Managing director of the National Ploughing Association (NPA) since 1973, Anna May McHugh was awarded an honorary doctorate today (Friday, June 14) from Trinity College Dublin (TCD).
The public orator at the awards ceremony, Dr. Anna Chahoud praised McHugh as “the worthy recipient of countless honours for her seventy years of services rendered to Irish agriculture and culture”.
TCD described McHugh as “truly ahead of her time” and “a beacon for women in a man’s world”.
The managing director has driven the extension of the ploughing championships to include a tented trade village, a live cultural programme, fashion shows, a craft village, cooking demonstrations, sheep dog trials, equestrian events, an enterprise arena and other activities.
Now after just turning 90, McHugh still runs the event from her home.
McHugh attributed her success to the team she has around her from ploughing associations right around the country.
She said she would never ask anyone to do something she would not do herself.
Looking back on her time, McHugh described the first few years of running the event as “difficult”.
“In the years that I speak about, women were not at the top of organisations as such [and] I remember the days when there were only men folk coming to the ploughing, and I thought ‘we must do something about that’,” McHugh said.
With ploughing associations in every county in the country, the NPA now boasts over contests seeing 320 competitors compete in the national finals, with over 200,000 visitors present last year during the annual three-day event.
On awarding McHugh the doctorate, Dr. Chahoud said she had “transformed Irish society” by recognising the “invaluable” work of women.
TCD also awarded honorary doctorates today to the first European council president, Herman Van Rompuy; Leading businessman Dr. Leonard O’Hagan; and human rights campaigner, Colm O’Gorman.