Foley's Garage used to look after it and I would go in to look at it. My friend helped and I'd give him a hand. Then I started looking after others and got more involved in the society.

Asked what is it he loves about the craft, Joe said: “I ask myself that sometimes. Some people go golfing, this is my hobby.

 “Every weekend I ask myself why I didn't pick a hobby where you don't get dirtier than your day job.

“I grew up on a farm, machinery is my thing. 

“I enjoy going to the rallys, from loading them up to travelling on the road, checking where everyone is, there's great camaraderie.  Over the weekend of the Stradbally steam rally, I'll be volunteering with everyone else. After you have a few beers and a bit of craic, that's what it's all about,” he said.

The Mightly Mann gets to tour Ireland, brought to rallies in Antrim at Shane's Castle, in Inishannon in Cork and after Stradbally, she will head to the Moynalty steam threshing festival in Meath, among other smaller gatherings.

While the driver stands up, the machine has  recently had a little wooden seat built on top of the water tank, especially for Joe's daughter Caireann, 12 to sit on.

“She is taking a great interest, she is mad for driving it. There are plenty of women who  look after steam engines so hopefully she will eventually take over from me,” her proud dad said.

The 60th annual Stradbally Steam Rally takes place this August Bank Holiday Weekend, from Friday, August 2 to Bank Holiday Monday. It is set to be the biggest one ever with a host of additional entertainment.