Queen of the Land Festival
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Queen of the Land Festival is an annual festival in County Offaly, Ireland, hosted by Offaly Macra na Feirme in which young women compete for the title "Queen of the Land" based on their "appearance, personality, energy, confidence, dress sense, rural knowledge and elocution".[1][2][3]
The festival was initiated by the Irish Farmers Journal in 1964 as part of the Kilkenny beer festival. The competition was then taken over by Offaly Macra three years later.[citation needed]
County Meath has had six queens crowned over the years. County Laois, County Kilkenny and County Limerick come second with four titles each.[citation needed]
The competition has had to be postponed on a number of occasions, starting with 2001; owing to the foot-and-mouth disease crisis that hit Ireland that year. It was once again suspended between 2019 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As of 2026, the competition has not been held since 2023.[citation needed]
The host county has only won the competition twice; Michelle Cody won in 1994 and Sinead Mulcahy in 2009, both from the Shinrone Macra Club.[citation needed]
2005 was the 40th anniversary of the festival. As part of the celebrations, all former Queens were invited back to Tullamore to join in the festivities for the weekend.[4]
