Páirc Uí Chaoimh has witnessed many an epic occasion over the past four decades. Seldom, however, have all 32 of Ireland’s counties been represented at the grand stadium on the same day.

The Men’s Shed Gathering 2018 is fast approaching, with an exciting line-up already in place for the largest assemblage of Men’s Sheds member in the world.

The focus of this year’s Gathering will be firmly shed-centric. Proceedings will be structured around “shed stories” designed to inflame and inspire the imaginations of the 500 members and hundreds of sheds in attendance.

This week, we want to offer you a preview of the six Shed Stories which will be presented to the audience on the night. While each of these sheds is exemplary in its own right, the core message of the Gathering is that all sheds can inspire one another.

Kilbeggan Men’s Shed, Co Westmeath

Kilbeggan Men’s Shed is one of the most health-conscious in Ireland. It was one of a number of Westmeath sheds that partnered with Diabetes Ireland, Get Ireland Walking and the local Sports Partnership on a “Living Well, Being Well” programme in 2017.

The programme saw the men provided with pedometers to measure their progress as they took up a recreational walking regimen.

The shed also received diabetes tests, through which, several men were diagnosed with diabetes and advised on monitoring and treatment.

Kilbeggan’s story will also take in the shed’s extraordinary range of activities, illustrating the point that health and wellbeing is not necessarily about elite performance or the body beautiful; it’s about staying fit and well enough to keep doing the things you love.

Dundalk Men’s Shed

The Dundalk Men’s Shed segment will focus on the shed’s painstaking creation of a wooden rocking horse.

While this was an especially rewarding and creative act of craftsmanship, it was undertaken with a deeper purpose.

The rocking horse was raffled on behalf of a local charity, the Maria Goretti Foundation, raising a significant sum for a very worthy cause. At the Gathering, the members will talk attendees through the arduous process, and the sense of pride engendered by the finished product.

Rostrevor Men’s Shed, Co Down

Situated on the northern shore of Carlingford Lough, Rostrevor Men’s Shed enjoys one of the most picturesque locations of any Irish shed.

At the Gathering, the members will fill us in on their exceptional links with their local community, which included a major clean-up programme of the Kilbroney River.

As part of their commitment to their local area, the shed members harnessed the goodwill and support of the entire community to conduct the operation, and restore a local amenity to its unsullied best.

Ballina Men’s Shed, Co Mayo

Ballina Men’s Shed, another shed with deep roots in its community, operates out of a magnificent 1930s Art Deco building on Teeling St, a former cinema which has now become one of the best-appointed sheds in Ireland. The shed recently opened a dedicated art studio, the first shed in Ireland to do so.

At the Gathering, the members of Ballina Men’s Shed will tell us how the shed has helped to revitalise the beautiful and historic Co. Mayo town.

Killarney Men's Shed

Finbarr Kennelly of Irish Men’s Shed Association (IMSA) partner organisation Haven Pharmacy will fill us in on last year’s ground-breaking men’s shed rhododendron cull. The project saw dozens of men’s sheds members from throughout Ireland descend upon Killarney National Park to tackle its chronic infestation of the invasive rhododendron ponticum.

Finbarr will also have an announcement to make about this year’s project; all-in-all, an exciting postscript to what’s sure to be a magical two days in the southern capital.